Description

⛔️ Climbing here is not allowed. ⛔️
Climbing has been tolerated here for decades, but no longer is. Please respect this closure to protect nature and for a potential future regularisation of the crag. Wandering in the forest of the trails is not allowed either. Please stay on the trails.
The topos are only available for historic reference.

Four à Chaux is a cozy climbing area in the very nice valley of the Ourthe river. It is not very known at all, and definitely deserves more attention then it gets at the moment.

In 2017-2019 Pierric Bottin did a lot of work to clean the crag, rebolt some routes in need and bolt a handfull of new lines. Thank you Pierric!
The topo drawing used in the topos is also made by Pierric.

The crag can be found is in an old quarry, on a limestone slab. On the right of the main slab is also a face with some nice cracks to climb. Climbing is best enjoyed in the 6th grade. But also climbers operating in the 7's, can fill a day or two. The cliff base is often covered in thorny bushes, but further back, there is an open and family-friendly flat area. Don't hesitate to bring some gardening-tools to keep the paths and zones close to the face open, but don't overdo it, respect nature.

The slab itself is similar. As you can see on the drone images, the upper section on of the slab can get very mossy and can be a pain to clean, don't hesitate to bring some tools do your part and give back to the Belgian climbing community. Some of these routes have the potential of becoming true classics, but they need traffic to stay clean.

📚 No paper guidebook available

History

The climbing area was discovered by J-C Vittoz in 1973. He also opened some of the first routes soon after.
Other early openers are, amongst others, Feller, Villany and Piron.

In 2017-2019 Pierric Bottin revised, rebolted and cleaned the whole crag.

⛔️Four à Chaux⛔️

Climbing has been limited!

⛔️ Climbing here is not allowed. ⛔️
Climbing has been tolerated here for decades, but no longer is. Please respect this closure to protect nature and for a potential future regularisation of the crag. Wandering in the forest of the trails is not allowed either. Please stay on the trails.
The topos are only available for historic reference.

The Access is very easy and short. Park as indicated and follow the road a little further on foot. You'll see a trail heading up and backwards which will bring you to the crag.

This crag is also easily reachable by public transportation. Head for the train station of Esneux. How? Google maps knows quite well, but you cal also check b-rail.be

The land is owned by the municipality, but the climbing here is maintained by UBS, the caving association.

Magnesium use is to be limited as much as possible here.

UBS: Avenue A. Procès, 5 - 5000 Namur 003281/ 23 00 09