Escalès – Carelle Amont · Verdon · France
Read the cautionsCommittingBolting confidence: medium
A 1985 classic of the Escalès, a grade harder and noticeably bolder than Les Dalles Grises next door. Five pitches on pockets and slabs, starting with polished rising traverses and finishing up a sculpted wall of vertical flutings, an overhanging crack and a bulge at 6a+. You need to be solid at 6a to enjoy it.
Bolted from bottom to top, but with wide Verdon spacing, polished rock and traverses that make retreat awkward after abseiling in.
The route
Afin que nul ne meure starts at the left end of the Jardin des Écureuils and climbs 150 m to the rim in five pitches. With nearly a hundred outings on camptocamp it is one of the most climbed 6a routes in the gorge. The rock is excellent but heavily polished on the first pitches, and the climbing is about positions: pockets, slabs and reading the line. What sets it apart from the modern routes is the spacing of the bolts, which every recent report mentions, some with pleasure and some without. The first two pitches traverse, so backing off is awkward. Go when 6a feels comfortable, not when it is your limit.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 5c/6a | 30 m | Shared with Pichenibule: a rising traverse left on good but polished pockets, then straight up for 5 m to the belay, by a tree. Do not continue further left onto another route. Hard when cold, with spaced bolts. |
| P2 | 5c/6a | 30 m | About 3 m left, then straight up, then left again (there is an arrow on the rock) to a belay in a small scoop. The directional bolt at the belay tempts you straight up: traverse first. Polished. |
| P3 | 6a | 30 m | Straight up to a good ledge. A delicate move on polished pockets near the start, then easier, though the next bolt is not always easy to see: follow the polish. |
| P4 | 6a | – | Straight up, without straying into the routes on either side, then right to the belay. A fine, less polished slab pitch with a protected traverse move, and the one most parties rate highest. The 2022 guidebook's 5b+ for this pitch is wrong, according to a 2025 party. |
| P5 | 6a+ | – | Straight up to the top on very sculpted rock: vertical flutings, then an overhanging crack and a bulge. The most physical pitch; one party felt 6b. |
Getting there
Base yourself at La Palud-sur-Verdon, which has campsites, gîtes and a climbers' bar. From La Palud drive the Route des Crêtes (D23) to the Belvédère de la Carelle and park there. A 2025 party found the car park crowded and suggests cycling.
From the Belvédère de la Carelle take the path north-east along the cliff edge for about 100 m to a big block carrying the abseil chain of Les Dalles Grises. Four abseils lead down to the Jardin des Écureuils, a wooded terrace part-way down the wall. A second abseil line starts a few metres lower to the right as you face out, reached by a handrail, which helps when the first is busy. Do not underestimate the time the abseils take: 45 min is typical, and more with a queue. A 2025 party used a line further left and warns of ropes jamming. The route starts at the far left end of the terrace as you face the rock (the west end), where 'Afin…' is painted in red.
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Parking
Belvédère de la Carelle on the Route des Crêtes (camptocamp access waypoint 127667)
Point from camptocamp waypoint 1205951 (Verdon - Escalès - Carelle Amont)
Contains the route point and parking. Opens in most mapping apps and GPS watches.
Points are compiled from published sources, with the precision stated above. They were not surveyed on the ground: check them against a current topo.
Coordinates: 43.77551, 6.38511 (crag) · Parking: 43.77509, 6.38340
Getting down
From the top walk 100 m, slightly uphill, to the car.
Retreat
Committing
Camptocamp states that going back down is rather complicated because of the traverses at the start of the route. You have also abseiled in to a terrace part-way down the wall, so even a successful retreat leaves you needing to climb out, and the easiest way out, Les Dalles Grises, is sustained 5c.
Partly inferred from the route facts
Safety
Sun and weather
South-east facing at about 950 to 1100 m. Camptocamp recommends autumn and spring; winter is possible in the sun on a mild day, and in summer you should start at noon to climb in the shade. The wall has the sun in the morning and can turn properly cold afterwards: the rim is at 1100 m and it can snow or hail in April. A party on 1 October 2023 waited at the foot until 14:30 for shade and still found it too hot.
Sun on the wall · SE-facing
Working out the sunlit hours for this month.
