Chockstone Forum

      Sponsored By
      ROCK
   HARDWARE

Chockstone Photography

Australian Landscape Prints

Chockstone Forum - Trip Reports

Tells Us About Your Latest Trip!

Topic Date User

Bumbling around Briançon 2-Sep-2014 At 6:02:10 AM Doug

Message

On 1/09/2014 Eduardo Slabofvic wrote:
>Doug,
>
>How would you describe the level of polish on the limestone routes you
>got on?

The visit is really just getting underway. So far we've climbed on granite twice (back to Ailefroide again tomorrow), quartz once and limestone twice. Nid d'Aigle was surprisingly unpolished given that it is such a classic. The crux overhang was quite polished, but it didn't matter because the holds were so big; the rest of the route was great. We had a look at a limestone sector today which reminded of Waterworks Quarry in Hobart, except maybe the rock was even worse: all held together by huge iron rods in places. Di had a bit of a look at one route that left here with some cuts on both hands, so it certainly wasn't polished. My guess - based on those two very limited exposures - is that is it probably depends on the particular crag. (Like you I am not a big fan of polished limestone.) I've noticed that the guidebook specifically mentions polished rock in some sectors so we will stay away from those. Maybe Vanessa has a bit to add?
Cheers
Doug