Team Geared Up

DUBLIN, IRELAND (Team Geared Up) - Part 1 - Rodellar - Myself and 5 others headed off to Spain for our annual Euro sports climbing trip in October. Four days in Rodellar and 4 days in the Costa Daurada. Here’s a quick (well not so quick) trip-report/how-to of what we did. A Google map relating to the trip can be found here.

Arriving in Reus Airport (€125, ryanair.com) just after 1pm on Saturday with a few of us feeling the effects of the previous night on the town, our first task was to collect our hire cars. We had already reserved 2 ford focus’s with Solmar online (€190 per car for 8 days). With a little luck there were no focus’s available that day so we were given free upgrades. One Citroen Picasso and one Seat Altea XL later it was time to make tracks!

Rodellar was our first point of call and according to Google maps we had a three hour drive ahead of us. We got ourselves set up on the N240 north and settled in. Rodellar is served with good roads right up to the walk-in to the crag and although the drive was a little longer than expected it passed relatively easily. It’s worth pointing out that if you are taking this trip yourself stop for supplies in the hypermarket in Barbastro (on the map). You can get all your shopping here and it even has a little sports shop where you could pick up a harness/rope if someone has forgotten theirs.

Take a right off the N240 AFTER a turn off for Perpetilla, the road at Perpetilla only leads to funny looks from the locals and much confusion, this will bring you through the towns of Azara, Azlor and Abiego and on to Rodellar.
Church on the way to Rodellar.

We had already booked a 6 person bungalow in the Camping El Puente campsite (€74.50 per night) and were promptly shown to our home for the next few days. The campsite itself is well kitted out and has internet access, a restaurant, a bar, a small supermarket (get there early for fresh bread) and an arcade machine BUT be warned; if you get the high score it won’t be there the next day as they unplug the machine at night deleting your new found glory! You can also pick up the Rodellar Guide book here for €17.

Day 1
There are several crags in the Rodellar area and the most visited areas are accessed from the main town in Rodellar. (2Km from El Puente and right beside Camping Mascún) Walk past the bar and the water font and take the path down on the right.

On our first day we dropped right down to the riverbed thinking it was the best approach, however, the more frequented crags can be more easily reached by staying on the path.
Mikey on the dry riverbed.

Rodellar is an awe-inspiring place. Surrounded on both sides by some of the most breathtaking crags we found it hard to get anywhere without tripping over our jaws. If you took one of the bigger sectors out of Rodellar and planted it in Ireland we would have a world class sports climbing destination without doubt. The overhangs that make climbers appear ant like are truly something to behold.
Spot the climbers.

We came across Sector Bikini but decided to move on as the grades were quite steep and we stopped at sector Rigole. By no means does this place rate on the Rodellar scale but we were so eager to climb we decided to stay. Neal McQuaid summed it up best on climbing.ie when he said “Don’t even think about it!!!!! Polished glass is easier to climb”. I saw this remark after the trip incidentally. We did Gabachito Show 6b with its thin tricky start and had a go at the defining route of the sector Abrázame Mucho 7b with its cruxy roof section. Probably not the best warm up to be had but we were off the start line in Rodellar none the less.
Jamie on Gabachito Show.

From here we walked up to sector El Camino and on the way around we saw El Delfín for the first time, stopping me dead in my tracks. Following the path from the village and not dropping to the river bed will bring you straight to El Camino! This sector is quite long with about 20+ routes to go at. Not to be missed routes are Para Mis Amigos 6a+, Vidal 6c and Bug Bunny 6a+ although each route looked great.
El Delfín.

Day 2
On the second day, we revisited El Camino for a few of us to reattempt some of the routes we had been on the previous day and then headed onto the shaded sector Furia Latina. The routes here are not as overhanging as El Camino and seemed more like what we Irish climbers are used to, bar the bolts of course! Bolt Ireland!

The stand out routes here are Siglo XXI, Bolskan and La Maldícíon ranging from 6a to 6c+. The clip at the crux on La Maldícíon really gets the heart going! There seems to be a little confusion in the guide book for this area. Bolskan is written on a stone at the bottom of the route but this is not where the guide says it is.
The day was finished as the previous day was by refilling our water bottles in the village and a little bit of indulgence in the form of ice creams from the bar/shop. Our eyes were still wide with excitement after another great day at the crags.

Day 3
The final day of climbing in Rodellar was probably the most enjoyable. We had heard from a pair of English climbers that there were some great lines to go at in sector L’école and that it was a great place to warm up for the day so we dutifully headed along. Slightly harder to find than El Camino, take the path down towards the river bed before the house on the way to El Camino and then take a right off that path about half way down. This sector is well recognised by the large slab with the short overhang/scoop to its right. L’école A was my warm-up route of choice and even though it goes at 6a it made me and the subsequent climbers really think about what they were doing. It also has a lovely little delicate traverse similar to Spailpin back home in the quarry at about three quarter height. Not to be missed are two of the three routes in the scoop, El Villareto 6b and Volver A Empezar 6b. Both short but powerful and enjoyable.
Mick on El Villareto.

We had also heard that up on the left side of El Delfín were a few new routes, one 6a and one 6b, that are not in the guide. These we could not miss so in the afternoon sun we made our way up the scree to the jewel of Rodellar. On arrival we all got a lesson in climbing from some locals hiking up the 7c+ Rodellar classic in fine form.

Hiking through 7c+.

This route looks super sequency and had some interesting rest points along the way. The 6b is immediately to the left of the arch and the 6a is to the left of that. Both were immensely enjoyable and all agreed that it was a good way to finish off our climbing in Rodellar. Ice Creams followed.

The group on the way back from El Delfín which can be seen in the background.

Part 2 of this report where we climbed in Siurana and La Mussara to follow…
In the meantime the whole gallery can be found here.

Part 2 can now be found here

- Stu -