From 28 Mar 07:00 to 29 Mar 23:00
Location: Rochers des Grands Malades & Carrière de Gawday
Capacity: 24
Cost: €49
Cost without transport: €24
One weekend. Two crags.
For the first single-pitch course weekend of the year, we aren’t just climbing at one crag, but we’re hitting two!
On Saturday, we are heading to Grands Malades, a crag with deep roots in climbing history reaching back to the late 1920s. Though it was almost abandoned for years, it underwent a revival about 25 years ago when it was rebolted. The climbing is predominantly vertical, requiring balance and some technique to navigate its characteristic flat holds.
As a fun fact, the name Grands Malades (Big patients or something like massive people dealing with disease) originates from a 12th-century leper hospital that was located on this very site. Being outside Namur's fortified walls, it served the city for 400 years before the area was eventually transformed into the quarry we climb in today. Interestingly, the ground beneath the crag also hosts a 14th-century black marble quarry. After mining ended, a local brewery used th underground tunnels to store and age beer until 1935.
Sunday we will go to a recently opened climbing area a few kilometers away from Grands Malades: Carrière de Gawday (better known simply as Maizeret).
It is estimated that preparing the crag took between 1,000 and 2,000 man-days of work in the last years, and most routes have only been climbed by a few people, so this is your chance to try some newly bolted lines in Belgium and give feedback on the assigned grades!
The style of climbing is usually quite bouldery with decent crimps and larger flat holds. Some would argue that there is not a lot of friction for the feet, but this is just the rock’s way of forcing you to develop the grace of a mountain goat.
You can join this double-crag weekend if you are not following the course, but keep in mind that your single pitch license is required in that case (not if your following the sp course ofc)
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Also keep in mind that this is a weekend in Belgium thus a klimjaarkaart is required to climb.
Subscriptions close 21/03/2026
If you no longer want to join, you can unsubscribe till 22/03/2026
If you have any questions you can ask the climbing commissioner
Check the packing list to make sure you have everything
For an impression watch this and this