🧗♀️A massive cave that provides a great setting for roof climbing on nice limestone with super easy access. The Sabart Cave houses the hardest climbing in the Ariège area and is just little more than 1 km from the Tarascon-sur-Ariège train station. The otherwise astounding atmosphere is dampened a bit due to the almost next door scrapyard and the accompanying noises.
☂️The cave provides shelter from sun and rain and is climbable around the year. During the hot summer months the cave system in the mountain provides a cool breeze to the routes closest to the inner cave entrance.
👶The crag is child friendly, although the approach path is narrow and bit steep at times.
SECTORS
The crag consists of two sectors: the left-hand walls outside the cave and the cave itself.
1. 🫱Left-hand Walls
Half of the left-hand wall routes are accessed through the cave and the other half are just on the approach path to the cave.
Surprisingly good climbing on varied terrain: face climbs, big holes and pockets, blank slab, a big crack, nice moves on overhang and some airy arete.
📊 13 routes
📊 Left-hand upper wall: 6b-7b+
📊 Left-hand lower wall: 6b-7b+
2. 🧗♀️ The Main Cave
Overhanging and roof climbing. Long endurance roof climbs with good rests. You may want to bring a kneepad or two. The harder climbs are concentrated on the left-hand side of the cave. The pillar has multiple routes and houses the easier climbs within the cave. There are several lower-offs on the roof and the harder climbs are different linkups of the first and second lengths of the main lines.
📊 46 routes (including linkups)
📊 Left of inner cave: 7b+-9a
📊 Right of inner cave: 7c-8b+
📊 Pillar: 6c-8c+
Sabart has been the arena for years for establishing the first 9a in Ariège. In 2009 Stevie Haston linked the "Descente aux Enfers" 8c+ to "Lolita" 8a, claiming the first 9a of Ariège in addition to the title of the oldest person to climb a route of the grade 9a. Eight years later the local climbers downgraded the route to merely 8c+, but Stevie defends his title with another 9a ascent within a year from ”Descente Lolita”. Another route also touted for the 9a grade was the "Inch' Allah", but in the end the first ascent in 2012 and the subsequent ascents confirmed the grade of 8c for this route. In 2017 Lucien Martinez eventually opened the first 9a in Ariège in Sabart, with the name of "Descente en Terre Inconnue". This one is also a linkup, this time of "Descente aux Enfers" 8c+ and the second pitch of "Terra Incognita" 8c and after three ascents at the time of writing (2022) has not been downgraded.
Pre-history
The Sabart cave provides an entrance to the wider cave system in the mountain, originally connected to the wider cave network that includes the Niaux prehistoric cave (now a museum) and the Lombrives cave (Cathar and money forger hideout, open for tours). One entrance to the cave system can be found in the inner cave to the right, and another entrance can be reached by going under the arch of "Salto de Tigré" and following the path left to see a smaller cave entrance. If you wish to explore the cave, bring good boots, warm clothes, a head torch and batteries and keep an eye on where you came from. Arrows painted on the walls lead to the exit, but it might be useful to bring something personalized to mark your path (e.g. twigs) so you can find your way out. The Sabart cave is 2800 meters long in total, with access to the wider cave system blocked by the museum operators. Maps of the cave system can be found online.
Please leave the cave as you found it and do not draw anything on the walls or leave any other trace.
