Scaling Saint Victoire

Anybody who happens to come to Aix en Provence or the nearby villages of Trets, Rousset, Tholonet cannot miss the imposing presence of this majestic and grey-white mountain Saint Victoire. Almost everyday of my stay here, I have been enjoying the different views of this mountain during sunny, cloudy or rainy weather.
After the first weeks of stay, even before the idea strikes your mind people start to ask the question “Have you climbed the Saint Victoire?” Its not a towering peak, and not a part of the mighty Alps, and stands at just over 1010 metres above MSL. It does not sound like an impossible challenge, but I was not able to find somebody to accompany me to the top. To make it too hot to handle for me, there was warning of forest fires, and the whole area had restricted access during the summer months. Whoever wants to be a half burnt hot dog on an adventure trip?

Two months and a dozen friends later, the chances improved, and a group of 3 friendly interns Said, Cedric and Virginie agreed to pull me along on an assault on the mount. We went ahead like pro rock-climbers and did not actually heed the weather reports and predictions for the day. We went on a long drive and somewhere near Puyloubier found a track to the Saint-Victoire. After snapping a few start-of-trek photos, the expedition begun. We proceeded along a route marked with black dashes, with no idea of the colour coding conventions of mountain tracks, if there were any.

A few hundred metres later the inclination of the climb started to increase considerably. Very soon we started to stare blankly and near-vertical walls of rock, with a small crevice here and there for a toe hold or a few fingers. The amateur dare-devils decided to go ahead and managed to scale a few challenging rocks. Soon, exhaustion started to peek into the affairs, and all of a sudden a referendum was held to decide whether we should continue or not. Surprisingly 75% of the population decided to continue further. But a few steps ahead and we heard a clap of thunder emerging from the dangerous looking clouds we were ignoring all the while.

The prospect of facing a storm midway up a shelter-less mountain was not an interesting idea. Amidst a drizzle that slowly graduated to a steady rain, we came thundering down the slopes, slipping and sliding at places. That’s when I hoped very badly that spectacles had some wipers on them! Just after we reached the reassuring interiors of the car, a hail storm started to clutter!

For the next one week, it’s difficult to describe the feelings every time I saw the mountain. It seemed to personify an unfinished challenge. I also learnt that we had unknowingly taken the toughest route, meant for rock climbers with the right gear.
The next weekend I teamed up with another pal Arnaud, (nicknamed Puma, for his extreme agility in the badminton court). He had seen the top of the mountain twice and knew the route to some extent.

This time we took a combination of red and blue tracks and the climb was easier and the weather not bad. There were quite a few breath taking views to be seen, once we reached the higher reaches of the mountain. Almost near the top was a small, church with a small group of people who had reached there earlier. We met a 78-year old man who said he climbs the mountain every week, and volunteers for the upkeep of the church and the surroundings! Further up, at the peak there is this huge Cross which is the visible target for the people who climb the mountain. Destination reached, landscape photos taken, what better way to celebrate it than with a bar of chocolate and chilled water?