The corsican bolting fund

Bolting and maintenance of Natural Climbing Sites in Corsica
Summary 2018–2024

(updated on 14/12/2024)

We have been publishing climbing guidebooks about Corsica since 2006. In addition to our objective of providing precise and reliable information to climbers, right from the outset we created a system that would generate a financial contribution to maintenance and development of crags and multi-pitch routes in Corsica. For many years, this was in the form of a partnership with the Corsican mountain league (FFME).

In 2018, this collaboration came to an end and a Route Bolting Fund funded by sales of our guidebooks took over.

Key figures about the Route Bolting Fund:

For the three guidebooks that we publish and distribute through our company Omega Roc, the following are allocated to the Route Bolting Fund:

– Falaise de Corse guidebook (2023 edition): 15% of the sale price, that is €5.70 per guidebook*

– Bavella-Corsica guidebook (2025 edition): 10% of the sale price, that is €4.00 per guidebook*

– Grandes voies de Corse guidebook (2024 edition): 10% of the sale price, that is €4.00 per guidebook*

Since 2018, a total of €63,000 has been allocated to the Corsican bolting fund. This entire amount has been used for the maintenance and bolting of climbing areas in Corsica.

This budget has been used to buy the most durable bolting equipment available: expansion bolts and stainless steel hangers, galvanised glue-in bolts and various consumables. This equipment is provided to route bolters on request. These workers behind the scenes have kept up their efforts and continued to develop the island’s crags and multi-pitch routes. The new crags and routes are included in our guidebooks and/or on the OmegaRoc app.

* The percentages attributed to the Bolting Fund differ from one guidebook to another, taking into account the costs of creating each guidebook. Since the end of 2024, the share of the sale price allocated to the bolting fund from the Grandes voies de Corse guidebook has increased to 10% (previously 5%).

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For crags :

Approximately 3700 hangers, 4700 expansion bolts, 560 belays and 1600 glue-in bolts have been distributed

– Development of 10 sectors that already existed: 3G, Suare, Trimbulacciu  (Illusions perdues sector), Francardo (Guy Cau / Aïti sectors), Oratoire, Col de la Tana, Monte Canarincu, Saint Antoine (A Capra / LZN sectors)

– Creation of 16 new sites or sectors: 3 Caves, Linea d’ombra, Ciuffatu, Saint Antoine (le Toucan sector), Bonifatu (la Vasque sector), L’Oratoire, Vitriconu, Petraghju, Arbori (still being developed), Malaspina, Montemaggiore (still being developed), Verghellu (still being developed), Vacca (2 new crags still being developed), Santa Laurina et Funtana Vignente (new crags in the Niolu region)

– Maintenance work at 20 sites that already existed: Pignu (Les Antennes sector), Tipponu, Monte Canarincu, E Torre, Petre scritte, Altiplano, Les Iles, Curriali, Bonifatu (Le Bloc sector), Pietralba, Francardu (La grotte, Maouss costaud and Aïti sectors), Restonica (Tuani, A Tomba, Frassetta), Gozzi, Richiusa (la Source, Artichaud, Sempre qui, Ozone and les Toits sectors), Rupione, Saint Antoine, la Terre sacré, Monte Latu, Petra piombu (Olivese), Punta Calcina (Conca), Bavella (Punta Picchiattu and l’Oriu sectors).

– Around forty bolters involved from all over Corsica: Adrien Boulon,  Antoine Cesari, Antoine Dolovici, Antoine Troussel, Beno Cagnard, Bertrand Maurin, Bigoud, Camille Giammarchi, Carlos Ascensao, Christophe Sauvagnac et plusieurs membres du Corsica Roc, Diego Laroque, Flo Bertholle, Foué Choppard, Gilles (Aullène), Guy Tomasini, Hervé Rondeau, Julien Queva, Julien Torre, Jeff Andreucci, Kristin Westvik, Laurent Bertolotto, Marco Constant, Mathieu Cesarano, Nico André, Nico Nastorg, Olivier Broussouloux, Pierrot Griscelli, Sam Bourcey, Seb Curnier, Thierry Souchard, Timo Leonetti, Ulrich Bogaert, Vlado Cviklinski, Vincent Mosimann, Yann Vacher 

For multi-pitch routes:

Approximately 3200 hangers and expansion bolts distributed since 2018 ( and 1000 before 2018): most of the routes mentioned below are included in the latest Grandes voies de Corse and Bavella Corsica Escalades Choisies guidebooks, or on the OmegaRoc app.