Sun on the wallDaylight, wall in shade● Usual season
Estimated from the wall's aspect only. Ignores surrounding terrain, gullies and the wall's exact shape. Clock times are local to the wall (Central European time), for the 15th of each month.
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar (usual season) | Apr (usual season) | May (usual season) | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct (usual season) | Nov (usual season) | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean daily high °C | 7 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 18 | 23 | 26 | 26 | 21 | 16 | 11 | 8 |
| Mean daily low °C | −1 | −2 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 11 | 7 | 3 | −1 |
| Rain days 1 mm or more | 7 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 8 |
● marks the usual climbing season. Averages for 1991-2020 at about 822 m. Area climate from Open-Meteo reanalysis. Temperatures are adjusted to the height of the crag; rain comes from a grid cell of about 10 to 25 km, and summer highs on sea cliffs can read a few degrees low. The wall and valley can differ. Data: Open-Meteo, CC BY 4.0.
What to carry
Camptocamp lists no gear for this route. Parties recommend extendable quickdraws for the wandering first pitches; the neighbouring Dalles Grises asks for 12 quickdraws. Two ropes for the abseils, slings for the belays, helmet.
Derived from the route data; check it against a current topo
From climbers
Reader reports are not being collected yet. Until they are, check a current topo and the local club or guidebook publisher for recent changes to Afin que nul ne meure.
Worth knowing
Open questions
Provenance
Same area
France · Verdon
A modern (2019) line up a staircase of limestone pillars above the Chalet de la Maline, with short walking links between them. Harder than its old 6a grade suggests: recent parties report obligatory 6a+/6b moves on the first three pitches, and the last pitch is 6b+ or A0.
6b+10 pitches300 m
Read the cautions
France · Verdon
The easiest way to climb out of the Verdon gorge: a long, wandering ridge of short pitches at grade 3 and 4 that starts close to the river and finishes near the rim road. The climbing is modest but the setting is the full Verdon. You walk down a steep path with fixed ropes to reach the start, so the route is your way back up.
4c9 pitches180 m
Read the cautions
France · Verdon
Seven pitches of compact grey water-pocketed wall high above the mouth of the Verdon gorge, with a view over the Lac de Sainte-Croix. It zigzags a great deal, so both leader and second need to be happy on traverses. A short, bouldery 6c+ bulge (6a/A0) is the only move above 6b+, and the final pillar pitch is the highlight.
6c+7 pitches160 m
Committing
France · Verdon
One of the few Verdon multipitches at an even 5b: five short pitches on featured grey limestone above the Baou Béni, with a 6a variant for the third pitch. The approach is part of the outing: you go down a 100 m wall on fixed ropes, the escape route of the Mainmorte canyon. Well bolted and popular as a first Verdon route.
5b+5 pitches120 m
Around 6a+ · about 5 pitches
Switzerland · Furka
Five sustained pitches on the left side of the Hannibalturm, never easier than 5c+ and never much harder than 6a+. A smooth friction slab leads to steep wall climbing, a pillar, a flake and a corner, and the route finishes up a ladder of huge quartz knobs. Many parties rate it the best line on the tower and find the second pitch the hardest.
6a+5 pitches170 m
Spain · Montserrat
A modern linkup over two pinnacles on excellent conglomerate. Overhanging 6a and 6a+ walls alternate with easy 'potato-field' slabs. The new bolting makes it one of the most reassuring long lines in the massif.
6a+5 pitches185 m
Germany · Ammergauer Alpen
The popular sport line of the Geiselstein south face, straight up to the summit cross. Long, steep pitches on excellent rough limestone, sustained at UIAA 6- to 6 with two short passages of 6+ and one easier pitch on less reliable rock. Never easy and never crowded with bolts: you climb between them.
6a+5 pitches210 m
Read the cautions
Croatia · Paklenica
A short, high-quality modern line: a clean straight first pitch, then a steep crack crux and magnificent water grooves.
6a+5 pitches100 m
Read the cautions
Compiled from published sources and last verified October 2026. Bolts, anchors and access change. Climbing is dangerous and you are responsible for your own decisions: check a current topo and read the disclaimer.
