Multipitch Atlas

Intégrale d'Anaïs

Quié de Sinsat – La Pelle · Ariège Pyrenees · France

Read the cautionsBail with caveatsBolting confidence: medium

The big day out at Sinsat: three stacked routes linked by two walking terraces, 400 m to the top of La Pelle. Verdon-like grey slabs on the first two tiers, then a wilder finish up an orange chimney-corner, a ridge and a last bulge. Technical, sustained at 5c to 6a and stiffly graded.

The three tiers of the Intégrale d'Anaïs on the Quié de Sinsat: Le Plaisir du Geste, Jeanne and AnaïsPhoto: JoJo · CC BY-SA 3.0

Topo

The three tiers of the Intégrale d'Anaïs on the Quié de Sinsat: Le Plaisir du Geste, Jeanne and AnaïsPhoto: JoJo · CC BY-SA 3.0
Hardest pitch
6b+
Pitches
12
Length
400 m
Approach
40 min
Aspect
S
South-facing
Rope
2×50 m
Read before you go

Entirely bolted and a regional classic, but a hanger was reported missing on pitch 8 in 2024, the upper part has loose rock and the descent is long and intricate.

The route

Overview

The Intégrale d'Anaïs strings together Le Plaisir du Geste on the left flank of the Pubis (three pitches), Jeanne on the middle tier (three pitches) and Anaïs on the right flank of La Pelle (six pitches), with a walk through a garden between each. The first two parts are superb compact slab that demands trust in your feet, with a well-protected move through a slight overhang on Jeanne. Anaïs has more atmosphere and less perfect rock: a chimney-corner, an easy ridge and a final bulge of 6b+ that almost everyone aids. The obligatory grade is a technical 6a to 6a+. It is a long day, with a descent on the far side that takes about two hours and ends with abseils.

The climbing

Pitch by pitch

PitchGradeNotes
P16aLe Plaisir du Geste. A wall of poorer rock to start, then a superb slab with thin, obligatory moves in the sustained second half. A sharp wake-up when cold. Chained belay.
P25c+Straight up, then a traverse left with two thin moves, one in the middle and one just before the chained belay.
P35cA steep, slightly exposed move straight above the belay, a good crack, then well left under the roofs. Belay on one bolt and a tree. Then walk at least 50 m, trending right along the crest (red dots), to the foot of Jeanne; trainers are useful.
P46a+Jeanne. A crack and easy slab, then a beautiful, sustained and obligatory slab with a well-protected move through a slight overhang. Take 13 quickdraws. Several parties think it is nearer 6b.
P56aAnother sustained slab, steep and fingery off the belay.
P65cOne move of 5c, then a series of easy little steps on rock of varying quality. From the last belay follow red dots to the left end of the terrace and the first belay of Anaïs.
P75cAnaïs. A vegetated crack, then a traverse right just before the belay. The first bolt is very high but the climbing is not hard.
P86aThe orange chimney-corner, exited on the right: for many the best pitch, all about positioning. One hanger was missing in 2024; the pitch is a little bolder for it but the protection remains adequate.
P95bContinue up the main crack, with care for the rock, to gain the ridge.
P105bA short pitch along the ridge.
P116b+A slight traverse left on slab, then the last bulge: 6b+ free or 6a+/A0 on closely spaced bolts. The rock to the right of the bolts is poor; in March 2025 a party pulled off two blocks there.
P125c+A short pitch to the top, right of the summit of La Pelle.

Getting there

Approach

To the parking

Sinsat is in the Ariège valley between Tarascon-sur-Ariège and Les Cabannes, south of Foix on the N20. Coming from Tarascon, turn left onto the D220 about 500 m after the level crossing (sign 'rocher d'escalade'), cross the bridge over the Ariège, turn right and park in the field laid out as a car park. Trains on the Toulouse to Latour-de-Carol line stop at Les Cabannes, about 30 min on foot (3.6 km of flat road) from the car park.

On foot · about 40 min

35 to 50 min. From the car park take the path common to the Pubis, Peppermint and Toit sectors (signs). After 5 min leave the path to the Sinsat single-pitch cliff on the left; after 10 min leave the Peppermint and Toit path and take the track on the right that climbs steeply to the Pubis, zigzagging and then steep up the final gully. The GR4b+ sector is about 40 m to the left. Go to the start of Le Plaisir du Geste, whose name is painted at the foot.

