Cap Canaille

Benoît Yerly and David Denis are drawn to l’Attraction Désastre (7a/5.11d; 7 pitches), on the Mediterranean, Cap Canaille, between Cassis and La Ciotat. The 90-million-year-old rock of Cap Canaille is a mixed bag of sandstone, limestone, and conglomerate, or “puddingstone.” Climbing on the 1,000-plus-foot cliff is as unusual as the rock, says the photographer Sam Bié: “Alone, facing the Mediterranean, on rock with extraordinary shapes, the climbing is unique.”