Galetas supérieur · Verdon · France
CommittingBolting confidence: high
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.
The route
The Galetas supérieur cliff sits about 200 m above the D952 at the entrance to the gorge, above the Saint-Maurin waterfalls. This was the first route on it. It climbs steep walls and slabs on pockets, water-drops and flakes, weaving left and then right across the face, so the 160 m of height gain becomes about 200 m of climbing. The average level is about 6b, with sustained moves at 6a+ to 6b between bolts on pitches 3 and 7; parties suggest being solid at 6b or 6b+ to enjoy it. The approach and the walk back are pleasant paths through the Saint-Maurin nature reserve.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 6a | 45 m | An easy-angled slab at 5b/c, a short steep step at 6a, then a few metres of slab. A small seep under the bulge can make the 6a move harder. |
| P2 | 6c+ | 18 m | Short. A steep, bouldery, fingery bulge on pockets that are hard to read, then a few metres of easier wall. Goes at 6a/A0 by pulling on the bolts. It comes while your fingers are still cold. |
| P3 | 6b+ | 40 m | Starts with a horizontal traverse left. A fine, fairly sustained pitch, often traversing left, on slab and steeper bits of wall. Atmospheric for both climbers. |
| P4 | 6a+ | 30 m | More of the same, a little easier. |
| P5 | 6a | 30 m | Straight up the wall, then a long horizontal traverse right, crossing a newer route, and up to a belay on the ledge with a distinctive small oak. The rock is poorer for a few metres at the end. |
| P6 | 5c | 20 m | A short horizontal traverse right on middling rock to the belay under the summit pillar. |
| P7 | 6b+ | 30 m | The steep crest of the pillar, left for an easier slab climbed direct to the end of the difficulties and a belay. Easy ground for 20 m leads to the trees. |
Getting there
The route is reached from the D952 between Moustiers-Sainte-Marie and La Palud-sur-Verdon. Park either at the Saint-Maurin car park, about 300 m from the small road-mender's house by the Saint-Maurin waterfall (or, as the route page puts it, on the right 200 m before the forestry house when coming from La Palud), or at the Félines car park or a lay-by 1 km beyond it coming from Moustiers.
About 1 hour. Option 1, from Saint-Maurin: take the path that climbs beside the road, then contours through the wet ground of the reserve and rises to the troglodyte shelters. Pass above them and keep climbing. Where the path nears the stream and bends right, take a faint track to the stream and cross it on three logs to join the yellow-marked path. Follow it left, downhill at first to get round some crags, then rising towards Moustiers. Option 2, from Félines: follow the yellow-marked path beside the road for half an hour to a narrow passage protected by a cable; the turn-off is exactly 40 m further, on the left, at a cairn. Both options then follow small cairns up a scree slope to the foot of the cliff in about 10 min. The route starts left of the smooth slabs. A 2024 party warns not to follow the main path down to the scree that falls from the face: going up that way is possible but foul.
Loading map
The point marks the base of the route.
Parking
Parking de Saint-Maurin on the D952 (camptocamp waypoint 609142)
Point from camptocamp route 598830
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: 43.80292, 6.26006 (route base) · Parking: 43.79438, 6.26320
Getting down
On foot. Follow the crest uphill (cairns), first on the edge and then on its left flank, to the forest and the yellow-marked path. For the Félines car park turn left, and after 100 m, at a viewpoint, left again (yellow cross). For Saint-Maurin turn right. Allow 40 min to 1 hour. Do not follow the ridge downhill to the west: a 2026 party did, ended up above another route and took 2 hours with three abseils.
Retreat
Committing
Camptocamp states plainly that there is no abseil descent. One party did retreat from the top of pitch 2 on an earlier attempt, and a 2026 party notes that after the second belay a retreat would be complicated because the route traverses so much. Above that point the realistic way off is up.
Safety
Sun and weather
South-facing at 900 to 1000 m, exposed to west wind. Parties climbed it in comfort in February at 10°C and in May at 17°C; it is a cool-season route. Pitch 1 can have a small seep. The cliff offers no shelter from showers and the traverses make retreat awkward if rain arrives.
Sun on the wall · S-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 (usual season) | 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 |
| Sunshine hours a day | 7.2 | 8.5 | 9.8 | 10.9 | 12.2 | 13.8 | 14.0 | 12.7 | 10.7 | 8.7 | 7.2 | 6.9 |
● marks the usual climbing season. Averages for 1991-2020 at about 822 m. Area climate from Open-Meteo reanalysis (about 10 km grid): the wall and valley can differ. Data: Open-Meteo, CC BY 4.0.
What to carry
13 quickdraws. A single rope is what parties use; no source states a length, and the longest pitch is 45 m. 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 Dans les Yeux d'Hervé.
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
Around 6c+ · about 7 pitches
Spain · Costa Blanca (Peñón de Ifach)
The sport classic of the Peñón: a thin slab, a corner crack that steepens into an overhang, a pillar, then a wild exit from a big cave 200 m above the sea. Sustained at 6b with a 6c fifth pitch on polished slopers and a 6c+ last pitch whose crux can be pulled through on a bolt.
6c+7 pitches220 m
Spain · El Chorro
Four pitches in a row at 6b+ to 6c+ on extremely rough limestone: technical water-pocket moves that are hard to read, then an athletic pitch up easy tufas to a hard pull over an overhang. Quiet and steep, with 6b+ obligatory.
6c+7 pitches200 m
Croatia · Paklenica
The line used for Paklenica's annual Big Wall Speed Climbing competition: steep, direct and on very rough rock that has stayed unpolished. A sustained 45 m 6c+ pitch on small holds is the crux, followed by sharp runnels, a big corner and three overhangs to finish. Fifteen minutes from the car.
6c+6 pitches200 m
Italy · Arco & Valle del Sarca
Eight sustained pitches up the wall opposite the Laterna restaurant, rarely easier than 6a. The crux is a short overhanging wall on pitch 5 that can be pulled through on the bolts. Less cleaned than its neighbours, with some broken rock on pitch 6.
6c+8 pitches220 m
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.