A week climbing in Buoux, France

For Easter this year, I spent a week sport climbing in Buoux, France with A, T, M from the DAV climbing group.

Buoux is located in the south of France, in the area of Luberon in Provence. It’s a beautiful area with many ruins and forts, delicious food and abundant sun.

We decided to stay at the Auberge des Seguins, which is a little hard to access without a car. So we drove (or my friends did, really need to learn to drive) from Berlin to Buoux. I was afraid of the 16h journey on the car even though I didn’t even have to drive, but it ended up being quite ok with some good company.

Before this trip, I had never heard of Buoux (pronounced “Bewx” by the way) - which seemed to have been a legendary 1980s sport climbing mecca known for its technical pocket-climbing on vertical limestone/sandstone.

Getting there & accommodation #

One could stay either in Bonnieux or Apt which are the nearby towns. We met some groups who were staying in a camp site in Bonnieux or there were a few parking spots near the crags where people camped out with their vans.

We decided to stay at the auberge, since it was at the center of all crags, all walking distance. I had imagined it to be a classic climbing hostel, but it was more like a mountain hut experience. We got the demi-pension that came with a 3 course dinner every night and breakfast! The food may have been the highlight, probably the best food I’ve had on a climbing trip in Europe.

The climbing #

The rock formations were often beautiful with a mix of limestone and sandstone in one route. Most classic crags on the western side of the auberge were pretty hard, sandbagged and runout, mostly starting from 6a (which felt more like a 6b). The rocks felt sharp despite them being quite old, very grippy but lost quite a bit of skin even from the first day.

This was my first sport climbing trip after my ulnar nerve injury last year, and felt quite weak and frustrated overall, but still enjoyed hanging out at the crag in the sun.

We climbed on 6 days in total (Scorpion, P1, Colorado, Les Rives De L’Aigebrun).

Note to self (for next time) #

I’d love to come back again when I’m much stronger. It’s also a nice place to maybe bring my parents since it offers not just climbing but also hiking, cycling and other sight-seeing options around the area (saturday markets, pretty cute villages). And the food is just amazing!

Coming to Provence also made me a bit nostalgic of the time back when I was living in the Pyrenees with M, there’s something about this place that makes me feel creative.