[AJM]

Hey all,

Have an empty slot in my diary where an autumn/early winter sport trip needs to fit.

I've a few places in mind, but having seen some pretty pictures over the last day or so the places mentioned above have snuck onto my list (if it matters other places at the moment are probably Buoux, Chorro, Seynes & Russan or around Buis). Wanted to find out a bit more - I assume that the weather that time of year is going to be ok, so really it comes down to:

How well does either serve a mixed group? I would be looking at 7s, basically, but for it to be a successful trip it would also need a good selection of 6s plus probably some 5s for warming up on for my other half. And for it to really work they would need to be mixed in amongst each other rather than being on totally separate sectors.....

So yeah, does that exist, or do I need to add them to my list of unsuitable venues to be saved for holidays without the lovely lady? I know obviously that Siurana isn't far away but she has done several trips there and isn't too keen to go back until she improves a bit more and therefore opens up a wider range of routes for herself....

Cheers for any advice,

Andy

[Paul B]

I can't comment on all of the areas but for the ones I've visited:

Montsant - If people are at all fit then expect them to push their grade a little here, essentially due to the length of routes the individual moves feel very steady. I've only been to Raco de Misa but you'd be fine here I'd think. I thought Montsant was great, nice and quiet compared to what was then an overflowing siurana. I know it sounds stupid but take a LONG rope, some of the sectors to the RHS are very long and you'd be pushing it on an 80m with dual loweroffs.

Margalef - You'd be fine here, the grade spread is perfect. You might find that you need to move between 'craglets' but I didn't find it too much of a problem. My Dad joined us here for a few days and we found plenty to keep him entertained without leaving the 5's. The best area's such as Finnestra don't really offer that much in the 6's but the one flowstone route I can think of is about as good as they come.

Buoux - Again, you'd likely need to move between sectors but with a bit of planning I'm sure you'd be fine (and a lot of the time you need to pass some of the easier routes to get where you're going, i.e. Diamonds). My better half found even the easy routes at Buoux fairly hard.

Seynes - This needs to be late winter as it gets quite hot. Although there are things at all of the grades you mention there isn't massive scope and the crag is actually pretty small compared with the above. Its not really as picturesque as the other areas mentioned either.

[AJM]

Cheers Paul, good beta. Are Montsant and Margalef convenient enoughyou could combine the two, or are the roads between them crap? I think Montsant is the one I am most psyched by out of the two so far, but both look pretty cool.

Did 2 weeks around Seynes and Russan climbing 6s about 2 years back and never came close to running out of things to do, but Seynes definitely has quite homogenous graded sectors - not many with the sort of grade mix I need, you'd definitely be walking between sectors a lot. It is hot though like you say!

Only had a day at Buoux, but hopefully spending a few more there at Easter, yeah grades and style on easy routes are a bit tough but it does have the variety at least, even if some of them are sandbags...

Cheers,

Andy

[Paul B]

Cheers Paul, good beta. Are Montsant and Margalef convenient enoughyou could combine the two, or are the roads between them crap? I think Montsant is the one I am most psyched by out of the two so far, but both look pretty cool.

The 'road' itself below montsant isn't great and being in a hire car wouldn't be a bad thing but unless you're van camping there you'll need to drive that anyway. I only visited them as part of a van euro tour so I haven't got a lot of beta on driving between areas although often people I speak to intend to visit Siurana and Margalef in one trip.

[AJM]

Cheers Paul.

Lots of stuff on the climbing in catalunya blog (in the blog pile) on both for anyone looking....

[Paul B]

Cheers Paul.

Lots of stuff on the climbing in catalunya blog (in the blog pile) on both for anyone looking....

I didn't get to the 'open book' sector that features on that blog although it was on the list, the routes look really cool and like they could be slightly different in style to those at Raco de Misa.