UKC

We're off to Montserrat for a few days at the beginning of October. Normally I'd buy the local guidebook, but there are 4 of them so a bit much for one visit, especially as it'll probably rain!
We climb up to about 6a, but less than if sparsely bolted. As well as a new Gorros guide there are 2 for Cara Sur (one for single pitch and one for multi pitch), plus one for Cara Nord.
I've got an old (undated but probably 2000-2005 ish) Gorros guide. What else should I buy?

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

Depends what style of climbing you are after, Gorros is great for easy multipitch, Cara Nord is mostly big trad shady stuff. Cara Sur is good when it is cold/unsettled but less worthwhile than the stuff round the Monastery.

Many of the best routes are around San Bennet - that area used to have its own guide.
http://www.pbase.com/chris_craggs/image/56998660
That prominent diagonal groove under the high-point Gomez-Xalmet (6a) is a must do.

Also the Cavel Bernat is another not to be missed Normal (5a)
http://www.pbase.com/chris_craggs/image/56997882 (The Voi Normal is on the other side)

If you need any more pointers fire away.

Chris

PS My favourite climbing venue in Spain

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

Montserrat Free Climbs is a new (2015) guide to 1000(?) of the best climbs in all areas of Montserrat at all grades. The descriptions include info on protection, rock quality and useful tips on extra gear etc. Having said all this I don't have a copy but have ordered from Desnivel, I would think it'll be available from the shop that sells books at the monastery. We'll be out there 13th to 22nd Oct maybe see you there.

In reply to Ian Butterworth:

Thanks - sounds just what we need!

Might see you at the airport, we leave on the day you arrive.

In reply to Chris Craggs:

Thanks - hope we get weather like in those photos

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

I went a few years back for only 2 days and to be honest, I found enough free topo's on the net to fulfill a weeks worth of climbing. Pieced together a little map and had about a dozen potential routes in the bag. however, being the unhelpful person I am, I can't for the life of me, find the pdf's I'd downloaded. Google away!

In reply to Chris Craggs: Glad to hear of someone else who shares my fascination with Montserrat. I went there first in 1987. It has changed a lot. Simon, the guide mentioned by Ian Butterworth is a must. It covers the whole huge mountain choosing some of best crags and routes; has lots of great photos and most importantly the text inspires you: which routes to do and which to aspire to. It is the first decent guide in English covering all standards and types of free climbing there. It tells you a few of the local tricks ie what rack to take, sport, mixed sport, trad, much too trad. He does not solve the eternal problem of consistency of grading. For each of the areas you need to be cautious, calibrate. Start with Gorros for easier grading, then South Side, then North Wall, then San Benet. Be sure to visit the Agulles, Needles area , the prettiest and Devil's Wall, maybe in a couple of years time, for the most awesome. He raves as much about the beautiful Severes as about the spectacular Extremes. For the North Wall a lot to be said for hiring a guide, say Caranorte, to short cut the initial fear factor. Even better to learn the basics of Montserrat Big Wall techniques. That will jump you up into also getting Montserrat fever. Start now and in 30 years time you will still find hidden jewels. Depending on transport, etc, a lot to be said for staying halfway between LLeida area for a mental rest and more standard climbing, indeed a mental rest in one and a physical rest in the other.

In reply to Oliver Hill:

Thanks. Will the new guide be available locally (at the monastery)?

PS if I'm still climbing in 30 years I'll be very happy

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

There's a cool climbing guide shop in Barcelona that will probably have it if not. I can find you the address or email for it if you want. The cara sur multipitch guide is good quality, gorros look the most fun. There is a topo website if you do a search on ukb. It is in Catalan or Spanish mainly though. Cool place, stunning climbing. Enjoy.

In reply to dunnyg:

An address for the climbing guide shop would be handy. Unless anyone knows whether we can buy them at the monastery?

Monastery is one huge tourist trap, don't expect to find climbing community there.
Last time I was in area I had good luck getting a map and guidebook form Decathlon. May be worth giving it a try.

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

There certainly used to be a book shop at the Monastery - I have bought guides there before. Watch out for really old and out of date stuff though,


Chris

In reply to Chris Craggs:

Thanks. I'll probably try at Decathlon in Barcelona, as that's the only place that seems to be open Saturday evening (we arrive early evening and everywhere is shut on Sunday). otherwise will risk leaving it until Montserrat.

