The Chaos and beauty of Targasonne

Second only to Fontainebleau, Targasonne's chaotic boulder field represents the best bouldering France has to offer. Located on an enormous high plateau at 1500 metres above sea level, this exceptional site was first discovered around twenty years ago. A few big-name climbers such as Edlinger, Bérhault and Godoffe came to play, quickly opening some amazing sectors. Since then local climbers have put much work into developing the area and today 24 sectors exist for climbers to try no less than 485 recorded problems.

The snowy Pyrenean backdrop creates a real mountain ambiance and the tiny local villages do little to lessen the sense of remoteness once you’re amongst the boulders. In autumn and springtime flowers blossom all around as climbers from a variety of countries gather to try the huge array of magnificent ‘blocs’. Diminutive or large, overhanging or slabby, these pristine boulders of golden granite contain a multitude of striking lines, consistently offering opportunities to unveil new problems. Technical thin problems mingle with their pure powerhouse neighbours. The densely packed crystals mean that virtually none of the faces are prone to exfoliation. The very occasional loose blocks we found were helpfully marked up by the locals.

We visited the area in both early spring and late autumn when a thin blanket of snow covered the ground in places. Conditions out of the wind were good, even on the coldest days, and the area is reported to have 300 days of sunshine a year. Sitting on a high plateau means climbing is also possible in the summer months.

The area’s development was given a real boost in 2004 when Petzl invited its top sponsored boulderers, including many of Europe’s best plus Dave Graham, Lisa Rands, Chris Sharma and Wills Young, to climb in Targassone. Lisa became the first woman to boulder two V10’s in one day during the meet. The bouldering festival ended up attracting over 500 climbers for three days of climbing, dancing and video shows - don’t you just wish you had been there! The result was several new problems, including some V9/10’s of stunning quality. The majority of sectors contain a good spread of both easy and hard problems and there is a very useful and up-to-date downloadable topo on the TargaBloc website.

This year we arrived and instantly felt the need to roam around the problems, frantically trying to warm up as fast as possible because this place is truly inspiring. With every corner turned there is new fun to be had. You need time to fully explore this place so it is best to be based there for at least a week, although you’ll have to pace yourself too as the abrasive rock can make light work of your finger pads if you aren’t careful. We started off on Arixio sector and then worked our way towards Abélio and beyond. The first rocks are only two minutes from the roadside parking space, and everywhere you look there seem to be four- or five-star problems.

Harder offerings can be found at Baron du Milieu, with the tricky Uniformicide (8a) and Ground Control to Major Tom (8a+). There are also hard problems at Taz, including Erotomechaniks (8a/8a+) and Queen of Heart (8a+). This sector has many fingery passages starting from 4+ and has problems facing in every direction so is great for both summer shade and winter sun.

Foam mattresses can be found resting under some of the boulders, the majority of which have good landings already, so even without a pad the area is well worth visiting if you find yourself nearby. This time we were there alone but on a previous occasion there was a great ‘crag scene’ with the locals quite happy to share beta and offer encouragement - we didn’t perceive any sandbagging tendencies here…

Some favourite problems:

Nightmare Lodge 6c+, a bouncy approach required

La Baleine 5c, a superb arete

Abélio Agath the poison 7b+, excellent traverse

Even Ruth Jenkins’ three year old son enjoyed himself scrambling over, around and through rocks, investigating most of the holes within reach and even discovering a big white space rocket on the hill! - well it was probably a water tower but who cares? The diversity of problems and nature of the area makes this crag a family option as well as a hard core bouldering trip.

Rest day options are prolific. For aching muscles we visited the thermal baths at Llo which include warm indoor and outdoor pools, jacuzzi and sauna. Only 15 minutes away, Font Romeu is one of 12 local downhill ski resorts within easy reach. It also has extensive Nordic skiing through trees and across a high plateau, although sliding without edges can be quite traumatic on downhill sections if you’re not used to it! There are also Via Ferrate and mountain bike trails as well as popular and well-marked hiking paths. The area is home to the French national centre for high altitude training and British distance running teams come here for training camps.

Location location…

Set on the eastern edge of the Pyrenees, Targasonne is most easily accessible from Perpignan airport. From here head for Font-Romeu, which takes 1½ to 2 hours. From Toulouse (2¼ hours) or Carcasonne (2½ hours) airports head for Andorra then go through the Porte-Puymorens tunnel or over the top to Targasonne, following signs for Font-Romeu. From the UK Ryanair currently flies to Perpignan from London Stansted and to Carcasonne from East Midlands. BMI Baby and Easy Jet both fly to Toulouse. From Font Romeu take the D 618 towards Angoustrine. Pass through Targasonne village and at the second left-hand switchback look for a parking place on the right by a tiny track.

Topo web link: http://targabloc.apinc.org

In addition to the downloadable topo this French site has a news section with any latest updates on areas which are restricted for any reason. It sometimes highlights a few sectors where it is not possible to climb due to movement of cows!

Accommodation

Accommodation is easy to find as there are a couple of good campsites close to the Chaos, although these can get very busy. La Griole campsite is nearest to the climbing. There is also Campsite Ground y Neu in Angoustrine (tel: 04 68 04 66 83.) Renting a gite during the winter season costs around £150 for a week. Tourist information at Font Romeu is helpful and can be contacted through www.font-romeu.fr

Local supplies

If you are here for a while the best bet for a large shop is driving for 15 minutes to Bourg Madame and then into Spain at Puigcerda where the prices are much more favourable. There is a convenience store in Targassone where fresh bread is available and a supermarket in Egat. There are numerous bars, patisseries and restaurants in Font Romeu. It is best to bring a full supply of chalk from home although there are Decathlon stores in Perpignan, Carcassone and Foix.