UKC

Hi All,
My wife has booked for us to stay in a holiday cottage in the Spanish Pyrenees next summer at a place called Coll de Nargo. She doesn’t climb but As a keen climber I want to get a days sport climbing in during our stay. Basically I’m looking for any local info on the Coll De Nargo crag, which guide to buy and if anyone knows of a local guide I can pay to take me out for a day.

Any other local knowledge much appreciated. Keen to do some hiking or white water rafting as well.

Cheers
Simon

In reply to simonsnake77:

Hi Simon
The book to get is PODs Lleida Climbs as it covers Coll de Nago, and several other nearby crags such as Tres Ponts, Perles etc. Most of the crags face south and are extremely hot in summer and the locals either climb very early or in the evening. Tres Ponts is one of the crags that you will get some shade on especially in the afternoon.
I know a Spanish guide who works up the road in La Seu d'Urgel and I will search out his phone number. He speaks good english also.
There are lots of trails in the area but you will need to search out a decent map to find them but not sure about rafting in the Urgel valley.
La Seu is the main town in the area and has a great market in the old part every Saturday morning. There is also the Barcelona Olympic canoe slalom site in La Seu and they do rafting down the course.
Andorra is only 45 mins away.
Organya (10mins away) has a superb butcher who knows the provenance of all of his products.
If you road bike, there is a great road going from Coll de Nago westwards over a col towards Abella de Conca.

I amsure that you will have a great time and I will pm you the guides details.
Cheers
Mike

In reply to Removed UserMike Rhodes:
+1 for that butcher/deli!

And if you want a cheap, friendly meal the Pension del Llac below the village is good with a great view of the valley

In reply to simonsnake77:
A friend of mine runs a climbing guide service based out of Abella de la Conca:

http://climbcatalunya.com/guiding-courses/personal-guiding-and-buddy-scheme...

He's been based there for a good few years now so knows the area and where to find the best conditions very well. He lived in London for years so speaks English like a native.

In reply to Bulls Crack:

The butchers is called Obach and I call in there every time I pass, which is quite a lot, and buy their mountain saucisson.
It's easy as I only live 90 mins away.

I presume that your Forum name originates in Heptonstall quarry?

In reply to simonsnake77:

It's going to be HOT in Coll de Nargo in summer. People are most likely to be climbing at Perles (sector Roc d'en Sola) because it goes into the shade at 4pm and then you can climb at 9pm. It's a 10 minute drive from Coll de Nargo, plus 10 min walk-in. You could also try Figols before 11am for shade - that's a 30 min drive, 30 min walk from Coll de N. And of course Tresponts holds shade (15 min drive north of Coll de N, 5 min walk-in) but the climbing tends to be grade 7 upwards.

The comprehensive climbing guidebook for that area is "Roques, Parets i Agulles de'l'Alt Urgell". (Coll de Nargo is in an equivalent of a county called Alt Urgell.) There are some nice multi-pitch routes in the area too.

If you need a guide I have a friend in Andorra who would do it - mountain guide, 8a climber, great English. Marco Mijares.

There is no whitewater in the Alt Urgell, you need to drive into the next valley west, at the town of Sort and further north at Llavorsi you will find lots of white water operators. There is also great canyoning in the Sort valley, and a fun canyon at Boixols, which is in the upland west of Coll de Nargo. That's a good choice in extreme heat. Lots of guides running those sort of trips.

If the heat is too much, there is reasonable climbing in Andorra and at least it's a bit higher. There are a few multi-pitch routes that are fun. The Andorra guidebook is called Roc Andorra.

I live in Andorra and climb around Coll de Nargo regularly - we were climbing at Perles yesterday, in t-shirts! If you have more questions, message me.