With the heat in the valley being well above average, climbing on the shady western side seemed like the best choice today. We could probably do with a few more days of resting, but decided to get up and out before the weekend when the cliffs are likely to be busier. It actually felt a little nippy as we walked up the shady scree slope to the base of a cliff that has been developed recently.

The views were great and with no threat of big storms, plenty of climbing and plenty of escape options, we enjoyed a nice long route.

After three pitches, the climb abseils down to the ground from one tower to the next, so it could easily be two separate climbs. Either way, it was nice to have a short option. After a picnic on the ground we decided that we had enough energy and good weather to do ‘part two’.

I’m glad we did as the climbing was at just the right grade (although a pull on a quickdraw did help upwards progress on the steep section!).

As I reached the final bolt belay a big raindrop landed on me. The skies were clouding up but not too threateningly. There were a few more drops while Clare sorted the ropes for our descent, but luckily it didn’t amount to much.

We abseiled 33m to a new chain belay, then instead of another 30m to a small path, did a big 60m abseil into the gully that took us almost to our bags. From there it was a 20min hike back to the road.

We stopped briefly in Ailefroide, but (feeling a hit hit and exhausted), decided to head home for showers and a snack then returned to meet Dave and Elle for a drink in a deck chair in the hotel garden. A nice finish to a nice day.

Ailefroide, Sector Alcool:

• Picon-Bière, 5c, 5c+, 3b, (rappel), 5c, 5c, 5b, 5c+, (2xrappels)