DUBLIN, IRELAND (Team Geared Up) - Part 2

For part 1 if this report see this

To the Costa Daurada.
Leaving Rodellar behind we made or way back to the N240 and headed for the Costa Daurada. We had already reserved a bungalow in Camping Prades, in Prades.
6Km before the town of Montblanc there is a turn-off for Prades, however, before heading up into the mountains re-supply at the supermarket in Montblanc. I’ve pinned it on the Google Map. Then, retrace your steps for 6km and get onto that Prades turn-off (T700).
Prades itself is situated at 1000m and the views become more spectacular as you gain height. Camping Prades is about 1Km west of the town centre. There are a few shops in the village and 2 ATMs. Bread, milk, cheese and sausage can be easily found but all else is best found in Montblanc.

View Larger Map

On arrival there was a decidedly eerie feel to the campsite and there wasn’t a soul around, even though the reception was open from 4pm to 11pm and it was now 5.30pm. Eventually after some driving about we found a member of staff. He only spoke Spanish and French and without a Spanish speaker among us it was up to Mick and I and our faltering French to get us checked in. The words I did understand like mauvais and bof didn’t bode well with me and I was getting a sinking feeling in my stomach as he struggled to find our reservation. After a few phone calls he finally gave us a bon! and I breathed a sigh of relief.
With enough beds, a stove and a shower our new cabin filled all of our basic needs but it also had a TV! Mick, in an act of brilliance had brought along an Archos AV500 and all the cables to hook it up to the TV. After much South Park and food it was time to explore!
We met a few guys in Portland, Dorset in the months leading up to our Spanish trip and the TV Crags at La Mussara had been highly recommended by them. We decided to scope out that area for the next day and prayed that the weather would improve. By this stage it had clouded over and looked certain to pour.
On our way to the TV Crags we had gone the wrong way and instead saw a sign for Siurana. You can’t get upset when you see a sign for one of Europe’s most renouned crags only a few Ks away and we headed for a look. WOW!
Perched at 1000m on a rock fin with a sheer drop around it sits a tiny Moorish village with breathtaking views over the valleys below. We only managed a glimpse of these, however, as cloud cover and darkness settled in.

Day 1

On our first full day we awoke to a drizzly morning and began questioning our decision to move away from Rodellar. We decided that we could best use this time to locate all the crags we were interested in seeing so that when the weather did clear we could get onto the rock as quickly as possible. Being up in the mountains the weather can be very localised and better conditions can be found by driving around. We firstly headed to Siurana to see what it was like. Dismal! Arboli was next and it too was dismal. TV crags were next and after that it was La Riba, a good bit away but hopefully with better weather.
By the time we found the TV crags and had a bite to eat, the rock there was in great condition and we decided to stay. We climber mainly in Sector Roure and between us all we did a good few routes. Namely Roure 6b, Aigua Viva 6b, Shargamanta 6c, El Gat 6a, Climber Up 6a+.

Day 2

The weather was a lot better today and the sun was splitting the trees so Siurana was the destination of choice. Unfortunately before we managed to leave the cabin the receptionist informed us that we had been put in the wrong cabin (we were in a higher priced one than we had booked) and asked if we wouldn’t mind moving to the cabin next door. This was a bit of a bummer and ate into our crag time but with that resolved we hit the road.
The parking area outside the village was wedged with cars and for a moment we were thinking the worst. Thankfully the majority of the cars were not owned by climbers and the crags were pretty clear.
We started in Sector Melafots and warmed up on some routes there. After lunch we headed down to have a look at Anabolica but there were people on it so we had to go elsewhere! The day was finished off at Sector Can Marges Lower where Extremoduro 6b+, Pixapins 6a+ and Can Fange 5+ were all dispatched. Pixapins stands out in particular and is well worth doing.

On the way down from the crag we stopped off to take a look at La Rambla, the 9a+ of the area. Savage line and looks a lot harder than it does in the video (as if 9a+ ever looks easy!)

