Punta d'Arghjavara · Bavella · France
Read the cautionsBail with caveatsBolting confidence: high
Two long, easy friction slabs with a boulder move off the ground, then three pitches through steep tafoni with a long rising traverse and a choice of finish at 6a or 6b. Close to the road, sheltered from the west wind and a classic choice for uncertain weather. Sound rock; some find the slabs too easy to be memorable.
Fully bolted and currently in good order, but the easy slab pitches have about 6 m between bolts and the belays are unlinked.
The route
Altore is the route just right of Pesciu Biancu on the Punta d'Arghjavara, the cliff directly above the Purcaraccia bridge. The lower half is slab at 5c, with the bolts well apart because the climbing is easy; the upper half is tafoni, steeper and more closely protected, with a long traverse left on pitch 4 to a belay that is easy to miss. The last pitch starts up steep tafoni and then offers a 6a exit on the right or a 6b mantel on slopers on the left. Parties call it a perfect first route at Bavella, and it is one of the few fully equipped lines of its length so near the car.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 5c | 48 m | A vertical wall with a boulder move off the ground, then slab. The start is the only stiff move of the lower pitches. |
| P2 | 5c | 45 m | Straight up the slab. About 7 or 8 bolts on each of these two pitches according to the Spanish-language text. |
| P3 | 6a | 30 m | Into the tafoni. Belay under a large block. Some parties link this with pitch 4 on 50 m ropes by extending or skipping bolts. |
| P4 | 6a | 45 m | A slab move to reach the tafoni wall, then a long rising traverse left to a belay on two unlinked bolts. Keep well left at the end; manage the rope drag. Do not follow the hangers further left, which belong to another route. |
| P5 | 6b | 30 m | Start up fine steep tafoni on the left, then choose: right at 6a, or left at 6b, where a mantel on slopers stopped a 2024 leader three times. A 2026 party gave the easier finish 6a+ and notes that short climbers may struggle. |
Getting there
The D268 links Zonza and the Col de Bavella with Solenzara on the east coast. From Bastia follow the coast road south to Solenzara and turn up the D268; from Ajaccio drive via Aullène, Quenza and Zonza to the col and descend the east side. The Purcaraccia bridge is on the D268 between the Col de Bavella and Bocca di Larone. Roadside parking along this stretch of the D268 is now banned (yellow lines): a September 2024 party was fined 135 euros. That party was told to use the car parks about 600 m before or after the bridge, which in high season are reserved for professionals and holders of an FFME or FFCAM licence, with checks; a May 2026 party found the paid Arghjavara car park opening only at 9:00, and April 2026 parties parked by the bridge without trouble out of season.
20 to 25 min, half of it on the flat. From the left side of the bridge a vague path climbs under the pines and quickly reaches the Purcaraccia, which you follow for about 5 min along an old irrigation channel to a large cairn. Do not continue straight on towards the bathing pools: turn up and follow cairns for about 5 min to the foot of the slabs. You arrive at Altore, marked by a first hanger placed rather high, just right of Pesciu Biancu. New routes have been added nearby, so check the line.
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Parking
Pont de la Purcaraccia on the D268 (camptocamp waypoint 142106); roadside parking is banned, use the nearby car parks
Point from camptocamp waypoint 41646 (Punta d'Arghjavara)
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: 41.82889, 9.26167 (crag) · Parking: 41.82658, 9.26416
Getting down
By abseil. From the top make a short abseil of about 9 m into a gully on the right (facing the wall). Go down the gully on its left bank for about ten metres to a fixed rope that leads to an abseil station, the fourth belay of Torre di l'Alba. One abseil of 30 m to R3, then two of 50 m straight down. The stations have two rings that are not linked. Parties take 30 min to 1 h. A June 2025 party instead followed a handline to the left (back to the wall) to an abseil with no traverse.
Retreat
Bail with caveats
The route is descended by abseil, but down the line of Torre di l'Alba to its right, not down Altore itself. Altore's own belays are pairs of unlinked bolts, so retreating from them means leaving maillons. No party describes doing so.
Partly inferred from the route facts
Safety
Sun and weather
South-east facing and low (the top of the cliff is at about 690 m), and well sheltered from west wind. In early May the first three pitches were warm in the sun and the upper ones pleasantly shaded. Wet streaks can linger after rain. Hot in summer unless you start late in the afternoon.
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.
Climate figures for Bavella are not available yet
What to carry
14 quickdraws, slings to link the belays and reduce drag, and two 50 m ropes for the abseils. No cams or nuts needed according to 2024 and 2026 parties. 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 Altore.
Worth knowing
Open questions
Provenance
Same area
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A sampler of everything Bavella granite does: a technical 7a wall, layback and jamming cracks, an off-width, a squeeze slot behind a tree, and three pitches of pure friction slab to finish. Bolted well enough to climb on quickdraws, which is rare here. The wide pitches are awkward and bruising if you are not used to the style.
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France · Bavella
An easy friction-slab route up the south arête of a small granite tooth above the Purcaraccia cascades: a slab and corner, a walk, then two pitches of clean, airy slab climbed mostly on your feet, and a scramble to a summit with a huge view. Parties find the grades generous. The approach is a long, beautiful walk past the pools, with a rougher finish through maquis.
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France · Bavella
The gentlest introduction to Bavella granite: twenty minutes from the road, well bolted by Corsican standards, and varied. An easy stepped first pitch, a holdless friction slab, a tafoni groove, a steep boulder start and traverse under overhangs, then a finish weaving through big tafoni. In the shade from mid-afternoon.
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Around 6b · about 5 pitches
Spain · Mallorca (Sa Gubia)
The route that gives the sector its name: five long, sustained and homogeneous pitches up the full height of the back wall of the bay, left of the vast orange scoop. Pockets, a technical fingery wall, a jug-covered bulge and a long traverse right near the top. Two of the lower belays are hanging stances.
6b5 pitches148 m
Read the cautions
Austria · Karwendel (Innsbruck Nordkette)
The harder twin of Flying Grass, climbing straight up from the same start. Delicate, polished slab low down with a short overhang on pitch 1, then steeper slab on good holds in the middle, and a shared finish.
6b5 pitches150 m
Spain · Riglos & Agüero (Mallos)
A fine short route on the right edge of the Pisón, ending on a big terrace at half height. A vertical wall on small holds on pitch 3 and two hard moves on the last pitch.
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Italy · Sardinia
This is the easiest way to the top of Sardinia's iconic 140 m pinnacle above Cala Goloritzè. Short technical bulges and walls lead to a fine slab finish, and the harder overhangs can be aided. Gulliver splits it into 4 pitches; camptocamp gives 5. Check seasonal access rules for Cala Goloritzè before going.
6b5 pitches150 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.