UKC

How many QD's are essential for El Chorro? I'm taking a 60m rope, couple of slings and krabs, reverso, prussiks and helmet (and obviously my harness and all 3 different pairs of rock shoes). Is 10 QD's enough?

**What are good alternative activities for rainy days, and which areas are particularly quick drying?**

Also; route suggestions:

http://www.rockfax.com/databases/best50.php?area=1013

Are there any obvious ones to miss, or any glaring omissions in the sub 7a catagories?

Many thanks,
Rob.

In reply to dr_botnik:

10 quickdraws won't be enough. Take at least 15.

In wet weather I'm not sure about alternatives, but the puemo cave routes will stay dry, as will some other overhanging parts . Drying time is fast for all the crags I've been to there, so don't worry if ours raining in the morning, it'll be dry almost as soon as it stops.

In reply to dr_botnik:

If you're hooking up with someone and they've got 10 QD's as well then you will be fine. Otherwise you will need at least 5 more.

Dry in rain is Desplomilandia or poema cave. If it's windy stuff dries quick but if prolonged rain seepage starts and only face climbs will dry quick. Cracks and pockets will stay wet.

As for routes, too many to mention. Multi-pitch, steep, slabby, long,short, sustained, bouldery etc etc etc.

In reply to biscuit: Thanks very much guys, might pack a few extra. I'm heading out monday to friday this week, some rain forecast for tues/weds, but yeh, good reassuring advice : )

In reply to dr_botnik: For a rainy day: get your self a good bottle of rioja, some local cheese and cured ham and enjoy a day off!!!

In reply to dr_botnik:

I've been at Chorro for the last 2 weeks, it has been pretty cold in the wind or anytime the sun goes behind a cloud. We have found down jackets and hats to be as useful as sun cream. We have got out most days and had some lovely sun. Right now it is raining but we got out this morning.

if you only have a 60m ropes then you will have to watch out as there are quite a few routes where you can't get back down on a 60, however there are absolutely loads of brilliant ones where you can.

Too many good routes to mention you won't struggle to find them with the rockfax guide. If you have a car Desplomilandia is well worth a visit but pick a calm sunny day as it is cold and windy there.

Las Encantadas, Escalera Arabe and Sector Castrojo dry very quickly once the sun comes out. Poema cave is dry when it rains but if it rains heavily for a long time it will start to seep and will be wet even after the rain has stopped.

Be aware that the top 50 classic 6A at Sector Castrojo "Un monton de Chatarra" has had it's bolts removed from 1/2 way up and isn't worth starting up anymore.

The kings walkway is a great rest day outing and the via feratta type wire has been extended in recent years to make the start safer. If you have VF kit or a caving style set of rope cowstails it is considerably safer to use that than static slings although nearly everyone does it with slings without an issue.

El Polvorin is worth a visit even though it is a mission and has some amazing long routes up to 6C but it is on an exposed airy ledge. for a couple of the routes we chose to build a mini belay using a thread or a borrowed wire in case the leader came off before the first bolt. a Clipstick would have got round this problem nicely.

I've only got 12 draws and a 60 m rope. I haven't needed more except when I've borrowed someone's 70m rope to do a long route then I've borrowed a couple of their draws at the same time.

I'm here for the next 10 days. Might see you at the crag. Send me an email if you need people to climb with, we are staying at the olive branch.

In reply to dr_botnik:

On a real wash out day you could do a lot worse than visit Granada and the Alhambra.

In reply to dr_botnik: Hello! My climbing partner and I are going to El Chorro this weekend to stay for a week. Looking at the weather forecast, it all seems a bit grim on the weekend, with 90% chance rain on Sat and 75% on Sun. We are looking to climb some good overhanging routes that stay dry in the rain, ranging from 6c-7c. Would you have any suggestions for those grades? We are also aiming for a bunch of multi pitch classics, liek Africa and Zeppelin - any feedback on whether these dry out quickly/can seep?

Is it worth doing the 5h drive to Costa Blanca (weather forecast significantly better) in case we really do get rained out for longer or is there always something dry in El Chorro? Any other sheltered areas nearby?

Any feedback/tips are much appreciated!

Best,
Thomas

In reply to peter myers:

It's not even that good compared to Luna a couple of routes to the left.

Wet day suggestions:

Climb all the easy pitches on Rogelio at Arabe (http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/c.php?i=112704) which is a decent day out.

Go up the Arab Steps and scramble along the arete on the top of Frontales (heading away from El Chorro). Grade I/II scrambling with nuts exposure on one side.

In reply to GrahamD:

Last time we bunked out in bad weather and visited the Alhambra we got charged to get into the car park only to discover that there were no tickets available to get in to the palace itself. It seems you need to book in advance. This was Easter week last year so going the week before might be less of a problem.

If Granada is a bit of a trek you can always do the neolithic caves over at Ardales, a few miles west of El Choro. You need to get to the museum at the bottom of the hill in the town itself to book a tour, but then if the weather turns you're near the climbing in the afternoon. Last year it rained so hard one day we just assumed the day was a write off, visited the caves and when we came out discovered it was drying nicely. Forty minutes in the car and an easy approach later we were climbing at Abdalajis.

Finally if you're staying until Easter weekend then you might be able to get to the Easter parades

http://www.spain.info/en_GB/vive/fiestas/sevilla/semana_santa_de_sevilla.ht...

Seville is far enough away from El Chorro that the weather can be very different. We saw the Thursday parade in 2011 - they then cancelled the rest due to rain for the first time in 80 years. We figured it's clearly unusual for it to rain at this time of year so we went back to El Chorro at easter last year - guess what? it rained again but not as bad and with the fast drying rock we actually managed to climb 6 days out of the week.

We're going back again this year - if it rains this time I will call it a day and go elsewhere.

In reply to bigsecret:

Supposed to start raining again at the weekend :0(

It's been raining a lot recently so climbs that rely on tufas, cracks and pockets may stay wet or have seepage problems.

Having said that it's now getting warmer so whenthe sun does come out it's quite strong and face climbs dry up quickly.

Weather on the coast can often be better. I've got a pdf guide to Pinares St Anton which is in Malaga itself if you would like it in emergency. Just mail me through here.

If you are in chorro and it's raining then Poema de Roca cave and Desplo are your only real options.

If you go to any semana santa celebrations ( Malaga's are very good as well ) then be prepared for tens of thousands of people and every accommodation place will be booked up months in advance.

http://www.semana-santa-malaga.com/english/holy-week-malaga.html

In reply to biscuit: Thanks for all the valuable info & tips. Sounds like there is still plenty to do even with the rain - I'm just hoping that the caves & tufas won't seep too much from recent rain.

Poema de Roca looks fantastic by the way!

In reply to biscuit:

Thanks for mentioning the holy week. I'm off to El Chorro this weekend butgoing down to Malaga at the end of next week so might have to check it out whilst I'm there for something different.