– Bolting of 43 new multi-pitch routes: Avà Basta (Signore occidentale), Le Non-sens et la Joie, La Fine équipe and Culore d’amore (Cascioni), Saltu in Bocca (Aïtone), Partage, Giratempu et Vecchi generation (Verghellu), A Prima Volta (Richiusa), Miroir de mes tourments (Asco), La Force du destin and Rhapsody in Blue (Punta Malandà, Bavella), Malaspina (4 routes), L’Arinella (10 routes), Bavella : le Triangle (3 routes), Vallon des sœurs (4 routes), Rock and friends, Funtana Vignente (2 routes in the Niolu region), Monte Latu (2 routes), L’Etoile filante (Ascu), La fin du rêve (Asco), L’envers du talus (Verghellu), Signora Maya (Portu), Popolasca (2 GV)

– Re-bolting of 42 multi-pitch routes (some partially): Enterre mon cœur (Cascioni), 8 routes at Melaghja sector (Bonifatu), Candide et Martin (Restonica), Acqua di Rocca (Restonica), La voie de l’Apprentissage (Asco), Voie du CAF (Gozzi) and in Bavella : Jeef, Nirvana, Democratia, Arete de Zonza, I Brumi di l’Acellu, la Masino, la JPQ, le Temps peau noir, Caniveau vertical, Ballade pour un tafoni, Autoroute très directe, Surghjenti, Saga Massilia, U Diavulu d’Argazavu, Tribulazioni, Merlinale, Dilluriu, Canta, Le nouveau monde, La Porte des cieux, L’équipage, Storia d’acqua è di luna, Parfums de violence, Maravigliosa, Vomara, Altu Silenziu, Il suffit de passer le pont, La Célébration du lézard, Panini express. Note also the partial removal of bolts on La Périllat in Bavella.

– 20 bolters involved (and many “sherpas”): Adrien Boulon, Antoine Dolovici, Arnaud Petit, Bigoud, Bertrand Maurin, Camille Giammarchi, Carlos Ascensao, Chloé Laloux, Delphine Rist, Denis Allemand, Florent Bertholle, Guy Tomasini, Hervé Rondeau, Jean-Marie Leroux, Jeff Andreucci, Julien Cenzier, Julien Torre, Kristin Westvik, Laurent Bertolotto, Les Tradeuses, Lionel Catsoyannis, Marco Constant, Mathieu Cesarano, Sam Bourcey, Seb Curnier, Vlado Cviklinski, Thierry Souchard, Timo Leonetti, Vlado Cviklinski 

Notes:

– The Corsica Roc association funded a few maintenance days at the Ajaccio crags (work done by Christophe Sauvagnac, Jeff Andreucci and Thierry Souchard).

– The Corsican bolting fund funded 3.5 days of rebolting on multi-pitch routes (Aqua di Rocca, Gozzi, Candide et Martin, Panini Express) – €300 per day per climbing team.

– In parallel with the activities described above, the Corsican mountain league (FFME) has implemented some additional initiatives: the most significant of these is professional re-bolting of 2 old sites in La Restonica (18,000 euros, half funded by the FFME and half by the Corti town council) in 2020.

For more information:

• Appendix 1 (Short summary before 2018)                             • Appendix 2 (How the Bolting Fund works)

For more information:

• Appendix 1 (Short summary before 2018)      

• Annexe 2 (How the bolting fund works)

Appendix 1
Short summary of the arrangement in place from 2006 to 2017

Falaises de Corse guidebook

Before the mid-2000s, no published guidebook included all crags in Corsica, but instead there were a number of local guidebooks: for Bavella in particular but also Balagne, the Ajaccio region and a few isolated sites.