Map of the walk-in

  • Crag
  • Parking

Loading map

The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.

Coordinates · crag

42.80964, 1.66136

Parking

42.80071, 1.66522

Sinsat climbers' car park (camptocamp waypoint 128849)

Point from camptocamp waypoint 571633 (Quié de Sinsat, La Pelle); the route starts lower, in the GR4b+ sector of the Pubis

For your phone or watch

Download GPX

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.

Getting down

Descent

Down the far (north) side, allow 1 h 45 min to 2 h 30 min to the car. Traverse left in an arc through the scrub to reach very steep scree gullies, with a section through box. Descend the scree for a long way to a cairn where you leave it to the right. Follow a vague, steep track through the box for about 100 m, then turn left at a small slab 2 m wide with a faint red mark. Do not miss this turn: straight on leads onto the bulge of the Pubis and sends stones onto the routes. The red-marked track leads to a tree rigged with slings above the route Grand Public; one abseil from the tree and three more reach the foot of the Pubis. Then the approach path.

Retreat

Bailing off the route

Bail with caveats

CAFMA states that you can escape on foot to the left after the first tier and to the right after the second, and parties have stopped at both terraces. On the first tier CAFMA strongly advises against abseiling Le Plaisir du Geste. No source describes retreating from the six pitches of Anaïs, where the line includes a chimney, a ridge and a traverse.

Retreat from
The terrace above pitch 3 (walk off left by the marked path with fixed ropes) and the terrace above pitch 6 (walk off right).
Point of no return
The start of Anaïs (pitch 7): above it no retreat is documented and finishing is the described way out.
Carry
Nothing special for the terrace escapes. Ropes for 45 to 50 m abseils are needed for the normal descent in any case.
Basis
Stated in the sourcesCAFMA route page for the escapes and the advice against abseiling the first tier; trip reports of parties stopping at the terraces.

Safety

Hazards

  • A hanger, and by September 2024 its nut, was missing on the eighth pitch. Reports from 2025 do not say whether it has been replaced.
  • Loose rock on the last pitches of Jeanne, in the middle of Anaïs and beside the final bulge.
  • The descent is long and easy to lose: missing the left turn takes you above the Pubis cliffs and endangers climbers below.
  • The grades are stiff and the slab moves are obligatory just above the bolts on the first two parts.
  • Heat and length: 12 pitches in full sun with a two-hour descent.

Sun and weather

Conditions

South facing from about 900 m to the top of La Pelle. Best in spring and autumn; a late-March party was comfortable in a T-shirt, and September parties roasted and ran out of water. CAFMA states that the Intégrale can be climbed all year with no nesting restriction, unlike other sectors of the Quié. The rock is compact and excellent on the first two parts and more broken on Anaïs.

Usual season · Mar to May, Sep to Nov

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Mean daily high °C225812161919151263
Mean daily low °C−6−6−4−1379963−2−5
Rain days 1 mm or more111212151817171713121211

● marks the usual climbing season. Averages for 1991-2020 at about 1785 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

Gear

12 quickdraws plus belays (13 for the first pitch of Jeanne; about 15 if you link pitches on Anaïs) and ropes for 45 to 50 m abseils on the descent (CAFMA says 90 to 100 m of abseil rope). Slings for the bolt-and-tree belay. Trainers for the links and the descent. Plenty of water. Helmet.

Checklist

Quickdraws
12
Rope
2×50 m
Helmet
One each
Abseil device and prusik
The descent or the retreat involves abseiling

Derived from the route data; check it against a current topo

From climbers

Reader reports

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 Intégrale d'Anaïs.

Worth knowing

Tips

  • Allow 6 to 8 h for the climbing; CAFMA's 5 h 30 min to 6 h suits a fast party.
  • Escapes on foot exist to the left after the first tier and to the right after the second, according to CAFMA.
  • An easier version takes GR4b+ (5b+) and Ainsi soit-elle (6a) for the first two tiers before joining Anaïs; a harder one takes Scelleur de Vérité (7a) instead of Jeanne.
  • The last four pitches can be linked two by two with about 15 quickdraws, reusing draws on the bolt-studded bulge.
  • Les Cabannes station is 30 min on foot from the car park.

