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spinner
Boulder climber
CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Nov 13, 2010 - 09:03pm PT
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For the month of January I'm studying abroad in Barcelona and want to get some climbing in!! Some issues: 1) I won't be able to bring a lot of gear 2) my Spanish isn't what it should be.
I'm looking for some area & route recommendations / beta on climbing in Spain
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Dickbob
climber
Colorado
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Nov 13, 2010 - 09:19pm PT
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Me and my wife had a great time on all the limestone inland from Salou/Tarragona. I believe its called the Costa Daurada. Areas I remember are Siurana, La Mussara, La Riba and Mont-ral. A rack of draws is all that's needed and communication was not an issue. You will have a ball.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Nov 13, 2010 - 10:57pm PT
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El Chorro is pretty good at that time of year. There have been a few ST threads that you can search. Sport climbing mostly, so you won't need much gear, and routes up to 6 pitches.
There's a campground there with everything you'll need (groceries and/or restaurant food), and you can get there by train so you don't need a car. And you'll get by with limited Spanish -- it's fairly popular with people from all over Europe, so English is pretty much the default language.
Edit: here's a couple of photos of a 10a called Amptrax
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spinner
Boulder climber
CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 14, 2010 - 11:22am PT
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Thanks for the info guys!
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mcreel
climber
Barcelona
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Nov 14, 2010 - 01:56pm PT
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Most of the areas are equipped with bolts, so a rack of quickdraws is sufficient. The classic crags W of Tarragona (Arboli/Siurana/La Mussara/La Riba and a few others) are stacked with limestone sport climbing at all grades. Montserrat (solid conglomerate) has some warm areas on the S side. There is a small area called Gelida near Barcelona that has Siurana-style limestone, and has a pretty good quantity of nice routes at all grades. Farther to the W, Montsec is a pre-Pyrenees range that has some great multipitch areas: Terradets and Vilanova de Meia. There are some great 3-20 pitch routes there, all bolted. If there is a high pressure front hovering over us, as often happens in January, Vilanova de Meia is incredible. Sunny climbing in a t-shirt, while down below there is a sea of fog, with Montserrat sticking out off in the distance.
Check out this link, it'll give you a lot of information:
http://www.escuelasdeescalada.com/lista.php?comunidad=9
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Alan Rubin
climber
Amherst,MA.
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Nov 15, 2010 - 06:26pm PT
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Most of the Costa Daurada (as called in the Rockfax guidebook but known locally as the Sierra de Prades)areas are at or above 1000 meters and can, and probably will, be quite chilly in January, though the lower altitue area of La Riba and parts of Siurana may be OK. There are some lower altitude areas closer to Barcelona that may well be OK then as well, though I've never been. Check the Rockfax website, they have a downloadable mini-guide to some of these areas.Montserrat is close to Barcelona, but I think it is subject to pretty variable weather. I have no personal knowledge of the more inland Catalonian areas, but as others have posted, a number of them are good winter destinations The Costa Blanca areas are a better bet in January, but are a fair trip--maybe 5-6 hour drive from Barcelona. Montenejos, a bit inland from Valencia is a bit closer, and is at it's best in winter. El Chorro is quite far south of the Costa Blanca and would be well out of range for weekending.Barcelona is a great city--enjoy.
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AlexC
climber
Bay Area, CA
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Nov 15, 2010 - 09:01pm PT
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Check out
climbinspain.com
Lots of beta on everything from where to stay and what to climb around Barcelona.
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utomjording
Trad climber
Umea, Sweden
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Nov 16, 2010 - 03:07am PT
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My name is Pär and I live by the foot of Montserrat (5000 pitches of climbing) about 30 minutes outside of Barcelona and run the web site Climb in Spain. There is pretty much endless of climbing to be had within 2 hours from Barcelona and there is no coincidence that some of the worlds best climbers live here in the province/country of Catalunya: Ramonet, Sharma, Edu Marin, Andrada etcetera etcetera.
The gyms in Barcelona are bad but it is a good place to meet people to climb with. Otherwise I live a short bus ride from town and you are of course welcome to climb with us. You will learn more Catalan then Spanish though, the climbing community here is basically 100% Catalan speaking.
Check out the map that we made on the web site, it is a good way of seeing how much climbing there is here.
climbinspain.com/maps
Resting by utomjording, on Flickr
Here is a photo of AlexC in Montgrony, about 1½ hour north of Barcelona. (Thanks for the heads up, Alex!)
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mcreel
climber
Barcelona
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Nov 16, 2010 - 03:58am PT
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As long as the sun is shining, the Sierra de Prades (Siurana, etc.) is plenty warm in January, as long as it's not too windy. If it's cloudy and windy, then it can be very cold. Here's a good web site to know the current conditions: http://www.eltiempo.es/en-provincia-tarragona/
Another area near Barcelona is Garraf, to the SW. To the NE, up in the hills above Vilassar de Dalt is a good bouldering area called Can Boquet (granite).
Montanejos is a nice place, but there are many places just as nice that are closer.
There are loads of areas to visit. What type/grade of climbing do you like?
About gyms, I don't know about Barcelona, but "La Panxa del Bou" in Sabadell is a perfectly nice gym. I can still feel the holds from last night's session.
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