Mayreste Inférieur · Verdon · France
CommittingBolting confidence: high
Five long, steep pitches below the Mayreste viewpoint, sustained at 6a+ to 6b on compact, sharp rock that sees far less traffic than the Escalès. A scrappy start leads to a fine orange wall, an airy traverse, grey slabs and bulges, and a short last pitch with one fierce bouldery move that most parties pull through. You abseil down the line first.
The route
Pour le meilleur et pour le spit climbs the lower Mayreste cliff, at the western end of the gorge. You abseil in from the rim down the line of the route and climb back out in five pitches of 25 to 45 m, 190 m in all. Twenty-eight outings are logged on camptocamp and the recent ones agree: after a few poor metres at the start it is a steep, continuous and well-bolted route on new-feeling rock, with real exposure for a wall of modest height. The grade is 6b for everything except one move on the last pitch, a short boulder problem given 6b+ that several parties think is 6c or harder; it has been equipped to go on aid. The second pitch often seeps.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 6a/6a+ | 40 m | Dubious, unattractive ground at the start, then a much better yellow and orange wall where the rock can still move. The start has been well cleaned but holds need choosing. |
| P2 | 6a+ | 45 m | Across to the left, then straight up. Better rock, but the first 20 m often seep; parties in 2023 and 2024 found it dry, and one in 2025 found it wet and started up the neighbouring route instead. |
| P3 | 6b | 45 m | Straight up, an airy traverse right, then a fine sustained slab: crack, overhang, traverse and compact grey rock in one pitch. Some rope drag at the end. |
| P4 | 6b | 35 m | Straight up a fine grey wall, with a move at the start, another right at the top and sustained climbing between: overhanging in places, with successive bulges to read. One party suggests 6b+. |
| P5 | 6b+ (A0) | 25 m | Straight up to the top station. Short, with doubtful rock in the first metres and the difficulty concentrated in one very well protected bouldery move, on a leftward traverse, that parties rate 6c to 6c+. It can be aided. |
Getting there
From La Palud-sur-Verdon drive the D952 towards Moustiers-Sainte-Marie and park at the Belvédère de Mayreste.
From the car park take the path, marked by a small sign, towards the viewpoint. A little after the iron railings climb down the small rock band and follow the cairned path. Keep following the cairns to the right as you descend and do not go back under the viewpoint, which is the way to other routes. Head right to a station with a rather long chain at the top of a pillar. Make five abseils of 25, 35, 35, 40 and 40 m down the route, using its belays, except for the last abseil, which is offset. At the bottom follow the foot of the wall to the right and start at a comfortable block or flake. A 2023 party took 1 h for the abseils. The same abseils serve the popular Tarabiscotage Verdonesque, and parties heading for Spit Pocker have ended up on this line by mistake.
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Parking
Belvédère de Mayreste on the D952 (camptocamp access waypoint 376636)
Point from camptocamp waypoint 1750035 (Verdon - Mayreste Inférieur)
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: 43.77630, 6.27888 (crag) · Parking: 43.77594, 6.28216
Getting down
The route ends at the chained station you abseiled from. Walk back up the cairned path to the viewpoint and the car park.
Retreat
Committing
The belays of the route are the stations of the abseil line you came down, so descending from any belay is simple. It only returns you to the foot of the wall, though, and no source describes a way out from there on foot: the exit is to climb this route or a neighbour of similar grade.
Partly inferred from the route facts
Safety
Sun and weather
The wall faces roughly south, according to trip reports: the first pitch is in shade at 10:00, and the sun reached the first belays at about 11:00 to 12:00 in late September and May. Parties have climbed it from late March to mid-November, and found it hot in full sun in early May. A November 2023 party notes the mistral had to drop first.
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.
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar (usual season) | Apr (usual season) | May (usual season) | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep (usual season) | Oct (usual season) | Nov (usual season) | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean daily high °C | 7 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 18 | 23 | 26 | 26 | 21 | 16 | 11 | 8 |
| Mean daily low °C | −1 | −2 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 11 | 7 | 3 | −1 |
| Rain days 1 mm or more | 7 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 8 |
● marks the usual climbing season. Averages for 1991-2020 at about 822 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
15 quickdraws for the long pitches and 2 slings, as listed on camptocamp. Two ropes for abseils of up to 40 m. 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 Pour le meilleur et pour le spit.
Worth knowing
Open questions
Provenance
Same area
France · Verdon
A modern (2019) line up a staircase of limestone pillars above the Chalet de la Maline, with short walking links between them. Harder than its old 6a grade suggests: recent parties report obligatory 6a+/6b moves on the first three pitches, and the last pitch is 6b+ or A0.
6b+10 pitches300 m
Read the cautions
France · Verdon
The easiest way to climb out of the Verdon gorge: a long, wandering ridge of short pitches at grade 3 and 4 that starts close to the river and finishes near the rim road. The climbing is modest but the setting is the full Verdon. You walk down a steep path with fixed ropes to reach the start, so the route is your way back up.
4c9 pitches180 m
Read the cautions
France · Verdon
Seven pitches of compact grey water-pocketed wall high above the mouth of the Verdon gorge, with a view over the Lac de Sainte-Croix. It zigzags a great deal, so both leader and second need to be happy on traverses. A short, bouldery 6c+ bulge (6a/A0) is the only move above 6b+, and the final pillar pitch is the highlight.
6c+7 pitches160 m
Committing
France · Verdon
One of the few Verdon multipitches at an even 5b: five short pitches on featured grey limestone above the Baou Béni, with a 6a variant for the third pitch. The approach is part of the outing: you go down a 100 m wall on fixed ropes, the escape route of the Mainmorte canyon. Well bolted and popular as a first Verdon route.
5b+5 pitches120 m
Around 6b+ · about 5 pitches
Spain · Mallorca (Sa Gubia)
A weaving line up the shady right-hand side of the bay through dramatic ground: an exposed wall, a traverse under a bulge to tufas and bolted-on holds, a superb rising leftward traverse on immaculate rock to a hanging belay, and a traverse back right to an open groove. Originally an aid pitch in the middle, now free at 6b+.
6b+5 pitches100 m
Read the cautions
Austria · Ötztal
A mix of slabs and steep, juggy passages in the Sonnenblume sector, mostly around 5b to 5c+. The one hard move is a small roof on pitch 4 (6b+), which goes easily on aid.
6b+5 pitches170 m
Spain · El Chorro
The direct line just right of Amptrax, following what used to be that route's abseil descent. Two easy pitches lead to two good ones that each start with a bulge out of a cave: a 6a+ and then the 6b+ crux, short and powerful before a vertical grey wall on good holds. The rock is compact and the belays are comfortable.
6b+5 pitches155 m
France · Cerces
A short, varied route on the first tower of the Queyrellin ridge above the Chardonnet hut: a slabby ramp, a traverse across a grey slab and an exposed pillar on exceptional rough limestone. Continuous 5c to 6a with one aidable 6b+ step on poorer yellow rock and a thin 6b move on the pillar. The last three pitches are airy.
6b+5 pitches170 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.