Open questions

Where sources disagree

  • Maximum grade: camptocamp gives 6b+ free for the last bulge (6a+/A0); CAFMA and theCrag quote the route as 6a+ maximum with A0, 6a obligatory.
  • Length: 400 m on camptocamp and the CAFMA topo sheet, 450 m in the CAFMA text and on theCrag.
  • The links between tiers: 30 m gardens on camptocamp, about 50 m on CAFMA, at least 50 m for a 2024 party.
  • Jeanne's grades (6a+, 6a) are widely felt to be undergraded; one 2024 report calls the second pitch 6b.
  • Quickdraws: 12 on camptocamp and the CAFMA sheet, 13 in the CAFMA text.
  • Camptocamp calls the route a 'modern' line of P1 standard, but its equipment dates from 1996 and 1997 and one hanger was missing in 2024, hence the medium confidence here.

Provenance

Sources

Same area

More in Ariège Pyrenees

All routes in Ariège Pyrenees
The east face of the Dent d'Orlu, a sweep of striated gneiss slabs, seen from the Col de l'Egue; Pink Floyd climbs this face, the exact line is not marked.

France · Ariège Pyrenees

Pink Floyd

Consistent, low-angled slab climbing on compact granite, with 10 pitches of 5a–5b+ on the big east face. Above all it is a long, sunny-morning moderate.

5b+10 pitches400 m

Read the cautions

On the slabs of Arabesque, Piliers des Cathares, Calamès

France · Ariège Pyrenees

Arabesque

The hard classic of the Calamès pillars above Bédeilhac: technical slabs, a well-bolted roof and a sustained 6c wall, capped by a short 7a slab pitch after a walk across a garden. Compact rock and close bolts make it a good place to try harder grades on a multipitch. The middle pitch is vegetated.

7a5 pitches180 m

The Dent d'Orlu (2222 m), the granite tooth whose slabby flanks hold the long bolted routes of the Orlu valley

France · Ariège Pyrenees

I Cal Ana

The friendliest introduction to the granite slabs of the Dent d'Orlu: six pitches of friction climbing with a few steeper steps, shorter and better bolted than the face's big classics. It is the route to do when the weather is unsure or the longer lines are out of reach.

5c6 pitches230 m

A view of the region, not this route's wall. The east face of the Dent d'Orlu, a sweep of striated gneiss slabs, seen from the Col de l'Egue; Pink Floyd climbs this face, the exact line is not marked.

France · Ariège Pyrenees

L'Aquelho Morto

A short multipitch on the sculpted granite dome below the Dent d'Orlu, and a change from the big slabs above: a friction slab, a surprisingly vertical wall, a steep 6a corner and crack that finishes with a thin traverse, and a long slab to the top.

6a5 pitches120 m

Around 6b+ · about 12 pitches

Similar elsewhere

The Crescendo cave on the south face of Telendos; Eterna climbs the wall to its left.

Greece · Kalymnos & Telendos

Eterna

Eleven pitches up the south face of Telendos on extraordinarily sculpted rock, finishing with a 50 m wall of flint-like knobs. Two 6b+ pitches low down are the cruxes and the grades are widely called friendly. With the boat or coastal walk in and the walk off over the island, it makes a full and memorable day.

6b+11 pitches265 m

The Geierwand above Haiming seen from the car park; Nebraska takes the left side of the wall from bottom to top

Austria · Inntal (Haiming Geierwand)

Nebraska

bergsteigen.com calls this the best route on the Geierwand: steep, almost always vertical pocket climbing on the left side of the wall. The hardest move comes on pitch 2, but the upper half stacks several 6b pitches one after another and tires the forearms. Recommended to climbers who are comfortable at 6b.

6b+13 pitches355 m

Looking down on the Pedra Longa stack and the coast from high on Atlantide

Italy · Sardinia

Atlantide

A 400 m plaisir route above Pedra Longa with the sea behind you all day. Eight easy, vegetated pitches lead to a steep finish: the last three or four pitches, up to 6b, are the real climbing. Closely bolted throughout; the long abseil descent through bushes needs care.

6b12 pitches400 m

The north-west face of Anića kuk in evening light; the route is not marked.

Croatia · Paklenica

Besmrtnici

A modern line by B. Čujić and I. Matković up the full height of the Trapez sector of Anića kuk: ten pitches, 360 m, steady between 5c and 6b+. It starts right of the classic Mosoraški, crosses it in the upper middle part and finishes to its left. Slabs low down, then a vertical crack, superb vertical slab pitches, a huge corner with a chockstone and an exposed traverse.

6b+10 pitches360 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.