Day 3
On day 3 we decided to return to the TV Crags and go to a different sector. Also as it was our last day it would give us an opportunity to have another go at some of the routes we were on the first day. We headed to Sector Diedres Del Mig and got on Xènia 6b+, Sis de Deu 6a+, Jarto D’estar Harto 6a+ and El Canto del Gallo 6c+. Jarto D’estar Harto is a lovely line on one of the stand out features of the sector and is pretty strenuous. El Canto del Gallo is not to be missed (even if I did) and it has to be said it looks like an amazing line. Be sure to brush up on bridging and laybacking before getting on this one.
After this we headed back to Sector Roure for me to try and get Aigua Viva clean. This is a total power-house of a route and reminded me of some stuff I did in Fairhead with hand a fist jams all the way. We also got back on Shargamanta 6c and did the 7b+ finish. It hurts.
That night we ate in one of the restaurants in Prades, Casa Grisso if my memory serves me correctly. With menus in Catalan and Spanish we were rightly screwed but after a few phone calls home to get some help from google translate we ended up having a great feed and finshed our trip on a good “oak” note.

So a conclusion…Rodellar and Siurana etc. are excellent places to climb, that’s not going to be news to anybody. They do have totally different atmospheres though. Rodellar is harder to get to, in that its further away, but once there all the crags are within walking distance. The crags in the Costa Daurada are much more spread out and a car is pretty necessary to access them all. If I were coming out again I think I’d have to decide on one area and stay there for the whole week but I would certainly reccommend seeing both areas on your first visit to get a feel for both of them. I think I prefered Rodellar if I’m honest with myself. The crags were all beside eachother and there is a great range from slabs to uber-overhangs to satisfy any need. The campsite was also a little better and the bar provided a good place to chill out and have a beer in the evening. That’s not to say that Costa Daurada isn’t a world class area either and if I was forced to stay here for a week I certainly wouldn’t be complaining.

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 -

LONDON, UK (Team Geared Up) - Eoin & myself took a week earlier in the summer to bag a number of 4000ers in the alps. With our rock skills out of practice and our first trip both on together, we decided on a set of easy routes from the Italian sides which we hoped would give us a good base to work from.

While we were looking for quiet ascents, our first was far from it! Gran Paradiso at 4,061m is the highest peak entirely inside the border of Italy. We landed on the RyanAir flight to Turin and picked up our hire car around midnight. The plan was to stop at the first campsite we came to. Campsites & motorways don’t always come together, and so 4 hours later at 4am somewhere near Aosta we pulled over and slept in the car.

The next morning we continued the drive up into the Gran Paradiso national park up a windy little valley to Pont, the trail head for Gran Paradiso. We set off up a dusty track and a few hours later were sitting in the Emmanuel refuge sipping on a Coke and eating Ritter Sport. Mountain huts are such an oasis for climbers - luxuries flown in by helicopter so you don’t have to carry them.

Our strategy that paid off was to continue the climb to reach the edge of the glacier for our bivvi location. This was a prime spot as we got a head start on the crowds that would set off from the hut in the morning. We were unable to buy gas in Pont as we’d hoped. The one we bought was the wrong size and so it was a cold dinner of a baguette and paprika crisps. That said, it was fantastically hot in the sun. Had it of been a wet cold night, I’m not sure we could have managed without a hot drink.

At 2am we woke to the torch lights of other groups bivving near us. We started up the mountain and were first onto the glacier. We roped up, geared up with ice tools, and started one of the longest trudges in our lives. While Gran Paridiso is an east route F/PD- it is not to be underestimated in the physical sense for unacclimatised climbers. While we may have strolled up it later in the week - this was a really hard one you had to dig deep on to keep on shuffling up in crampons. Mind you - sunrise pictured below, really gave us a kick.

The route is all glacier, all day. The only rock section is the summit block, which for us early in the season was still snowy enough. With precautions were needed while balancing on a small ledge in crampons we celebrated in the high winds Eoin’s first 4000er, and then got the hell out of there before the crowds arrived. We’d been climbers 5 & 6 on the summit that morning out of a potential 100 summiteers. We climbed down the dodgy bits and anchored into the snow in freezing conditions in the shade. Wrecked and barley able to point the camera, we got some good shots looking back up to the summit and across Italy.

Here you can see the crowds forming a summit queue as we began a very long tiring descent into the thicker air!

We hit the valley that afternoon and sorted our gear out from the bivvi. Were were hit by a massive storm and other than sitting in the single pub/hotel eating pizza, we sheltered in the tent.

The next morning we drove on towards the direction of Switzerland to find what turned out to be the best climb of the trip, and how much better it is without crowds.

Part II and my log of ‘Castor’ will come later! Watch this space.

-Robin-