As someone above said, we'll probably have enough to do using our old guide plus the internet, but it's always good to have more books

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

Balmat should be open til 8:30pm Saturday: http://balmat.com/ca/

It's a proper climbing shop, so you're more likely to get useful info along with your guidebook than in Decathlon.

In reply to humptydumpty:

Excellent - it's just a few blocks from our hotel

Thanks.

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

Might also be worth checking out Altair - it's a bookshop, has lots of good maps (e.g. Swiss alps), but not sure if they stock climbing guides. It's on the same street (Gran Via), but as you might guess from the name it's quite long.

In reply to humptydumpty:

Thanks. According to their website they sell climbing guides so we may take a look if there's time (we'll probably only have an hour or two before everywhere shuts). Mind you, I've already printed out enough for over a week from the web!

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

Hi all,

I'm pretty sure I'm headed to Monserrat for most of Oct, and these guidebook tips are super helpful. I'm wondering also where the climber community does spend their time. Anyone know?

I'm mainly traveling solo, so if anyone's up for an extra climber or wants to just meet up, let me know!

Aliyah

In reply to Simon Caldwell:
I'm sure this must have been asked before but can't find any mentions:

What ropes should we take? 70m single, or 50m double? Or even 60m double I suppose.

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

nowhere has the new guide and all the local books are in catalan! can anyone tell me how to get off la prenyada?!

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

Are you still up there?? If so, I'll see if I have any info...

In reply to humptydumpty:

its tomorrows plan

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

Looks like a 20m ab down the West face, likely the via normal (III).

In reply to humptydumpty:

thanks!

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

N.B. very top of the via normal is actually grade V, so don't be surprised if there's a steep bit!

In reply to humptydumpty:

An ab off the short side if I recall - though it was a long time ago!


Chris

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

There is what appears to be a very good climbing shop in El Bruc: http://www.goma2.net. It has the guide book and all sorts of useful equipment for MOntserrat. open Wednesday to Sunday 9-1300;1730-2100. Call 0034 93 771 0834 and check. El Bruc is on the road to Montserrat and Lleida area from Barca airport. El Bruc is probably where most local climbers hang out, post climbing. Ask at Goma 2 for where restaurant/bar is.

In reply to Oliver Hill:

The climbers bar is Bar Anna, halfway up the high street on the right.

In reply to Chris Craggs:

20m ab off short side then 40m ab (or grade 3 down climb if brave), 70m rope just long enough. 7 hours for 5 pitches says it all, hard scary and blowing a gale! will make do with local guide books, only got 3 more days

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

One of the long routes on Los Gorros (up by the funicular and walk back down) and Cavel Bernat - that'll keep you busy for a couple of them,

Chris

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

Which route did you do? Gomez-Xalmet (6a)? What do you reckon for the English grade, and any weird pro needed?

In reply to humptydumpty:

yes. nails for the grade, even if you aid pitch 1. trad rack esential for the crack pitches unless you can do hard V when almost 10m above last bolt! set of nuts plus a few cams plus slings for trees. maybe VS but felt HVS. type 2 fun at times

In reply to Chris Craggs:

yup thats the plan. gorro frigi today, CB tomorrow, something shorter friday as we have to get back to Barca by 7.

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

We did Gomez-Xalmat just clipping the bolts and thought it was OK - I never carry any trad gear at Montserrat.

Chris

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

Sounds excellent. What size is the crack, any need for massive cams? I'd expect it to be HVS/E1 given the first pitch gets V+ or 6a in some places, so I'm glad to hear it might only be VS Hoping to get on this soon...

In reply to humptydumpty:

I properly aided p1 - standing in slings etc. Carmen freed most of it but had to pull on gear a couple of times which suggests hard 6a. one online blog shows a 7 bolt ladder but 3 have been chopped, I got a nut to thread over one of them. for the rest, ignore Chris! p2 (30m) has a piton at the start, a bolt about 17m higher, then one more before the belay. we placed about 6 or 7 nuts and friends as well. p3 had 4 bolts in 35m. so ok with just quickdraws if you have several grades in hand! otherwise think of it as a trad route with bolts.

In reply to humptydumpty:

lessons learned today. 1. gorros grades are much softer than sant benet grades. 2. if a route has "58m" painted at the bottom, then that means it is a single 58m pitch!

