Roc Aiguille (Pas de Soucy) · Gorges du Tarn · France
The easiest way up the Roc Aiguille, a slender tower above the Pas de Soucy. A polished 5c corner and an odd crawl through a slot lead to three pitches of big holds on compact rock, then an airy traverse along the summit arête with a view straight down the gorge. Popular: expect queues in summer.
Climbing mode: Big type, screen kept awake, tick pitches as you go.
Highest point 700 m above sea level (camptocamp route 346713).
5cVI5.95 pitches · 100 mBail with caveats
Iséki climbs the north-east side of the Roc Aiguille, the narrow limestone needle that stands over the Pas de Soucy boulder choke in the Gorges du Tarn. It is the classic first multi-pitch of the gorge: five short pitches, a technical corner to start, then juggy walls and a final traverse along the exposed summit ridge. The face is in shade for much of the day, which makes it a good choice in hot weather. The route is busy; one party reported an hour's wait on 1 May 2026.
The atlas doesn't show topos: they are the work of the people who bolt and document these routes. See the topo at camptocamp.org, or in Les Gorges du Tarn.
| Pitch | Grade | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| P1 | 5cVI5.9 | Straight up the corner, technical and a little polished, with some stacked blocks to treat gently; an intermediate belay is possible at about 25 m. Then an easy but awkward crawl to the right through a slot, done on your stomach, to R1. Communication with the second is poor. You can skip this pitch by continuing up the approach path and arriving from the right, as for Youna. |
| P2 | 5aV+5.7 | Trend slightly left at first; do not follow the line further right. Short. |
| P3 | 5aV+5.7 | Straight up on big holds. Pitches 2 and 3 are often linked (about 50 m). |
| P4 | 4cV5.6 | Up the far side of the tower with lots of exposure, on big holds. |
| P5 | 4cV5.6 | Traverse along the summit arête following the glue-in bolts, not the line of plates on the left. Stop at the chained abseil station about 10 m below the true summit. Pitches 4 and 5 can be linked (about 45 m). |
Drive the D907bis along the gorge to the Pas de Soucy, between Les Vignes and Le Rozier. Park in the large car park on the right of the road about 500 m beyond the Pas de Soucy viewpoint, or at the canoe landing nearby.
About 15 to 25 minutes. Walk back along the road towards Sainte-Enimie and take the path signed with a yellow marker for climbing sector B1, which climbs steeply through the woods on wooden steps behind a low stone wall. Keep left at each junction. For Iséki, take the lower path on the left in front of the second B1 sign, near the wall: the start is the obvious corner. Several parties report losing the path, so follow the yellow B1 signs.
Loading map
The point marks the base of the route.
Coordinates · route base
Point from camptocamp route 346713
Contains the route point.
Points from published sources, not surveyed.
Coordinates: 44.29213, 3.23526 (route base)
Abseil once, about 35 to 40 m, down the west slab from the chained station 10 m below the summit; the last few metres can be downclimbed if your rope is short. Then follow the steep path down the north side, with fixed ropes and iron rungs, back to the start. Allow about 40 minutes from summit to car.
Bail with caveats
The route is short and you descend by one abseil from the top anyway. The belays are bolted with two rings, so you can abseil from any of them, leaving a maillon or cord to join the rings. From R1 you can also walk off right onto the approach path.
10 quickdraws are enough, plus slings or a cordelette to link the two-ring belays. Ropes long enough for a 35 to 40 m abseil. Helmet. The route has been climbed in approach shoes.
North-east facing at about 600 to 700 m, so mostly in shade; parties in June 2025 and August 2024 climbed in shade, and an August 2026 party had sun on the route from 10:00 and on the summit ridge from 08:45. Climbable from spring to autumn. Very busy in summer and at weekends.
Forecast · next 7 days · 700 m
Loading the forecast.
| Measure | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High °C | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Low °C | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Rain mm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Chance of rain % | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Strongest gusts km/h | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Model forecast for 700 m. It cannot tell you whether the rock is dry. Data: Open-Meteo, CC BY 4.0.
Time plan · 5 pitches
Working out sunrise and sunset.
An estimate. Queues and route finding cost time, and shaded walls go dark before sunset. Local time (Central European time), flat horizon.
Sun on the wall · NE-facing
Working out the sunlit hours for this month.
Sun on the wallDaylight, wall in shade● Usual season
From the aspect alone; terrain is ignored. Local time, 15th of each month.
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr (usual season) | May (usual season) | Jun (usual season) | Jul | Aug | Sep (usual season) | Oct (usual season) | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean daily high °C | 7 | 8 | 12 | 15 | 19 | 23 | 26 | 26 | 21 | 16 | 11 | 8 |
| Mean daily low °C | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 2 |
| Rain days 1 mm or more | 11 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 12 | 11 | 11 |
● usual season. 1991-2020 averages at about 462 m; rain is for a 10–25 km grid cell. Weather and climate data: Open-Meteo, CC BY 4.0.
Straight-line distances, up to 30 km.
No reports yet.
France · Gorges du Tarn
A quieter, easier neighbour to Iséki on the Roc Aiguille, bolted in 2022. Mostly grade 4 climbing on big holds, with one fine technical 5b+ pitch, on excellent compact rock and mostly in shade.
5b+VI-/VI5.8+5b+VI-/VI5.8+5 pitches110 m
France · Gorges du Tarn
A varied modern route up the Fadarelles pillar, finishing almost at the Point Sublime viewpoint. A hard, airy traverse on pitch 2, two lovely steep pitches on big holds, and a wild final traverse to a hanging abseil from a rope swing. Short pitches, great position.
6a+VII-5.10b6a+VII-5.10b7 pitches
Read the cautions
Around 5c · about 5 pitches
Italy · Gaeta & Sperlonga
The easiest and one of the most repeated long routes on the Gaeta sea cliff. You abseil to a terrace just above the waves, traverse left, pull one polished 5c move and then climb chimneys and clefts beside a huge detached needle to the cliff top. The setting is the attraction: bridging in a chimney hanging over the sea.
5cVI5.95cVI5.95 pitches155 m
Committing
Austria · Inntal (Haiming Geierwand)
The easiest worthwhile line on the lower tier of the Geierwand. Most people know only its first pitch as a single-pitch climb, but four more good pitches continue to the big ledge on edges and pockets, with a long traverse and a short chimney in the middle. Mostly around 5a with a few 5c passages.
5cVI5.95cVI5.95 pitches130 m
Switzerland · Bernese Jura (La Heutte & St-Imier)
An ideal first multipitch: five short pitches of cracks, corners and slab on good, little-polished limestone, with very close bolting and an easy walk down. A single move on the last pitch is 5c/6a but goes easily at A0.
5cVI5.95cVI5.95 pitches125 m
Spain · Riglos & Agüero (Mallos)
A morning-sun route at the quieter Agüero mallos. Easy slabs separate two fine steep walls, including a superb vertical 5c plaque on pitch 4. Take care with some loose cobbles on the last traverse.
5cVI5.95cVI5.95 pitches145 m
Researched and aggregated by AI from published sources, last compiled October 2026. It can be wrong, and bolts, anchors and access change: check a current guidebook and read the disclaimer.