Dentelles de Montmirail

Peaks: Les Florets (620m), Dent du Turc (626m)
Area: Dentelles de Montmirail, Provence
Routes: NW Arete (uII), Chambre du Turc route (uII)
Last night's thunderstorm passed over in the early hours, but the rain did not relent. We were eventually forced to evacuate the campsite and head for a motel in Bollene. After an hour or two drying out, I realised we still had most of the day left, our last before heading north and home, so we decided to put the original plan into action and forget about the weather. I drove down through the Rhone Villages vineyards to Gigondas, which even in torrential rain looked like paradise on earth. A delightful perched village, with vineyards all around producing its famously superb wine, and a sharply pinnacled limestone ridge rising above it giving hundreds of climbs at all grades. As so often in this part of the world, it just seems a little unfair to the visitor from less fortunate parts! After walking round the village in the rain, I ran up to the Col de Cayron with torrents of mud pouring down the unmetalled track, and jogged up the steep forest tracks to the climber's path traversing the crags below the main summit of the Dent du Turc. This looks like a spire from both sides, but there is a rather remarkable 'voie normale' up it. However, I had no guidebook so initially looked for a way onto the spine of the ridge after an enjoyable though slippery scramble gained a col between the Dent and Les Florets. I spied a square-cut groove just left of the ridge crest and took this - very wet - up to the Florets ridge, which was quite spectacular even in this weather. After descending I followed a path below the Dent du Turc but couldn't find any feasible route. After returning to the col, however, I did spot some old route markers. These led up slabby shelves, fine scrambling, to some cables which give access to the Chambre du Turc - a large (bone dry!) cave. Amazingly, a green arrow pointed upwards at the back of the chamber, so I followed it, squeezing into a tight slanting tunnel that twisted up and round towards daylight. A further wet squirm through a puddle saw me pop out of the tunnel to gain a ledge above the west face and an easy scramble to the top. Unexpected, to say the least! I was completely soaked to the skin by now, because the rain did not relent throughout. After reversing the scramble, I ran flat out back to the car, arriving less than an hour after leaving.