Probable the best crag in the World - Ceuse by Gary Philips
 


On the left hand side of Berlin sector are the steeper and harder routes, Blocage violent at 7b+ is one of the most famous 7b+ in France. Put up by Edlinger, it sports six bolts in 25 meters which is nice! There are no particularly hard moves on this masterpiece, but then it does not let up until you clip the chains. This is the route to do if you climb at this level. Other routes beside it include Berlin 7c and la colour du vent 8a, these two routes climb impressive blue streaks.

Click here to view larger imageMoving away from Berlin sector, we pass under Biographie sector and you guess the home of Biographie. This route again takes a brilliant blue streak up the monumentally steep wall. The route is 40 meters long and initially redpointed to half height at an impressive grade of 8c+. The extension was finally redpointed by Chris Sharma in the summer of 2001 after several years on the project and renamed 'Realization' (French 9a+).
Biographie is probably the ultimate prize at Ceuse if you're good enough!
To the left of this route is Les Collonettes 7c+, which climbs an impressive tufa.

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After the neck cranking lines, the angle kicks back and we arrive at sector Demi Lune.
The good routes here are La Femme noir 7c and La Femme Blanche 8a+. Falling of theses routes is out of control, the distance between the bolts are up to 6 meters!
Dropping the grades now we have Harley Davidson 6b+ and Mary Lou 6b. Both are again fine specimens of technical pocket pulling on nice holds. For the super fit there are another 10 routes graded between 5c+ and 6a.

Next sector around the corner is Un Pont sur l'infini, this sector is one huge slab with some real desperate and technical gems. Some good routes to go for are Equinoxe 6c, La Galere 7a, Beaux mouvements sur fond bleu 7a+, Ca Cartoon 7a+ and the ultra steep Bourinator 8a.

The final sector and certainly one of the most impressive is the Grande Face. Here you will find multi pitch routes and very few people.
Click here to view larger imageAll routes and belays like the rest of Ceuse are well bolted. If you are up to it, then Inesperance is the must do route 6a+/6b+/6c+/7a. Hanging at the belay at the end of the second pitch, you look up to see what looks like a completely blank wall.
It is not until you get climbing though that, the deep pockets start showing up. Before long, you find yourself doing crossovers, undercutting and all sorts of technical moves. The final 7a pitch finishes up some water runnels where the climbing becomes hard and exposed. On top you can enjoy the views before descending the via ferrata.

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