UKC

Hi,

Anyone have a guidebook or topo sheets for the area? Few trip reports of the routes can be found on the Internet but is there any definite topo or article somewhere? I'm referring to the canyon in Spain which has Pared de Catalonia and Pared de Aragon, both 500+ meters high.

Article with a picture and the lines on Desnivel perhaps?

In reply to adnix:

Plenty of topos in the guide book by Luis Alfonso and Xavier Buxo - Montsec Oeste.

Do you have a particular route in mind ?

IPP

In reply to adnix: a lot of info here:

http://www.camptocamp.org/summits/39435/fr/montrebei

but its in french. I've got my eye on Tempesta Nocturna.

The bar in Ager (main road nr petrol stn) has a lot of topos catalogued

In reply to IPPurewater:

I'm looking for information on walls with 200+ meters of height and relatively close to Barcelona. Routes should be TD'ish and the obligatory free grade about 6a. I was in Catalonia for a long weekend two weeks ago and we climbed CADE on Paret Bagasses (Terradets), Lleida on Roca del Arcs (Vilanova de Meia) and Punsola-Reniu on Cavall Bernat (Montserrat). Two years ago during a similar long weekend I climbed the Murciana on Mallo Pison and tried the Rabado-Navarra on Mallo Fire (Riglos).

If you have other tips of similar routes please feel free to suggest them. The longer the route the better. Although having climbed a lot in the Alps I'm rather novice with Spain.

In reply to adnix:
Well... I'm not sure where to start.

There are a lot more quality routes you could do at Vilanova De Meia.

I know they are not 200mts but have you done Necronomicon and Amatista ?

How about Musical Express ?

Terradets has long routes at this sort of grade too.

Unfortunately I never got to do any routes at Montrebei, so can't give any recommendations there.

Other places in Northern Spain with big routes I can think of immediately are:
Pedraforca; The south sides of the Pico De Maladeta and Pico D'Aneto (near Benasque); Ports De Beceite (Conglomerate, guide book also by Luis Alfonso and Xavier Buxo); Oliana (not sure how high this is); Sant Gervas and Sopeira. There are so many places, so much rock !!!

I suggest you seek out the "Roca Caliente En Los Pirineos" series of guidebooks (three volumes I think), by Luis Alfonso and Xavier Buxo, again.



Barrabes, a rather well stocked climbing equipment shop on the main road through Benasqe, had a massive selection of guidebooks the last time I was there.

Here is a link;
http://int.barrabes.com/rock-climbing/books-guidebooks/d-2389-a

That should give you food for thought and a few years worth of adventures !!

In reply to adnix: Get hold of this book:

Las 100 mejores escaladas de Cataluña

Starting with the clasics, you learn where all the crags are and can then find other routes on them.

I recently repeated Sobao Pasiego at the Escales dam - fulfils your criteria. So long as you can handle spicy 4m bolt spacing.

In reply to LeeWood: 9 of Montrebei's routes are in the book, and all are listed on this page:

http://www.camptocamp.org/books/186819/fr/las-100-mejores-escaladas-de-cata...

In reply to adnix:

Hi,

Re Montrebei: as you've already sussed, there's loads of info and topos of individual routes available online, but as far as I know, the 1998 Montsec-West guidebook is the only place you'll get an overall idea of the relationships of routes to each other i.e. showing each route's position on the wall. However, that guidebook is obviously pretty dated now.

There was an article on the place in the Spanish magazine 'Desnivel'(No. 278), which I'm pretty sure would be handy to get hold of for more up to date info. If you're based in Barcelona you could order a back issue from head office in Madrid without incurring heavy postal charges. Also available (I think) as a pay-download.

One thing I would say is that the big routes in Montrebei are generally considerably more serious than in other multi-pitch venues in Catalunya: longer; looser rock; less fixed gear. It's definitely not sport climbing!

Pete.

In reply to Pete O'Donovan:

Barrabes still show the Montsec Oeste (west) guidebook as available on their website. I posted the link above.

In reply to adnix:

I'd like to thank you all for very informative posts! I've now ordered the Montsec book and Desnivel 186 + 278 which have info on Montrebei. I also tried to order Desnivel 187 which had the Aragon wall but it's sold out.

In addition to those I bought the definite guides for Ordesa, Alt Urgell and Ports (Beceite/Sant Joan). I know I have a couple of gaps still (eg. Barranco de la Hoz and Mallos de Liguerri) but I think I have most of it covered. The Benasque and Travessani regions I had already covered.

With guide books there's only one rule and it's "buy if you can". You can always save on food if you're short of money. The printing quantities are often small and out of print seasons can last for years. The Piola blue and pink books for Chamonix are a very good example of this.

Thanks again! =)