UKC

Hi there

A group of friends and I are going to climb Naranjo de Bulnes, in Picos de Europa, Spain, this summer.

I'm struggling to find a guide book, topo's or much information. I keep reading that all the information on the net is unreliable.

Has anyone climbed there recently? Has anyone got any good web links/topo's? I'm particularly interested Rabadda Navarro and whichever may be the easiest route on any face. South Face direct maybe? As my wife may want to try and climb it too.

Thanks in advance
Jake

In reply to spacecadetjake:

There is a guide by Cicerone I believe to the area which covers the route you have mentioned above. It also includes the "easy" route up the back of the mountain which is used for the descent. Quite a good plan is to climb that route first so you now exactly where to descend when you reach the summit via other routes as there area is well known for getting cloudy.
There is also a board by the hut with topo's for most of the routes.
Hope that helps a bit.
Ed

In reply to Ed Booth:

That sounds good Ed we will be there a few weeks probably so I still fancy a decent guidebook. I will look at the Cicerone but I keep reading that it's rubbish.
Thanks

In reply to spacecadetjake:

There's an article here: http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=1858

When I went I had a guidebook in Spanish called << Cordillera Cantabrica – Escaladas Selectas en Roca >> - mentioned in the above article. We did the Murciana 78 route and the guide was accurate for that so no reason to believe it should be less so for other routes.

In reply to Ed Booth:

I would add that whilst it's possible to down climb the top part of the south face (It's an exposed scramble), the lower half of the wall involves a series of exposed abseils from fixed chains. Your advice to climb it first is good, because the abseil points can be a bit difficult to locate and overshooting them would involve prussiking!

The "easy route" is a great climb in it's own right, a lot of it up near vertical fluted channels

In reply to spacecadetjake:

We picked up a guidebook in a shop in Arenas de Cabrales. It was in Spanish, but with my limited recall of GCSE Spanish and google translate we managed to do a few routes using the book.

Lots of info online about Rabada Navarro.

We also did Amistad con el Diablo - around E1 with some hefty run-outs, but steady climbing.

In reply to spacecadetjake:

The reason we chose the Murciana 78 was that we knew it was entirely equipped for an abseil descent. It's very direct and we had no problem getting down at all. The Rabada Navarro crosses the Murciana half way along its traverse and then tops out in the same place (more or less, I guess?) so keep an eye open for the Murciana bolted belays as you are climbing and you'll be assured of a good safe quick way down. Here's a topo http://www.todovertical.com/home.php?opt=res&Resena=7

In reply to spacecadetjake:

The Cicerone Robin Walker guide is old and certainly no rockfax. However, totally adequate for several weeks climbing and exploring. We used it for a month of climbing over two trips. The biggest issue I can remember was gauging the approach times. They assume you are a super fit mountain goat! Rabadda Navarro is awesome, but a big day out to say the least. Think we were 12 hours up then 3 to get down which included knowing the decent from a previous trip. If your profile is correct and you climb severe it would be too much for a first visit but great to come back for! It took us 3 trips over 4 years to get the right weather / fitness / partner combination... That said the last 2 weeks of August / first 2 weeks of sept gave fantastic weather for two trips. The middle one being a wash out.

It's a stunning area - enjoy your trip!

In reply to spacecadetjake:

I've got an old climbing guide from when we went there is 1988.

Picos de Europa - Robin g Collomb, produced by West Col Productions 1983

Its in English - don't know if its still available. If you're struggling let me know and perhaps you could borrow it.

In reply to spacecadetjake:

There are a bunch of new guides covering the area, however, having not seen them myself i can't recommend any particular one. Unhelpful i know... They are all in Spanish as well. I'll post the links below.

Plenty of info online though, this is a good start http://www.picoseuropa.net/escal.php with a link to a good topo and excellent text (in spanish...) of the Rabada-Navarro http://www.foropicos.net/foro/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=10649

Some good topos here as well http://www.fernandozamoraguiadepicos.com/2011/03/croquis-o-resenas-de-escal... with photos from different angles when needed to identify the start of the climbs.

As far as guidebooks, they are of the 'selected climbs' type for the whole area which should give you plenty options, a google translate of the titles will make clear what they are:

http://www.libreriadesnivel.com/libros/escalada-en-roca-en-los-picos-de-eur...
http://www.libreriadesnivel.com/libros/picos-de-europa-100-vias-de-escalada...
http://www.libreriadesnivel.com/libros/escaladas-faciles-en-picos-de-europa...
http://www.libreriadesnivel.com/libros/el-naranjo-de-bulnes-el-cainejo-y-ca...

In reply to spacecadetjake:

Thanks for all the info guys, I will have a look later.