Ravin des Échos – L'envers de la Cathédrale · Gorges de la Jonte · France
Bail with caveatsBolting confidence: high
A recent five-pitch route with unusually generous bolting for the Jonte. A long, fairly vertical 5c+ wall is followed by a traverse, a gully and an optional squeeze through a horizontal slot to a belay in a cave. Shaded in the morning and again from mid-afternoon.
The route
This 2024 route starts from a small beginners' sector in the ravine behind the Cathédrale tower and works up to the rim in five pitches. The second pitch is the main event: 35 m of sustained, near-vertical wall with a few thin moves. After a rightward traverse the route takes the side of a gully and, in its original form, crawls left through a horizontal fault to a belay inside a cave. Trip reports consistently describe the protection as plentiful, which is rare here, and the grade as accessible. An 'extension' (6a+) and the neighbouring Pégase can be linked for a longer day.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 5b | 15 m | Straight up the left-hand line of the short beginners' routes to a chained belay. |
| P2 | 5c+ | 35 m | Carry on straight up a long, fairly vertical wall. Sustained with a few thin moves. Two belays: a comfortable one that is not linked and a less comfortable chained one. |
| P3 | 5a+ | 20 m | Traverse right, with some down-climbing at the start, to a belay at the end of the traverse. You can skip it and continue to the next belay at the foot of the gully, which makes about 35 m. |
| P4 | 5c | 30 m | Follow the glue-ins on the right side of the gully (a cord marks the first). Once stood on the jammed block, squeeze into the horizontal fault on the left to find the belay in the cave. You can instead exit straight up on older hangers and skip the caving. |
| P5 | 5a+ | 15 m | A short pitch to a final belay on a tree. |
Getting there
The Jonte gorge starts at Le Rozier, about 20 km east of Millau: drive via Aguessac and the lower Tarn gorge to Le Rozier, then take the D996 towards Meyrueis. The main car park is a few kilometres past Le Rozier, on both sides of the road beside an SOS phone post; smaller lay-bys further up the road are closer to the Bitard and Fusée paths. Spaces are limited, so park nose-in. Le Rozier and Peyreleau have campsites, gîtes, shops and a cash machine, some of them seasonal; Meyrueis has services all year. Wild camping is banned in the gorge.
From the car park with the SOS phone post follow the path up to the Cathédrale; signs lead as far as the ravine. At the foot of the Cathédrale go right to the ravine of 'l'envers de la Cathédrale', where there is a small beginners' sector on glue-ins facing the hard routes on the back of the tower. The route is the leftmost line, just before a yellow fixed rope that drops into the ravine. Allow 30 minutes; two parties needed time to find the start.
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Parking
D996 Cirque des Vases car park by the SOS phone post (camptocamp waypoint 187443)
Point from camptocamp waypoint 188274 (La Jonte - Ravin des Échos)
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: 44.19639, 3.22639 (crag) · Parking: 44.19222, 3.22556
Getting down
Join the path 10 m north-east of the exit. Either walk about 50 m and find the first abseil on the left (two ropes round a tree and a ring): abseils of 10 m, 20 m and 25 m down a dry canyon, the last avoidable by a squeeze, then continue down the ravine to the start. Or walk to the top of the ravine of 'l'envers de la Cathédrale' and descend it with the fixed ropes. An April 2025 party advises going straight down on the less obvious fixed ropes near the bottom, not the ones leading right towards the tower, to avoid an abseil and an exposed traverse.
Retreat
Bail with caveats
The first two belays have chains, so retreat from the lower wall looks simple. After the traverse on pitch 3 no source describes going back down, and the normal way off is to finish the route.
Partly inferred from the route facts
Safety
Sun and weather
South-west and west facing limestone at about 700 m, in shade in the morning and again from mid-afternoon, which makes it a better warm-weather choice than the south faces. The local club says the gorge is climbable all year with planning and should be avoided in a strong south-east wind. One party found the cave section slightly damp the day after rain but passable.
Sun on the wall · SW-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 Gorges de la Jonte are not available yet
What to carry
Quickdraw numbers per pitch are not published; camptocamp suggests about 20 if you link the first two pitches. The longest pitch is 35 m and the longest abseil 25 m, so a single rope covers it; no source states a rope length. 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 La canicule t'emballe ?.
Worth knowing
Open questions
Provenance
Same area
France · Gorges de la Jonte
Probably the most approachable multipitch in the Jonte: four pitches of grade 3 and 4 on excellent, juggy rock up the right side of a pillar, with solid chained belays where leader and second stay in sight. Vultures circle past by late morning. The walk-off needs a little care.
4c4 pitches100 m
France · Gorges de la Jonte
The pillar that gives the sector its name, climbed in four short pitches on grey, well-featured rock. The third pitch is a sustained vertical crack and the best of the route. It is the usual first multipitch for visitors because the bolts are closer than elsewhere in the gorge.
5c4 pitches100 m
France · Gorges de la Jonte
A four-pitch face route in the Bitard sector that starts easily and then asks for careful footwork on a traversing slab and a steeper wall of flakes. Freshly rebolted in 2022, but you still climb between the bolts. Very popular with groups.
5c4 pitches130 m
Read the cautions
France · Gorges de la Jonte
Five pitches beside the Fusée monolith, built around a superb 35 to 40 m corner that ends under a big roof and escapes left across a wildly exposed but easy traverse. Rebolted in 2012 and better protected than most routes here. Rated a must at the grade by several recent parties.
6a5 pitches120 m
Around 5c+ · about 5 pitches
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.
5c+5 pitches130 m
Read the cautions
Austria · Ötztal
Five pitches of juggy gneiss wall and arêtes on the left side of the Nösslachwand, finishing up a slightly overhanging corner that you bridge. Not very demanding but athletic for the grade, with the crux right at the top.
5c+5 pitches150 m
Switzerland · Glarus (Brüggler)
Five pitches beside the big corner below the summit, topping out right at the Brüggler's summit cross. The first pitch is the 5c+ crux and the last has a single 5c move; the middle is easier and not very sustained, with a short vegetated traverse.
5c+5 pitches200 m
Committing
Austria · Wilder Kaiser
A short climb on good to very good rock on the sunny side of the Kaiser above Ellmau. Rough slabs alternate with short steep passages, and a fine steep pillar provides the finish and the one move of 6-/6. Most of it is around UIAA 5 or easier.
5c+5 pitches135 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.