Petzl "Roc Trip," Targasonne, France, May/June 2004

Bring in some of the world's best climbers, video shows, and a live DJ; invite the rest of the world, and mix all together at a bouldering area: What you have is a Petzl "Roc Trip." Over 500 climbers arrived in Targasonne on the last weekend of May 2004 drawn to the area from all across France and Spain -- and in some cases, much further away. Everyone came to enjoy good weather, a friendly atmosphere and hundreds of great boulder problems.

Targasonne is a tiny hamlet in the French Pyrenees just a few kilometres from the Spanish border (and west of the French town Font-Romeu). The developing area "Le Chaos de Targasonne" is a hillside of hundreds of blocks of high quality granite shaded by woodland and interspersed with meadows at around 6000 feet.

Sure, the conditions may have been a little warm on the Saturday of the meet but with such stars as Olivier Lebreton, Julian Nadiras and Antony Lamiche (just to mention a few of the huge contingent from France), Mauro Calibani (from Italy), Pedro Pons, Josune Bereziartu, and Dani Andrada (from Spain), Lisa Rands, Dave Graham and Chris Sharma (from U.S.A.), there was no shortage of hard climbing getting done.

Most amazing was the quantity and quality of the new lines being climbed, which will certainly help in placing this quiet backwater on the map of international bouldering. Sharma and Lamiche were the main protagonists of first ascents, cleaning and climbing at least six outstanding lines between them. Perhaps the finest of these was one that Sharma climbed just before Lamiche -- a long-gazed-at steep arête at the Chapeau de Napoleon area (by the Targasonne campsite). This fantastic arête is about 25 feet high requiring big committing moves between good crimps to give a Mandala-esque, off-the-deck, V9/10.

The hardest FA came from Lamiche with a hanging face -- Stabauu! (V12) -- 30 metres below the famed Thanatadrome boulder in the main area. That line remained unrepeated, but another of Lamiche's contributions, a V10 face nearby, saw repeats from both Chris Sharma, and Lisa Rands. Lisa pulled off this V10 -- Absynthe -- at her second attempt. She also nailed a second V10 -- a roof -- and a powerful V9 on the same afternoon!

The "Roc Trip" was a chance for we visitors to climb with some of the best boulderers in the world. The rock was clean and solid, sometimes a touch sharp, but with enough variety by way of slopers and occasional pockets, plus slabs, overhangs and faces to accommodate all styles of climbing. All around the area, on this hillside and others, there remains much "chaos" to be explored at Targasonne.


-- Story and photos by Wills Young