Les Gicons – Pierre au Lièvre · Dévoluy · France
Bail with caveatsBolting confidence: high
Six closely bolted pitches beside the great diagonal crack-chimney that splits the Gicons cliff, visible from the car park. Four pitches at about 5b on very grippy limestone lead to a crux where you either cross the chasm on two moves of 6b (or with the aiders in place) or climb the corner at 6a. Short, shaded until midday, and a good introduction to the Dévoluy.
The route
Le Rêve de Noémie starts in the Pierre au Lièvre sector of the Gicons sport crag and follows the left side of a deep cleft that runs almost from top to bottom of the cliff. The first four pitches are steady and sustained in the fifth grade on excellent, adherent rock. The fifth is a clear step up: the original line bridges across the cleft, and the alternative climbs the corner on its right bank with a thin finish. The route tops out on a broad spur cut off from the mountain by the cleft. It takes two to three hours.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Length | Bolts | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 5b+ | 22 m | 10 bolts | A steep wall. Grandevoie.com grades it 6a and gives 30 m, and says it is a little less closely bolted than the rest. |
| P2 | 5b | 30 m | – | Straight on above. There are two possible belays at the end; the upper one is more comfortable. |
| P3 | 5b | 30 m | – | More of the same. Links with pitch 4 if you watch the rope drag. |
| P4 | 5b | 20 m | – | Short and easier-angled, to a belay left of the deep cleft. |
| P5 | 6b | 25 m | – | Two options. The original line crosses the cleft with the help of a fixed rope bridge: two successive moves of 6b if you cross low in the chimney, or A1 on the aiders already hanging from the rope; climbing up the chimney on the left and crossing 1.5 m above the rope is about 5c. The other option is the corner on the right bank straight above the belay, 6a with a thin 5c+ finish. Either way it is well above the other pitches, with rope drag. |
| P6 | 5b | 25 m | – | An easy slab to the top (5a on grandevoie.com). A June 2026 party could not find the belay and used a sling on a spike. |
Getting there
From Corps on the N85 (Grenoble to Gap) cross the Sautet dam and drive up the Souloise gorge, beneath the Gillardes walls, to Saint-Disdier. Continue on the D917 towards Saint-Étienne-en-Dévoluy and after about 1 km take a small road on the left, past the 11th-century chapel known as the Mère Église, to the upper hamlet of Les Hauts Gicons. Turn right in the hamlet and park about 200 to 300 m further on at the large car park by the telecom mast (1362 m). There is no public transport. In June 2026 a party found the mast car park closed for works and parked a little further on.
From the car park the cliff and the cleft are in view. Take the main path straight up, leaving on the right the small track used for the return, to the Pierre au Lièvre sector of the Gicons crag. The route starts just left of the cleft, at the foot of the cables that give access to some single-pitch routes; the name is written at the base. Start rightwards: the first bolt is shared with the single pitch Le Petit Poucet, which then goes left. Allow 15 to 20 minutes.
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Parking
Les Hauts Gicons, car park by the telecom mast (camptocamp waypoint 124724)
Point from camptocamp waypoint 102990 (Les Gicons)
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: 44.73880, 5.91439 (crag) · Parking: 44.73579, 5.90940
Getting down
Pitch 6 comes out on a wide spur separated from the rest of the mountain by the cleft the route follows. Unrope and walk up about 50 m through vegetation beside the cleft, at first up a few steps of easy scrambling, to a small cairn at about 1650 m that marks a crossing to the right on a natural stone bridge. A few metres on you join the descent path from the Piéroux, which drops south down a bushy gully and swings back to the car park. Parties take 30 to 35 minutes.
Retreat
Bail with caveats
Retreat is not described by any source, but a 2023 party found all belays chained and the pitches are 30 m or less, so abseiling from the first four belays should be simple. Once you have crossed the cleft on pitch 5 it is easier to finish: one easy slab pitch remains and the descent is on foot.
Partly inferred from the route facts
Safety
Sun and weather
West to south-west facing between about 1500 m and 1700 m, in the shade until 12:00 to 13:00 in June, with a mix of sun and shade along the cleft later on. The Gicons crag is high but warms up quickly once the sun arrives. Reports run from June to early October.
Sun on the wall · W-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 Dévoluy are not available yet
What to carry
14 quickdraws, some of them long (grandevoie.com). Camptocamp gives no rope length; grandevoie.com carried a 2×40 m rope 'for safety', and the longest pitch is 30 m. A sling for the top belay.
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 Le Rêve de Noémie.
Worth knowing
Open questions
Provenance
Same area
France · Dévoluy
A recent line that has quickly become the friendly way to discover Les Gillardes: 350 m of vertical walls on flint edges, with fair grades and reassuring bolts on a cliff known for neither. Long, continuous pitches of 6b and 6b+, one of 6c, and a conglomerate finish.
6c13 pitches350 m
France · Dévoluy
Twelve pitches of easy slab on water-worn runnels up the east face of the Pic de l'Aiguille, above Gap, finishing on a summit at 2140 m. Never harder than 5b and mostly 5a, but long: allow four to five hours. The bolts are well placed and spaced, the rock is very grippy, and stonefall from the ledges and from walkers on the summit is the main thing to watch.
5b12 pitches300 m
Read the cautions
France · Dévoluy
Also known as Gic'N'Roll. A long, varied line up the south-west face of Pic Crillon, with the whole Dévoluy as a backdrop: flint-studded walls, a chimney, a fine layback corner and an airy spur, linked by easier and sometimes grassy pitches. By the easier variants it is a steady 5c outing; the original lines on pitches 6 and 10 add two 6a+ sections. You can walk off after pitch 8.
6a+11 pitches220 m
Read the cautions
France · Dévoluy
Steep, technical wall climbing up the west face of Pic Crillon on heavily sculpted limestone: seven pitches between 6a+ and 6c+ after an easy start, with good holds and rests but little that can be aided. It stays in the shade until early afternoon, so it works in a heatwave. Come with a 6c level to enjoy it; 6b is obligatory.
6c+9 pitches250 m
Around 6b · about 6 pitches
Spain · El Chorro
A good continuation above Nitti. Highlights are a short, thin 6b slab on P4 and a pumpy steep start to the final 6a+ pitch.
6b6 pitches138 m
Read the cautions
France · Dentelles de Montmirail
The best long outing on the Clapis south face: six pitches that start up easy slabs beside Vistemboir and then slant left across the orange ledges of the upper wall, with a horizontal crack traverse, a thin traverse on rough 'pebbledash' rock and a short, fierce 6b to finish. Technical climbing on very sculpted rock with plenty of atmosphere for a 150 m wall.
6b6 pitches150 m
Morocco · Todra Gorge (Todgha)
The most approachable route on the Scorpion wall. A thin 6a slab move on pitch 3 (A0 possible), then a jug-haul over a roof into a fine slab for the 6b. Some loose blocks at the top of the last pitch.
6b6 pitches150 m
Read the cautions
Austria · Ötztal
A varied line between Südwind and Amelie: slabs, then steep but juggy gneiss, a short, very well-bolted overhang as the crux, and a very long traversing pitch to finish.
6b6 pitches215 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.