Although situated at almost 1600 metres above sea level in the middle of the French Pyrenees, bouldering in Targasonne is still possible, and maybe at its best, in the beginning of March. We didn’t expect that when we drove from the coastal area up in the mountains, passing several skiing resorts in their peak of the season. Bare ground, a few spots with Galanthus nivalis brave enough to face the first spring and amazing friction met us in this beautiful granite playground. I mean, there is a reason for calling it a “chaos”. There exists a very nice topo though, Fred Bertin’s “The Chaos of Targasonne”, which is a nice help when you want to find the pearls of the hill. There are lots of boulders in all grades (in total more than 1000 problems), and all 17 sectors contain some super lines. The open sector of Dieux Païens is perfect for an evening session!
The climbing consists mainly of overhang, a lot of crimps, some round topouts and in some places slopers with an amazing friction. The rock is pretty damaging to the skin though, which is kind of frustrating when there is so much to explore. Spring and autumn is probably the best times for bouldering, but they told us at the campsite (La Griole) that the tent-spot is crowded even in the summer. We only had a little less than one week in Targa, but I will for sure come back. Probably several times and several weeks…