In reply to Ian Butterworth:

That new Montserrat Free Climbs is a nicely done guidebook (thanks for the heads-up) - got my copy yesterday & itching to go.

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

Well thanks to everyone for their advice, we had a splendid time.

In case anyone else has the same query in future, it sounds like the answer is to get the new English guidebook.
Sadly we couldn't get a copy. Balmat had had half a dozen but were sold out. Altair had loads of guides but not this one. Likewise the shop in the Monastery (incidentally, the Monastery also sells the decent map, other previous threads suggest that it used not to).

Of the ones we tried, my old Gorros guide was pretty good, for an old-fashioned style book. There's been at least one updated edition since then. Nowhere had a new version so it could well be out of print at the moment. The main problem we had was that many routes have been rebolted with new belay positions since it was published. So a 110m 4-pitch route requiring 6 quickdraws is now a 58m single pitch requiring 16; and a 4 pitch requiring 8 quickdraws is now 3 pitches requiring 15.

The Sant Benet book was pretty hopeless, with hard-to-use line topos, no clue as to quality/quantity of protection, and text solely in Catalan. This might be why we saw just two other teams climbing there all week, while Gorros was relatively busy.

We also got a Desnivel guide to the northern crags, on the basis that the text was Spanish so our dictionary might help. But it turned out that 95% of routes were aid routes, so not much use to us. Shame so many guides get wrapped in cellophane so you can browse before buying.

A 70m single rope was fine for everything we did, but 60m doubles would have made some of the descents easier.

Grades were horribly inconsistent. Gorros routes all seemed reasonable (and consistent) at the grade (based on a total of 18 pitches). Elsewhere, less so, but it may just have been the routes we chose.
Gomez-Xalmet (excluding the aid pitch) is graded 5a. We reckoned tough 5c.
Cavall Bernat Normal route is graded 4, 4+ for the main pitches. We reckoned 5c for both.
Both brilliant routes though, thanks Chris for recommending them.

Based on these two, crack routes seem to be bolted on the assumption that you'll also take trad gear. One of the local blogs says as much. But Chris Craggs disagrees and he's got slightly more experience than we have

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

When you say you thought Gomez Xalmet and Cavall Bernat 5c - I assume you mean French - not UK?

I though the former HVS 5b (all free) and the latter HVS 5a,


Chris

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

Glad you enjoyed the holiday, and apologies for the useless guidebook advice. A bit late now, but you can get the new English one in the climbing shop in El Bruc...unless I bought the last copy!

In reply to Chris Craggs:

Yes I mean French. Which I think means we're not that far apart, maybe half a grade or so.
I'd certainly go for HVS 5a for Cavall Bernat. Excluding the 1st pitch of Gomes Xalmet thought the rest was similar in difficulty to CB, maybe a little harder, but bolder (even with loads of trad gear!)

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

I'm one of the authors of Montserrat Free Climbs. First of all, thanks to everybody for the good references you are giving about our book. Second: hopefully, the guidebook will be soon available in the Montrserrat Monastery bookstore. Third: it is by no means out of print. Actually, we have plenty of them to sell and if somebody travelling to Montserrat is not able to find it in a bookstore, he/she can email me ([email protected]) and I 'll deliver a copy, either in person or thru the hotel front desk... Otherwise, please tell Cordee to stock the book in the UK (...). And again, many thanks again to everybody for your interest.

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

I am a bit of a Montserrat fan too. Been out there this weekend. Wish I had known about the new English guidebook. Anyway, did the Punsola Reniu on Cavall Bernat (not free of course).

Seems that are now a lot of guide books in addition to Montserrat Free Climbs (2015).

I have:
- Montserrat Vertiente Norte (2008): Luis Alfonso, Xavier Buxo
- Escalades a Sant Benet (2010): Antoni Cugat
- Montserrat carasur vol 1 vias cortas (2012): Luis Alfonso
- Montserrat carasur vol 2 vias largas (2012): Luis Alfonso

There is also:
- Agulles, regió de Montserrat. Guia d'escalades (2011): Joan Miquel Dalmau
- Montserrat - Guia d´escalada de la Regió dels Ecos (2014): David Hita Sánchez
- Montserrat - Gorros (2015): Luis Alfonso