The atlas
About and method
Multipitch Atlas is a non-commercial list of long routes you can climb on a rack of quickdraws. This page says how a route gets in, where the information comes from, and how far to trust it.
Selection
How routes are chosen
A route is listed only if published sources support all of the following.
- Fully bolted from bottom to top, with bolted belays. No cams or nuts needed.
- Four pitches or more.
- Hardest pitch between 4b and 7a. A harder move is accepted only where sources say it goes at A0, pulling on the bolts.
Routes that are in range but need more than quickdraws are kept on a separate list, Nearly bolted, with the reason for each.
Sources
How each entry is compiled
Every entry is put together from published topos, route databases and trip reports, then cross-checked between them. The sources used are linked on each route page.
Sources often differ on pitch count, grades, length or rope needed. Where they do, the entry does not pick a side silently: the differences are listed on the route page under the heading Where sources disagree.
Each entry carries the month it was compiled. Nothing here is updated in real time.
Ratings
What the labels mean
- Bolting confidence: high
- A recent source states that the route is fully bolted or has been rebolted.
- Bolting confidence: medium
- The sources that say it is bolted are older or less detailed. Treat the bolt spacing and condition as unknown until you see them.
- Read the cautions
- The route meets the criteria, but sources flag something you should know before committing: old or spaced bolts, loose rock, a run-out pitch, or an access issue. The route page says what.
Retreat
How bail ratings are derived
- Easy to bail
- Abseiling the route is the normal descent, or every belay is rigged for it, with no reported trouble.
- Bail with caveats
- Retreat works with caveats: two ropes, belays that are not linked so you leave gear, traverses, or ropes that snag.
- Committing
- Sources say the route cannot practically be abseiled past a certain point.
- Bail not documented
- No source covers retreat and the facts are too thin to judge.
Each rating also says what it rests on.
- Stated: a source describes the retreat directly.
- Inferred: no source describes it. The rating is worked out from pitch lengths, belay equipment and the line of the route, and it is a guess.
- Mixed: part stated, part inferred. The route page says which part is which.
Reader reports
How reader reports work
Anyone can leave a report on a route page: bolt condition, a changed approach, a closed road. Each report is dated and is reviewed before it is published, to keep out spam and anything unsafe or unrelated.
Review is not verification. Reports are never checked on the rock. Read them as one climber's account from one day.
Limits
What the atlas does not do
- No on-site verification. Nobody from the atlas has inspected these routes for it.
- No live conditions, closures or bird bans. Check locally.
- It does not replace a guidebook. The descriptions are summaries, and the topo is in the book.
Buy the local topo. It is more detailed and more current than this site, and in most areas the sales fund the rebolting that keeps these routes climbable.
Legend
Grade colours
Grades are French sport grades. The colour repeats the grade printed next to it and is never the only signal.
- ≤ 4c
- 5a–5b
- 5c
- 6a
- 6a+
- 6b
- 6b+–6c
- 6c+–7a
Thanks
Data credits
- camptocamp.org
- Route descriptions, topos and many of the photographs, shared by its contributors under Creative Commons licences.
- Wikimedia Commons
- Photographs of crags and areas.
- OpenStreetMap
- Map data, © OpenStreetMap contributors, under the Open Database Licence.
- OpenFreeMap
- Map tiles and hosting for the base map.
- Open-Meteo
- Climate normals for each region, under CC BY 4.0.
Every photograph is credited where it appears and again on the photo credits page.