UKC

We tried to climb Piratas on peñon ifach.

We got to the 4th pitch and could not find it... and I was wondering does it have no bolts at the belay. 

​​​​​​Basically is it 100% trad? 

Any beta would be excellent as it tricky and the do not want to head up a 6b.

The descriptions below sum it up quite nicely. Did it two xmases ago (when we were still allowrd out...) with our wee man. Very enjoyable if somewhat polished in places. It is semi-trad, some bolts, but don't rely on it and take some kit as well. We went a bit wrong as well at some stage, but got back on track, basically if you get into 6b territory you are of the piste, I think we did this as well, but quickly got back on track!!

Rockfax Description 
HVS. One of the original lines on the wall. It has good climbing, but sees few ascents and has some loose rock. Take a rack.
1) to 3) 5+, 105m. As for Valencianos.
4) 4+, 20m. Climb up a corner, then follow a ramp rightwards to a belay around an Arete.
5) 4+, 20m. Follow the corner (peg) to a cave belay - threads.
6) 5, 25m. Exit the cave to the right - high thread - then climb up a crack to a pedestal belay.
7) 4, 25m. Climb the corner past some bushes to a belay (junction with Diedro UBSA).
8) 4+, 35m. Climb the corner to gain the ridge. Easy rock leads from here to the summit. © Rockfax

UKC Logbook Description
One of the original lines on the wall. It has good climbing but doesn't see much traffic. Some of the rock is loose. Take a rack.
1) to 3) 5+, 105m. As for Valencianos.
4) 4+, 25m. Climb up a corner then follow a ramp rightwards to a belay around an arete.
5) 4+, 25m. Follow the corner (peg) to a cave belay - threads.
6) 5, 20m. Exit the cave to the right - high thread - then climb up a crack to a pedestal belay.
7) 4, 25m. Climb the corner past some bushes to a belay.
8) 4+, 20m. Surmount the final bulge by bridging and continue to the ridge. Escape more easily to the summit path.

Thanks for your reply. My problem is I was belaying after pitch 3 and my son climbed for 20meters but could not find the belay bolts for the start of pitch 4(so he down climbed and we repeated via-valencianos).

I struggled up the last meter of pitch 2 the 6a+, so there was no way he could pull me up 6b.

​​​​​​So, was there bolts on the 4th pitch or is it just slings and the odd old rusty piton?

What doesn't quite make sense here is that if you were belaying after pitch 3 you must, by definition, already have been at the start of pitch 4. Did you mean the top of pitch 4/start of pitch 5?

For clarity the pitch 4 description should perhaps begin : "Move left from the belay [ie the one after the slippery Valencianos crack] into the base of the huge corner that divides the Valencianos slab from the steep overlying headwall of Virginia Diez to its right. Don't be tempted immediately back up right above the cactus bay." A short distance up the big corner - 10 or 15 metres, perhaps - a ramp cuts back right across the wall, past an old belay on Pilar Lopez [which crosses the ramp at this point] to a large ledge at the base of the main Piratas corner and the crux pitch of Los Miserables just to its right. Bolt belay. The previous pitch of Los Mis takes the righthand of two lines of bolts directly up the steep wall to this point from the base of the huge corner; Pilar Lopez takes the lefthand bolt line, intersecting the ramp shortly before its top. I can't recall whether the ramp pitch has any bolts apart from the old Pilar Lopez belay; probably not.

I haven't done Pirates, but it sounds like you did the second pitch of Polvos Magicos, the awful slippery corner. You should have been on Valencianos at this point which skirts round to the left and the comes back right. Incidentally the Spanish Roy de Valera guide gives pitch 2 of Polvos 6b for the awkward jamming at the top. This guide gives a symbol depicting a peg for Pirates with the legend "Bolts: Routes with old equipment which may be unreliable". Make of that what you will, but it doesn't sound like you can expect good bolted belays. Finally the guide says take a set of cams and 16 quick draws. I translated the brief description, but it was pretty vague so not much help in describing what happens after the first 3 pitches of Valencianos.

Thanks Ian, I did mean my son was climbing the 4th pitch and could not see any belay bolts for the start of pitch 5.Basically, he could not see any bolts on 4th/5th pitches (accept on the left 6b:Los miserable). So thought he was offpiste and down climbed.

Thank you all for these extra descriptions, they'll come in useful whenever we try again.

2nd pitch of polvos magicos is 6b imo.

I've climbed pirates and the 4th pitch (the one after the 5c crux of valencianos) is confusing . 

I ended up leading a loose and bold chimney at sustained 5a sport (no bolts) for 15m or so and traversing 10m to a bolted belay. After this the route was obvious. 

I've since climbed half a dozen more routes on the penon and view the route from.a few angles and it looks like that awful chimney is the only obvious way. Though clearly there must be a better way 

If he could see the Los Mis bolts to his left that does rather sound as if he'd gone back right above the cactuses; had he been in the right place those bolts, and the ones on Pilar Lopez, would have been to his right. There's a slim right-facing corner a bit to the right of the Los Mis bolts which can easily be fitted to the "climb up a corner" description if you don't realise that the corner you're looking for is the huge one round to your left that you can see from the beach! I certainly went wrong there and climbed up the slim corner only to find that I couldn't get past the large cactus growing at the top, so retreated and tried a line further right; this led to precarious scrabbling over a bulge into the bottom of an earthy gully which, I believe, leads ultimately to the small col behind the pinnacle four pitches up Costa Blanca. An easy traverse back left a bit higher brought me to the correct belay ledge below the Piratas pitch 5 corner - which all sounds a bit like what Jim B describes. I've never done the correct ramp pitch but have peered up and down it in the course of a couple of ascents of Pilar Lopez and, if I recall, went up a bit to find it when doing Valencianos.

When you switched to Valencianos you would have been able to see the ramp by looking back across the slab at the wall beyond; and if you had climbed up the right edge of the slab - ie the corner - instead of heading out across it you would have arrived at the start of the ramp.

Here's a video of it but it looks like they went the wrong way on pitch 4 also

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ai2PeBjfBA&t=321s

After the crux pitch of Valencianos, the correct route appears to be to follow the big corner on the right of the Valencianos slab for about 20mtrs, then traverse horizonally right on a wide ledge (no hands needed) for 15m to the bolt belay on the pillar (just managed it on a doubled 70m rope).

The rockfax picture suggests going directly up into the cactus above the belay, but this is clearly wrong and doesn't match the wordy description.

From there there are 2 independent pitches of great climbing on "Euro trad" (occasional pegs, including for belay, lots of normal trad gear) till you rejoin the polish of Diedro UBSA.

Definitely more fun than Valencianos, and not half as polished as Diedro UBSA.