This heterogeneity and the high number of regions that were not included encouraged “foreign” guidebooks to pop up, which did cover the entire island (either in book format or on the internet) but had several disadvantages: information rapidly became out of date, specific local details were missing, but above all no financial contribution was put back into Corsican climbing and sites that were prohibited or problematic had been included.

Given this situation, during a meeting in Corte attended by most of the active bolters on the island a decision was made to produce a regional guidebook, coordinated by the Corsican mountain league (FFME). Unfortunately, this project did not come to fruition.

Convinced that this regional guidebook was essential and already very much involved in developing climbing in the area around Ajaccio, we wanted to breathe new life into this project and so we decided to take it forward as authors ourselves. It seemed completely natural that this guidebook should play a direct role in maintaining and developing natural climbing sites in Corsica. Thus, right from the very first edition in 2006, the Falaises de Corse guidebook was produced in collaboration with the Regional FFME Committee (now the Corsican mountain league (FFME).

Our aim was to create a guidebook, both practical and of course reliable but also visually pleasing, to inspire climbers to come and climb in Corsica. It took us nearly two years of work to produce the first edition of the Falaises de Corse guidebook.

As authors, we have done all work and paid all costs ourselves (gathering information, taking photos, infographics, translation costs, etc.), except for printing costs which were paid for by the FFME Committee. In exchange, the latter received a third of the sales revenue for the printed guidebooks. This cooperation has been maintained for new editions. For each new edition, published at intervals of 2 or 3 years, significant work to update information and improve graphics in the guidebook has ensured it remains attractive (5 editions between 2006 and 2017).
These guidebooks have always been a great success and sales have seen continuous growth. Nearly 18,000 guidebooks have been sold in 11 years, generating an annual profit of around 4000 euros for the Regional FFME Committee (approximately 2.5 Euros per guidebook sold). Amongst other uses, these profits have been employed to fund route rebolting or crag bolting (whether FFME-approved or not): maintenance work and new sectors at La Richiusa (Bocognano), maintenance work at Gozzi, rebolting on several sites at Balagne (Bonifatu, Curriali, Lumiu), complete rebolting of crags at Bavella and opening up of new sectors, bolting of new sectors in La Restonica, etc. The vast majority of this work was carried out voluntarily by locals in the climbing community (within clubs or independently).

Grandes voies de Corse guidebook

In 2012, now older and wiser thanks to our initial experience, we published a guidebook containing a selection of multi-pitch routes from all over Corsica: Grandes voies de Corse. Our objective was to make this aspect of Corsican climbing more widely known, since for many it went no further than the classic fully-bolted routes at Bavella and in La Restonica.
Right from the outset, we wanted to ensure multi-pitch route bolters in Corsica benefitted in some way: thus, 1 euro per guidebook sold is dedicated to purchasing equipment made available to the main route bolters described in the Grandes voies de Corse guidebook. At the end of 2017, nearly 1000 stainless steel bolts have been provided. Amongst other things, they have been used for the following:

– in the area around Porto, rebolting of Enterre mon cœur, bolting of a new route (La fine équipe) and bolting of another route are all ongoing.

– in Bonifatu, rebolting of several routes at La Melaghja.

– in Bavella, rebolting of routes on l’Acellu, at Paliri (Maravigliosa, Vomara and the abseil line down the Anima Danata), on the Castellucciu d’Ornucciu (new routes + rebolting of Nouveau monde), and on the Teghie Lisce (L’équipage).

– various maintenance operations.

