In the land of vultures and limestone: Climbing in the Spanish outer Pyrenees

9 days of multi pitch and sport climbing in Catalonia and Aragon

After stints in the Alps and the Spanish coastal mountains there was no question of whether we would meet again in 2024 for a multi pitch focused trip but rather where we would go exactly.

During a van trip with Brigitte I had seen the great walls of the outer Pyrenees north of Lleida and after discovering that there was a lot of lines and sport climbing to be done here we quickly decided on basing ourselves in Balaguer in Catalonia during what would be a perfect stretch of spring weather.

Day 1: Dialing in the rope teams in Sant Llorenç de Montgai

Besides Julia, Buddel and myself the first new member of our little posse was Tanja (for whom this was the first multi pitch adventure) and we chose a few easier lines on the Paret de Formiguera to get our bearings. Buddel and Tanja climbed the Via Normal and the Via Lo Pep, while Julia and I did the vias Lo Pep and Garrets-Eusepi. All around 100 meters and ranging from French 4c to 6a.

Day 2: The great diagonal and the towers of Santa Ana

After being content with the outcome of the day before we selected the wild rock formations of Santa Ana (which is just outside of Catalonia in Aragon) for the next step up: The five pitch / 5c Via Gran Diagonal.

When Julia and I came back down from the mountain we were greeted by Wolf (who readers of this website might know from climbs I have done with him on Mallorca, the Dolomites and Arco) and his van. Wolf was traveling in the Pyrenees anyways and decided to join us for a few days. Tanja and Buddel had to deal with two other parties on the Gran Diagonal who held them up quite a bit, so the rest of us checked out some of the excellent sport climbing in the area.  

Day 3: Two mega lines on Roca dels Arcs

During my research before the trip the massive wall up to 250 meter high and at least maybe 1,5 kilometer wide wall of the Roca dels Arcs had caught my eye and its many lines my imagination. For our visit here we chose two routes next to each other: The Via Camel (180 meters / V+) which finds a moderate line through the steep face and the less compromising Necronomicon (150 m / 6a). Both routes share that they are bolted sparsely.

Wolf and Tanja made their way up Camel and its two exciting traverses without any problem while Julia and I tackled the four pitches of Necronomicon (I have to say that the 40 meters / 7 bolt pitch 3 of this route is one of the best I have ever done).

Day 4: Switching up the teams on ridges, towers and the cylinder

With Julia having to skip this day to get some work done we switched up our teams for a second day in Sant Llorenç de Montgai. Tanja and I climbed the lake side Espero Remancha in the morning while Buddel and Wolf chose to do the Disblia ridge.

After sitting out the midday heat we cap off the day with the easiest line on the Cylinder: The 100m / 5c Ribes Sabates.

Day 5: Go hard or Go home on La Directa

After looking at it a few times and having had good feelings on the 6a pitches the days before Julia and I assembled the courage to dry a line that might or might not be too hard for us: The steep straight shot to the top of the Cylinder aptly named La Directa. A  relentless power endurance fest with 6a, 6b, 6a+, 5c pitches.

Standing below it early in the morning to beat the heat and other parties Julia and I were not sure if we would make it up but were determined to give it our best effort.  After Julia fought through the definitely 6a pitch 1 I started into the 6b crux pitch: Steep hero climbing on big holds and a real test of endurance. It seems that I was not gassed enough after this and unintentionally linked into the third pitch (6a+). After that the last stretch to the top was a victory lap

Day 6: Escaping the heat and a Pizza party

With up to 30 degrees forecast for the day we chose the Baldelou canyon in Aragon with its many walls and possible shade in all directions for this sport climbing Sunday. Turns out we chose wisely and made the most of the day by sampling the different sectors before ending the with a spread of Pizza in Balaguer.

Day 7: Threading the needle in Camarasa

Tanja, Julia and Buddel did not want to visit Spain without taking a dip in the ocean (understandingly so). With it still being quite warm Wolf and I picked the shady Megakrac line on the Puro rock needle in Camarasa for our climb of the day. A nice solid 6a four pitch affair. After that we did a few sport climbs but then called it a day with the Cortado and Coke drink combination of winners.

Day 8: Concrete meets rock on a 300m line in Sopeira

This would be our last day of climbing together as Tanja and Buddel were to leave for Barcelona the next day. The vibe was for something not too hard but long and we found exactly that by climbing Lolita la Flamenca (300m / 5c) next to the Sopeira dam. A very interesting area to climb in that combines making use of the dam infrastructure and tunnels to get to and off the line.

Day 9: An „easy and casual“ final day

It’s almost a tradition that the last day of our trips is earmarked for a fun and low stakes sport climbing outing. Trying to keep to this our last crag was the Crestas de Conill close to Camarasa. Turns out this is a sandbagged, poorly protected wall with technical face climbs! Still we had fun even though I was scared quite a bit on the last and hardest lead of the whole trip.

What remains is the question: Where do we meet next?

Adventurers: Tanja, Julia, Wolf, Buddel and Bengt