Les Tchôtrons - Voie du Tunnel

This unique and long climb has a different feel than its neighbors further left on the wall. In addition to climbing through the tunnel on P13, there are several outstanding pitches, including the crack system on P7 and the airy dihedral on P15. That said, it's worth keeping an eye on the conditions for this climb. Too early in the year, and the cave can hold snow/ice. In addition, after rain, the tunnel pitch takes longer to dry out than the other nearby routes.

P1 (5c): Climb up a nice corner system, then ramble over a grassy section.  Belay in a comfortable spot. 

P2 (5c+): Climb a face then enter a dihedral. 

P3 (5b+): Continue up this dihedral to the top of a small tower. 

P4 (5c+): Step out and left, then work your way up a wide crack system with fixed blocks. The climbing is a bit tricky, and the rock is somewhat broken. Clip a few fixed pins along the way if you like. 

P5 (5c): Again, steeper climbing eases off to lower-angle terrain. 

P6 (5b+): Move along a ledge out and right then work your way up to the base of a beautiful crack system on clean rock. 

P7 (6a): Fantastic pitch following a bolted crack on nearly perfect grippy gray lime stone. 

P8 (5b): Continue out on easier terrain to reach a comfy belay on a grassy ledge. 

P9 (3a): Move across the gully and scramble up a low-angle corner to the next belay. Also, a comfy spot. 

P10 (5c+): Then begin working your way up another dihedral system. This has some great cracks and is quite a joy. 

P11 (5c): Continue in this corner system of a way further. 

P12 (5a): The corn begins to end and turns to the left to reach the star of the tunnel 

P13 (4b): "The Tunnel" pitch. Its worth bringing a head lamp for this as it can be quite dark. The grade on this pitch can vary widely based on conditions. When were were there, it was a bit wet and muddy, which, from speaking with others, is quite common. That said, pulling on two pitons in the cave made it possible to aid through the muddy sections. Belay at a beautiful ledge. 

P14 (5a): Continue up and left until you reach an anchor in the corner where the route clearly goes right. There are 1-2 false belays on this pitch as other routes cross here.

Variation 1: There is a 6a variation of this pitch, but it was hard for me to know which it was. Please add here if you know more. 

P15 (5b): Fantastic pitch! This is as good a 5b limestone climbing as can get. It's a beautiful corner crack system located in an airy spot at the top of the miroir. 

P16 (5c): Follow bolts up as things progressively get looser. 

P17 (4a): Forge your own path. After the anchor, I didn't find any more bolts, although there are supposed to be a left and a right version. I found nearly the entire area was climbable. The bigger concern was not to pull off too many of the many loose rocks. Its worth thinking about where your partner is on this pitch in term of rockfall.

Descent: Walk left on the ridge until you meet the normal descent trail for the other routes. The ridge is quite exposed. 

Follow the approach to the start of the direct. Then work your way along the wall to the right to the lowest point on the wall. The start of the route is written in blue.

Gear: #0.3-#1, and 12-14 draws. As a general note in the guide books, they denote pitches 1-8 at gut+ and 9-17 as gut. I think this was a fair assessment. There were less bolts higher up.