APPENDIX 2 – How the Corsican Bolting Fund works

On 28 June 2018 we held a meeting to share and discuss the planned arrangement with active bolters in Corsica. The following guidelines were decided on at this meeting:

  • The fund will only pay for “durable” equipment: stainless steel (bolts, glue-in bolts) or galvanised bolts (glue-in bolts) for anchors and belay equipment (if possible fully stainless steel belays but otherwise galvanised maillons and stainless steel rings) and consumables (drill bits, glue)
  • This equipment can only be used on sites that are already included in guidebooks published by Omega Roc or which may be included in them in the future (no equipment provided for bolting “private spots” or areas with confidential access such as Saint-Florent)
  • If the bolting fund is not able to cater for all requests, re-bolting projects take priority over new bolting projects (on the condition that a re-bolting project is not supported by the Corsican mountain league (FFME))
  • Priority is given to projects from individual bolters or clubs recognised for their activity and experience (more simply put, active bolters are given “priority”).
  • Regarding bolting of a new site, priority is given to bolting of “interesting” sites. The “interesting” nature of a site is subjective, and depends on the “climbing potential” of the site in relation to the region it is in, its accessibility, etc.
  • In the case of rebolting, it is recommended that bolters should contact the first ascensionists to define how the rebolting will be carried out (identical, addition of more bolts, etc.). A charter that is being drawn up by Greenspit will be released and could become a reference document (to be discussed in a future meeting). This being said, it is clear that the bolter alone is responsible for decisions regarding their rebolting style and will bear any consequences for it (for example criticism of the bolter – the bolting fund only provides the equipment)
  • The bolters must give feedback on the use of the equipment provided in order to keep the guidebook up-to-date in terms of maintenance and development of climbing sites.

The bolting fund provides regular updates on the work carried out, and a meeting with the climbers and bolters involved (see mailing list below) is organised every 2 or 3 years.

So far:
– Kick-off meeting for the bolting fund on 28/06/2018: 8 people attended
– Review meeting on 02/10/2021: 16 people attended
– Review meeting on 14/12/2024: 16 people attended

You want to bolt or rebolt climbing routes in Corsica:

How do I make a request for equipment?

A request for bolting equipment can be made verbally during a meeting or simply by email, giving a precise list of the following information:

1. For rebolting: Name of site, estimate of the number of routes and the equipment required.
2. For bolting at a site that already exists: Name of site, estimate of the number of routes and equipment required, check that this is “possible” (in terms of regulations (example of the Fratercinu cliff at Caporalinu where a ministerial order does not authorise any new routes), and if necessary, approval by the local club).
3. For bolting at a new site: Characteristics of the rockface (height, accessibility). Ensure there are no access problems. Estimate of the number of routes and the equipment required.

Who approves a request?

On the basis of the rules decided previously, the authors manage and provide the equipment in response to requests as they come in. If “ambiguous” requests are made, Thierry Souchard and Bertrand Maurin may submit the request to all members of the group (refer to chapter below), who are contacted to provide an opinion (and as a last resort to vote for or against allocation of the equipment).

How are the skills of any new bolters assessed?

It is the responsibility of the “new bolters” to indicate their experience to us. A bolter with no known experience may initially need to “prove themselves” with a relatively limited quantity of equipment.

How is information provided?

Notification of allocation of equipment and other information will be sent by email to all active bolters in Corsica. Climbers who wish to bolt and take part in the initiative can contact Thierry via email: thierry.souchard@gmail.com.

As of 14/12/2024, the Bolting Fund mailing list includes 45 people:

Adrien Boulon, Agnès Donnet, Anaelle Baconnier, Antoine Cesari, Antoine Dolovici, Antoine Troussel, Arnaud Petit, Benoit Cagnard, Bernard Choulet-Menguy, Camille Giamarchi, Carlos Ascensao, Christophe Sauvagnac, Delphine Rist, Denis Allemand, Didier Mavier, Diego Larroque, Florent Bertholle, Fred Gibert, Gaëtan Bellamy, Giulio Cavalieri, Guy Tomasini, Hervé Rondeau, Jean-Baptiste Castellani, Jean-François Andreucci, Julien Queva, Julien Soler, Laurent Acquaviva, Laurent Bertolotto, Les Tradeuses, Luc Plavis, Marc Constant, Mathieu Cesarano, Morgane Choquet, Olivier Broussouloux, Paul André Acquaviva, Philippe Lebleux, Samuel Bourcey, Thibaut Durand, Ulrich Bogaert, Vladimir Cviklinski, Vincent Mosimann, Yann Vacher and the local climbing organisations Corsica Roc and Serena Grimp’.