Corsica is a very nice island to go climbing. The granit over there is really crazy and can take amazing shapes called « tafoni ». You can also find beautiful slabs or cracks. Bavella is the biggest equipped multipitch spot of the island.
How to get there
We, Denise and Mathieu, are two climbers from France. We had a bit less then 2 months to travel, so we started biking from home: Gap (mainland France). We went down to Cavalaire-Sur-Mer. We stopped on the way in the Verdon to climb a few days. It took us one week to bike down to the coast counting 3 days of climbing (250km, 2500D+).
From Cavalaire-sur-Mer we boarded on the « blue dolphin » and had 26 sailing hours to reach Corsica. We got in contact with Sandra, the boat captain, thanks to « la bourse aux equipiers » which is a sailpooling Facebook group. We had no experience in sailing and were very lucky that Sandra was interested in bringing us to Corsica, especially with the bikes !!
From Calvi we biked up to Corte (85km, 1300D+) where we discovered the amazing granit and stayed a few days. We then biked to Bavella. We chose to bike through the middle of Corsica, which is a lot of ups and downs, but was completely worth it for the landscapes and the road traffic. (140km, 3200D+). One section of our itinerary, was actually the GT20 (cycle tourist tour through Corsica). We climbed in Bavella for 2 weeks where we mostly chose the classics but crazy routes. After Bavella we biked to Bonifacio and then back to Calvi on the east coast.
You can find our Route Calvi->Bavella here:
Where to stay
Wild camping is not really allowed, but is the easiest option if you are with bikes... WARNING : the forest has many forest fires so be careful. Don’t consider wild camping from June to September.
Camping: the closest: U ponte grossu (from the camping to polischellu sector : 10km, 500m D+, 100m D-). If you consider this option, you can also easily hitchhike to the approach.
Hostel: at Bavella pass there is the auberge-bavella (from hostel to polischellu sector: 9km, 0m D+, 700 D- (->you slide down but the way back goes up steep).
How to reach the crag(s)
In Bavella we only climbed in Polischellu sector. From the road to Polischellu sector there are from 30min to 1h30 walk to the different cliffs. You can not push your bike to the cliff (to steep).
Tips
You will find supermarkets neerby Bavella in Solenzara (supermarket to polischellu sector 20km, 150m D-, 650m D+) and in Zonza (20km, 750m D+, 450m D-) -> steeper.
Uncontroles drinking water: You can find water at a source neer by Polischellu sector (between the parking of « contrefort de la punta rossa » and the Renaghju bridge).
Rest day: Go at the beach in Solenzara, also a good opportunity to buy some food. Go and have a small walk to the purcarracia waterfall, about 30 minutes walk from « blocca di larone ». Amazing spot to go !!
Other very nice spot to climb in Corsica: these spots are more convenient if you want to avoid wild camping and have better accommodation: Near by Corte there are very nice multipitches and sportive climbing (in the Restonica valley). Near by Piana/Porto there are longer multipitches trad climbing (400m). Near by Bonifacio: bouldering « Pianotolli », no possibilities to rent crash pads, very nice spot to chill.
Guide book: « Bavella Corsica » (you can also buy the guidebook online on omegaroc so that you don’t have to carry the book ;)). For inspiration you can have a look at « selection de grande voies corses » or « parois de légende » (on the part about Corsica). You can also use camp to camp for more informations. If you consider climbing in other places in Corsica « falaise de corse » and « grande voie de corse » can also be useful
Our tips : We used mpapy.cz (free and you can charge the maps offline). The maps are quite complete: most of the approaches for the cliffs are indicated, and so are the cycling itineraries. It even knows the most famous climbing routes! We had a 60m rope + rad line. Corsica is a very good spot to go climbing with bikes. The cliffs are close one from another, and we met many climbers on bikes !!
How to book the trip
How to find a sailboat: Try your chance on a sailpooling Facebook groupe as la bourse aux équipiers. Try to sea if Sandra can bring you to Corsica (90€/ person). Another option is Sailcoop which is a sailing boat company that makes crossings between the mainland and Corsica, they take maximum 2 bikes in a row (250€/ person).
How to bring the bikes on a boat: You need to protect your bike from salt. We took the wheels off the bikes and packed the hole thing into tarps (each bike needs its tarp). The boat was 12m long and I think it would be difficult to take bikes on smaller boats. To make it clearer have a look at the picture ;)
About the author
Mathieu Azogué et Denise Bonneville
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