The Saint Léger area (full name Saint Léger du Ventoux), located in the southwest of Provence, at the foot of Ventoux Mountain, can undoubtedly be called one of the climbing gems of France. This area is definitely worth a visit. Saint Leger is a very peculiar and beautiful area, both in terms of climbing and in terms of the almost untouched civilization of the surrounding nature. The neighborhood seems disconnected from the outside world. This is exactly the place where you are so drawn to come more than once!
The Saint Leger district is located in a sparsely populated area, on the border of the departments of Drome (Drôme) and Vaucluse (Vaucluse). Below is a map showing the approximate geographical center of the Saint Leger area.
The Saint Leger area is located at an altitude of approximately 400 meters above sea level and consists of 12 sectors compactly located on both banks of the Tulourenc River, forming a canyon. Saint Leger is an area of long sports routes for climbing with rope. Currently, about 400 routes of various difficulty categories have been punched in the area.
The evolution of the Saint Leger area took place simultaneously with the development of modern sport climbing. The first routes in the area were broken through in the mid-90s, new ones are still being broken through to this day. The potential of the district is large and it allows you to master new sectors, as well as prepare new interesting lines in the old ones. However, Saint Leger is not a very popular climbing area even in Europe, most likely due to the relatively small number of easy routes. Once upon a time, famous athletes came to Saint Leger to train, but later, the focus shifted to other areas, Saint Leger was deserted and now mostly local French climbers climb there.
The range of difficulty of routes in Saint Leger is quite wide, from 5b to 8c+, however, most of them are still difficult routes, from 7a and above. It is worth noting that not far from the Saint Leger area there are several smaller climbing areas with simple routes, they are also given in the guide books.
The routes are mostly of medium length 20-30 meters, but there are also long ones, 40 meters each (this is specifically indicated in the guide book), therefore, for most routes, a rope of 70 meters is quite enough.
The best time for climbing in the Saint Leger area is spring and autumn. If it gets hot to climb in the southern sectors under the direct sun, you can go to the other bank of the Tuluran River in the sectors with a northern orientation. The line of the rock belt on the southern bank of the river forms bends and “pockets” with areas oriented to the east, into which the shadow comes after lunch. In the shady northern sectors of Saint Leger, you can climb in summer, but even there in summer it is often too hot and stuffy.