Les Gillardes – Petite Roche · Dévoluy · France
Bail not documentedBolting confidence: high
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.
The route
Les Maîtres du Jeu climbs the Petite Roche of Les Gillardes in two bastions separated by a ledge. The lower part has the atmosphere: a grey slab and overhangs to start, a superb flint wall on pitch 3, an orange corner, a technical traverse and vertical wall on pitch 5 (the crux and the best pitch) and a weaving 45 m pitch. Above the ledge the climbing is a little calmer, on flint and then conglomerate. Parties find the grades fair, with no real 6c move for some, and the climbing more on the feet than on the arms. Obligatory grade 6b.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 6a+ | 25 m | A grey slab, then an overhang; short, with the hard part at the small overhang. Belay between the two overhangs. |
| P2 | 6a | 35 m | An overhang, then slab. Chained belay well right of the crest of the pillar, shared with the Abert-Devantay. |
| P3 | 6b | 30 m | Go right, not straight up the gold hangers, to reach a superb wall on flint. |
| P4 | 6b+ | 45 m | Trend right to the obvious orange corner; belay under the roof. |
| P5 | 6c | 30 m | A technical traverse on good holds, then a vertical wall. Superb and airy; the best pitch for several parties. |
| P6 | 6b+ | 45 m | Weaves up a magnificent flint wall. Manage the rope drag. |
| P7 | 5c | – | A grey wall to a belay at the start of the ledge, then up and leftwards along the ledge (one bolt) to a belay on two hangers; a tree and a single bolt on the right are not the belay. Camptocamp lists the ledge traverse as a separate ungraded pitch and says the two link on a 50 m rope; a 2026 party confirms it just fits, with drag, and warns not to fall at the end above the stones. |
| P8 | 5c+ | 30 m | Start right of an overhang in white rock; fairly short with one thin move. Belay just after the tree. |
| P9 | 6b+ | 45 m | Flint and more flint. |
| P10 | 6b | 35 m | Left, then a steeper section on very abrasive orange rock. |
| P11 | 6a+ | – | A long flight on flint. |
| P12 | 6a | – | Short, on flint and then conglomerate. It can be linked with the previous pitch by skipping bolts; watch the drag. |
| P13 | 5c | – | Entertaining conglomerate, shared with Association de Bienfaiteurs. |
Getting there
From Grenoble take the road via La Mure and Corps, cross the Sautet dam and go through La Posterle (Pellafol) into the Souloise gorge. Park on the right just before the Pont de la Baume, beside the large information panels. A 2026 party travelled by bus to Corps and then by bicycle, returning by train from Clelles.
About 20 min. Cross the bridge and immediately take the handrail that descends on the left. Follow the path up the scree to the foot of the wall. The route starts a few metres to the right of where you arrive, with 'LMDJ' painted discreetly; a 2026 party says to aim for the classic Association de Bienfaiteurs.
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Parking
Pont de la Baume (camptocamp waypoint 131555)
Point from camptocamp waypoint 1057957
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: 44.75568, 5.89212 (crag) · Parking: 44.75100, 5.88472
Getting down
Continue to the top over steps of grade III, taking care with the many embedded blocks. Pick up the path near the rim, soon marked in yellow, and follow it south down to the hamlet of Les Jouves, then return along the road to the Pont de la Baume (about 3 km; several parties hitch). Camptocamp allows 1 h 30 min; parties report about 1 h.
Retreat
Bail not documented
Retreat is not described by any source. The descent is on foot from the top and nothing says whether the belays are equipped for abseiling, apart from one chained belay at the top of pitch 2. One party did turn back from pitch 3 in a storm, without saying how. The ledge between the two bastions is crossed by other routes, but no escape along it is documented.
Partly inferred from the route facts
Safety
Sun and weather
North-west facing from about 1100 m. The wall is in shade in the morning; the upper part gets the sun in the early afternoon (pitch 10 to 12 for parties starting around 8:00) and is then very hot in summer. The upper part is exposed to wind. Reports run from late April to August.
Sun on the wall · NW-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
15 quickdraws, several extendable. No source states the rope; pitches reach 45 m and the descent is on foot. 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 Les Maîtres du Jeu.
Worth knowing
Open questions
Provenance
Around 6c · about 13 pitches
France · Calanques
The big modern classic of the Calanques: eleven pitches in three tiers from the foot of the Candelle plinth to the summit, sustained in the sixth grade on grey water-pocketed limestone above the sea. Two walking ledges split the day and offer escapes. The eighth pitch, a 6b+ diagonal along a flake, is the one people remember.
6c11 pitches320 m
Switzerland · Grimsel
Fourteen pitches up the Gelmerfluh next to Sagittarius, and by several accounts the better route: a knife-cut flake, a finger-to-hand crack worthy of Chamonix, corners, a pendulum and Grimsel slab, then easier quartz-veined walls to the top. Mostly 5c to 6a, with two short slab cruxes that almost everyone aids.
6c+14 pitches400 m
Spain · Aragonese Pyrenees (Tena & Canfranc valleys)
A big, fully bolted mountain route straight up the middle of a wall of the Peña Foratata to its summit. Three technical corner pitches at 6b+ low down and a 6b and a 6a above the grass terrace, separated by easy transition pitches. Short pitches by design, a long descent, and a seasonal closure for bearded vultures until the end of July.
6b+14 pitches420 m
Read the cautions
Italy · Arco & Valle del Sarca
Steep, athletic corner climbing on the Mandrea wall above Arco, with pocketed slabs where the corner turns loose. Mostly 6a to 6b with a harder move on pitch 5 and the crux in the last pitch; both go at A0. The long layback corner near the top is the pitch people remember.
6c10 pitches275 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.