Margalef in March/April

[shoelace]

Is Margalef a good bet weather wise at this time of year?

I have also heard that the best routes are in the 7's and 8's at Margalef.Iis there enough quality in the 6's for a week long trip here? Or are there better options in spain at this time of year?

Cheers for any help/advice/experiences............

[northerngreg]

I can't vouch for the weather as I've only been in the autumn, but personally I'd rather go to Siurana for a week. There are far more routes and a wider variety of styles of climbing. Margalef is generally shorter routes all on conglomerate so it's a lot of pockets and a lot of pebble pulling. Siurana is a more traditional limestone venue, plenty of slabs and steep stuff and everything inbetween. The camping is great too, but watch out for the owner Toni - he's a little weird.

[shoelace]

Cheers for the info.! 

Seems like a good spread of grades in the UKC db did you find this?. People I have spoken too (all 2 of them) seem to indicate there is little variety and few good routes below the 7's.

[Paul B]

In my opinion the quality was lower at the lower end of the grade range and the type of rock yields similar routes. There are a few really good routes but the best areas (Finnestra) don't have much in the 6's (the one 6b+ there is however is one of the best I've done).

Having said that, Margalef, Siurana & Montsant aren't that far away from each other you could easily spread a weeks trip between them and enjoy everything from UK style limestone (siurana), power endurancy pockets (margalef) and Euro stam (Montsant).