UKC

Any one been to Orpierre recently,  as in past couple of years? How did you find the grading compared to UK sport grades? What was the rock quality like?

Nipped there for a couple of days during a trip to the Ecrins earlier this month.

Didn't do a lot as I was climbing with my inexperienced girlfriend but the climbing we did was great. Some really interesting feature rock, it looks a bit scrappy in places but generally found the rock to be solid.

Quite a bit of polish around and some of the grades did feel a bit harsh (particular compared to parts of Spain) but as I say, we didn't climb loads of so many not a fair reflection.

Hope you enjoy it. It's a beautiful spot 😊

I was there last summer and it was great. I found the single pitch grades pretty true except where it was polished, which was more at the lower end (e.g 5/early 6s). The multi pitches did feel a bit stiffer for the grade. The rock quality was generally fine, a couple of the multi pitched required a bit of gardening and were dusty - worth checking the comments on the route pages for the best ones, I would say . Have a great time! 

Thanks for taking the time to reply, I'm looking forward to it.

You'll find less polish the further right you go, e.g. Les Blanches.

Went last February. Grading seems spot-on in the low grades (up to 6a), way more so than my experience of low-grade British sport. The rock is lovely, and I think I found only one move in an entire week of climbing where the hold was polished enough to give me serious pause for thought. I'd love to go back sometime - it's now very high up my list of favourite places.

If you get the opportunity, I thoroughly recommend you have a look at Le Maître de la Danse (5b). Amazing fun - and even more so if your partner isn't 'equipped' to deal with the 2m crack that guards the top-out.

Thanks for the tips. 

That multipitch sounds great from the route description. Definitely wanting to get some done whilst we're there.

It doesn't have a bad pitch on it (well, it does have one, but I refuse to count inclined bush-wacking as a real pitch!).