If Céüse Isn’t Perfect, What Is? A Photo Essay.

Green grass and wildflowers bend in the alpine breeze. Butterflies land on your head. Marmots chirp. Or were those unicorns? Break out the wineskin and marvel at stone in front of you.

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This essay was first published in Rock and Ice No. 267.

Céüse has a rep: The hour-long uphill march to the limestone crown is no joke. The routes, such as Chris Sharma’s Biographie (aka Realization), the world’s first 9a+/5.15a, and Bibligraphie, the second 9c/5.15d, as recently done by Alex Megos, are as lofty as the rock itself. And spicy, for it is here that Patrick Edlinger, who was happiest with big air under his feet, sank bolts in the mid 1980s, establishing the vibe. 

But there’s another side to Céüse. Its some 800 routes, sport mostly, are heavy on 5.10a to 5.12, and loads of them are easier than that. The two-mile-long horseshoe cliff has varied angles even Picasso would admire, and routes from short to five pitches. At 6,600 feet in elevation (there’s a ski area on the back side), and with aspects on all compass points, the walls simultaneously have sun and shade—pick your temperature. And, of course, the scuplted gold- and blue-streaked stone is the standard against which other limestone crags are measured. Savor a route, top out onto Céüse’s broad summit plateau, and experience yet another OMG moment. Here, green grass and wildflowers bend in the alpine breeze. Butterflies land on your head. Marmots chirp. Or were those unicorns? Sit, forget about your trip coming to a close, break out the fromage and the wineskin, and savor a 360-degree view of France’s Hautes-Alpes. Céüse, is there anywhere else? 

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