UKC

heading to sardinia for 3-4 weeks in april/may. Was contemplating splitting it up into 1.5/2 week stints in two seperate locations.

Any suggestions?

Posible Options:
Ulassai & Igleseies/Masua
Cala Gonone / Oliagstra Area
Oliagstra / Igleseias/Masua

We are primarily looking for single pitch sport in the mid 6s.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

In reply to m4doyle:

We stayed in cala gonone for a week. Plenty around there for you. A nice base as well and other things to do as well. Don't know about the rest of sardinia.

In reply to RX-78:

Ive heard its very polished up there...is that accurate?

In reply to m4doyle:

Cala Gonone was well polished but still good routes and stunning blue sea. Bolts on some of the sea crags are heavily corroded and we decided not to climb on them (Cala Luna and Millenium in particular), there's a full list on the link below but ultimately make your own judgement. Watch the video to see just how bad...

www.climbingsardinia.com/another-warning-for-sea-side-corrosion/

We spent a week there then moved up to Ulassai where the quality of the routes was a lot better. Very little polish and much better conditions in the canyon. Stayed at Nannai climbing home which is run by the guys that are doing most of the new bolting there (http://www.climbingulassai.com/nannai-climbing-home/ ) would highly recommend it!

The granite bouldering right at the top of the island looks incredible but we didn't manage to get to it this time. Apparently you can hire pads somewhere up there. Lots of info here: https://www.climbingsardinia.com/bouldering-in-sardinia/bouldering-north-sa...

In reply to m4doyle:

Problem was getting on the climbs as lots of others there, especially Germans (although thanks to the german guy who helped out our daughter when she had a panic attack up a climb). On our climbs we had no issues with rusty bolts but did see a number of them on various routes while checking places out.

In reply to m4doyle:

I've been to Sardinia twice (second time around April, which was a beautiful time to be there) and there is plenty to climb in the mid 6s.

The single pitch at Cala Gonone was a bit of a mix, some of the routes are polished, and there are some rusty bolts at the sea side crags (I remember that being the case at Cala Luna) but also some nice routes. We did find the single pitch routes there quite busy though. IMO this area is much better for the multi pitch. There are lots of multi pitch in the nearby mountains (which wasn't polished or busy). We climbed at Surtana, Monte Oddeu and also a route in the Golo Su Gorrupu gorge which had quite an adventurous approach.

The single pitch at Oligastra was more varied, not polished and less busy so I'd also recommend that area. There are also some multi pitch routes along the coast between Oligastra and Cala Gonone. We climbed a fun 6a+ on a sea pinnacle Pedra Longa, but I think the routes on the Cala Goloritze also come highly recommended.

We also really enjoyed the climbing around Igleseias/Masua. It's quite a different place to Cala Gonone, as it's an old mining area and not nearly as touristy. But the coastline around Masua is spectacular and I found the people very friendly and welcoming (they are very keen to encourage tourism). We did some of the single pitch around that area which was good (and there is loads of choice), a multi-pitch at Masua which was brilliant, and a day exploring the granite trad and bouldering at Capo Pecora.

Hope you enjoy your trip, Sardinia is great!

In reply to m4doyle:

Realise you are asking for single pitch, but a second vote for the multi pitch at Masua, the Rock is amazing..
But be aware of the bolt spacing on some of the routes, it's a little adventurous to say the least on one of the routes we climbed, although the second route was bolted conventionally thankfully.

In reply to m4doyle:

I found Masua single pitch climbs had either newish or old and rusty bolting, there is a video somewhere of someone just snapping a bolt off. So we were quite cautious and therefore only climbed a few routes here.

We struggled with a few approaches here, I did not think much of the guidebook descriptions, so may be wirth getting some beta on approaches as well as climbs. I think on three occasions we tried to find Climb's/crags and came away empty handed, other times the approach would have been better in a 4x4 rather than my van.

Climbingsardinia webpage is pretty good for info though!

In reply to betathief


Worth accessing 27crags as well for access beet although we only discovered this after leaving the area...

In reply to m4doyle:

Masua - feels very run down and abandoned compared to Oligastra, and is also a decent drive away from all the other climbing areas, whereas you could reasonably stay in Cala Gonoe and climb at Oligastra and vice versa for a change of scenery.
Watch out for worn glue-in belay bolts at Masua on the easy routes eg. Go-Ten, they were gaining edges in 2013. Climbing was nice there though.
Definitely find out new route info online.