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Are there local sport climbing crags in Geneva, Switzerland?

Original Post
Merrick Schaefer · · Washington, DC · Joined Mar 2016 · Points: 3,266

Hello,

I am going to be working in Geneva for a week at the end of the month. I am wondering if there are local crags really close to the city that people climb at. I know from walking along the lake that you can see a fair amount of rock nearby. I am primarily looking for sport climbing.

I have bouldered a fair amount in the middle and south of Switzerland but never anywhere near Geneva. From looking at the guide on Mountain Project it is really hard to tell if anything is super close to Geneva. I also picked up the Plaisir West guidebook but the closest crags to Geneva in that are 40 minutes away.

So if there are any locals or people who have lived in Geneva willing to give me some beta I would really appreciate it.

Best,

Merrick

Adrian Hill · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2002 · Points: 15

Saleve (there's an accent on the first 'e') is close to Geneva - an old
guidebook I have from the 1980's says 10km from city center. I remember
it was fairly close, though I don't remember the details anymore.
It can be a bit polished. We did a couple of routes that were multi-pitch
and a little sparsely bolted. I assume that they are all retro-bolted these
days, but I don't know for sure.

Adrian Hill · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2002 · Points: 15

I just Googled "grimper saleve" and found an on-line topo (26 pages) at

cactus-sports.ch/images/top…

Looks pretty comprehensive for the bouldering.

Also online there are some descriptions of routes (a guide from 1990).

Branty · · Boulder, CO · Joined Feb 2016 · Points: 380

Sorry if I'm late! For posterity:

Here is a list of crags in the Geneva area of varying quality (courtesy of CERN): http://info-climbing.web.cern.ch/info-climbing/ic-climbing_list.asp

Most of these places require a car. They're good to go to if you only have an afternoon or so, but if you have more time, go check out the Aguilles Rouges or anything else up by Mont Blanc. It's insane up there.

Some favorites are Leaz and Vovray (marked on map), along with a few Arve valley locations like Arvais. The Vesancy quarry sucks.

For the Salève (the prominent mountain you see when you look at Geneva), the Cactus Sport topo list mentioned above is fantastic: http://www.cactus-sports.ch/topos/topos.html
There's a ton of multipitches on Massif du Coin, and some bouldering nearby. I've been able to access Le Coin from some public bus before (with a border-crossing hike involved!)

Another fantastic spot on the left side of the Salève is Canapé, complete with its own '90s-style website! http://tambalotti.fr/topo_canape/default.html
Less polished and more recommended than most other spots.

         Grosses bises,
                Brant

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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