UKC

Chulilla Town - Boca de La Voz & Barranquillo/Falfiguera

Have just booked up a few days here in early March. Spotted in some of the write ups about the place that an 80m rope would be a good idea. Just wondering whether anyone has been with a shorter rope (ours is just under 60m after chopping off a couple of metres due to damage) and still found plenty to do? We are climbing around 6b to 6c. Any thoughts welcome...

In reply to Richardlake:

We had an 80m and were pretty pleased that we did - one of the best 6cs we did (Ramalitto) was close to 40m. The outer crags, which have more at 6b-ish, should be fine with a shorter rope tho.

In reply to Richardlake:

On the main crags eg Oasis, you'll definitely want an 80m rope. I took my 70m and used it only once in 2.5 weeks. At some of the older crags you might get away with a 60m one but if I were going back (which I hopefully will do) I'd get an 80m rope for sure. It's a great venue, enjoy your trip!

In reply to Richardlake:
I took an 80m and was glad I did - I definitely wouldn't risk it on a 60m! It'll really restrict you - 30-35m pitches are common and the assumption is that climbers will have a 70m rope as a minimum. And if you're buying a new sport rope you might as well buy an 80m as it'll let you get the best out of foreign sport trips in the future.

In reply to climbingpixie:

Thanks for the comments everyone... Guess I'll look into buying a new sport rope then!!

Guess the next obvious question is how many draws i might need based on 40m pitches? Is it quite 'generously' bolted there?

In reply to Richardlake:

We budgeted about 20 per route when we were doing the maths for our last trip there.

In reply to Richardlake:

Fewer bolts as one ascends! A friend did a route which needed 23 draws, but that was running two pitches together. The longer single pitches we did never required more than 20, more typically 15 would be enough.

If you register on the website climbmaps.com (which I *strongly* recommend) many routes on the photo topos indicate how many draws are required. You get this info by clicking on the line indicating the route once you've zoomed in sufficiently.

In reply to Fraser:

Great info. Thanks for this!

In reply to Fraser:

I'm off there next week, pretty excited about the proposition of those 23 draw routes!!

Any 'must dos' or recommendations?

In reply to Rob Greenwood - UKClimbing:
Lucky you! I'm not the best person to ask, having only been there the once. In all honesty though, I wasn't never on a bad, or even a mediocre route, in the whole 19 days I was there. It depends on what sort of grade you're operating in but for me, the top three stand-out lines were:

- Sendero sinuoso (7a+) 7a+ at 'Sector Oasis':

- Dale duro negro (7b) 7b at 'Sector Sex Shop':

- No match for climb id:392507 7a+ at 'Sector Masters Wall'

Barreiros (7c) at Masters Wall was stunning, but well above my pay grade - it's given 7c but perceived wisdom apparently says more 7c+. Los Caminantes (L1+L2) (7c) at Sector Las Chorerras (just right of the main access path to Oasis) was the route needing 23 draws and gets a seriously good write-up.

Most of the routes there I climbed I've commented on in my logbook, so that might give you a heads-up on some others. Have a great trip.

Definitely check out climbmaps.com though.


Edit: this should also help you with some other recommendations:
http://chulillaclimbing.com/top-favorite-chulilla-routes-by-climbonline-co-...

In reply to Fraser:

Thanks Fraser, that's brilliant - I'll let you know how I get on.

In reply to Richardlake:

No worries. Pretty much every route I did there was ace and the 6s are really worthwhile, unlike some other crags I've been to where the 6s are almost 'filler' routes amongst harder offerings. As Sean mentioned above, El Ramallito is excellent and Yorkshire Pudding and La Costra Nostra are worth doing at Las Lamentaciones. It's worth noting that the first two routes will be in the sun until at least 3pm but La Costra Nostra is round the corner and goes into the shade sooner. At Oasis Magnetoresistencia is probably the best of the 6s but I also enjoyed Chamarilero (6c+ but fairly amenable albeit very cruxy at the top). I also enjoyed Olag-hai, though the start is very thin.

FWIW I took about 15 draws per route, unless it looked really long or someone told me otherwise. However some of the routes I led with the draws in so don't take this as gospel!

In reply to Richardlake:

Does anyone have any recommendations of where to stay other than El Altico?

In reply to WB:

I've stayed both times at Hostal El Pozo just off town square. Run by a nice couple. Good rooms and top notch food.

www.hostalelpozo.com/en/

In reply to WB:
I'd echo shark's comment on the food in 'el pozo', we ate there a couple of times.

We stayed in the village of La Ermita, just south of Chulilla. It's only a 5-10 minute walk from the apartments there up to the main square. The place is called 'La Rueda Apartementos' and was very good, although if it's an issue for you, the wifi connection was a bit iffy at times. Other than that it was great, beds were good and an unmonitored supply of fire wood for the stove. They have a restaurant attached, but was only open certain nights of the week. Did was good but not quite up to El Pozo mentioned above. Not 100% sure, but check it's self catering, I think it might not be whereas ours was.

Edit: unlimited not 'unmonitored' wood supply.

In reply to Fraser:
Here's the website of the place we stayed at:

http://www.ruralrueda.com/larueda_en.html