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Yule cragging (Read 4149 times)

jwi

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Yule cragging
September 23, 2018, 04:06:59 pm
OK, so we would like to go sport climbing somewhere we have not been around the mediterranean in late december. This would mean Turkey, Spain south of Sella, any of the Mediterranean islands, or Morocco.

We would like quality routes from low sevens to low eights or thereabouts.

I'm thinking Sardinia (no idea of specific areas), Alicante (Chorro or Villanueva de Rosario) or Morocco (Todra) but I have no idea really. Any thoughts on those?

duncan

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#1 Re: Yule cragging
September 23, 2018, 06:38:10 pm
The perennial problem!

I’ve been to Todra in December. I thought it was cold and scruffy and the climbing wasn’t that inspiring. I didn’t do very much, the rock is that slightly brittle limestone that seems to occur in desert climates with very hot summers. Morroco is a great place to visit of course.

Only Mediterranean island I’ve been to is Sicily. Culturally really interesting, had a week of great weather at New Year (and a less good one in November). Climbing didn’t seem all that amazing but I wasn’t aiming as high as you.

Second most consistent NY weather of places I’ve been is the Alicante/Valencia area. Shame about the general ambience around Alicante but that doesn’t seem to bother some. Sella wild side has its fans but is above my pay scale.

The most consistent NY weather I’ve found is Tenerife: two trips, four weeks, no rain. Climbing is not amazing.


jwi

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#2 Re: Yule cragging
September 23, 2018, 07:00:52 pm
The perennial problem!

I’ve been to Todra in December. I thought it was cold and scruffy and the climbing wasn’t that inspiring. I didn’t do very much, the rock is that slightly brittle limestone that seems to occur in desert climates with very hot summers. Morroco is a great place to visit of course.
This rhymes with the impression my better half had from talking to Spanish climbers. We've been to Taghia & Marrakesh.

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Second most consistent NY weather of places I’ve been is the Alicante/Valencia area. Shame about the general ambience around Alicante but that doesn’t seem to bother some. Sella wild side has its fans but is above my pay scale.
My wife's been to Sella, so that's out.

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The most consistent NY weather I’ve found is Tenerife: two trips, four weeks, no rain. Climbing is not amazing.
That's another option. We're embarrassingly picky about the climbing though...

T_B

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#3 Re: Yule cragging
September 23, 2018, 07:14:41 pm
What's wrong with Margalef/Siurana/Montsant/Chulilla?

Further south, though not further south than Sella. Based on where other folk I know have been at that time of year...

Gandia
Masriudoms

I went to Todra BITD and the climbing was pretty rubbish.

My Dad lives in Calpe. It never rains (normally), but I've yet to climb anything around there that's really good. Never been to Wild Side mind..

jwi

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#4 Re: Yule cragging
September 23, 2018, 08:10:51 pm
What's wrong with Margalef/Siurana/Montsant/Chulilla?
Nothing. We've been quite a lot (and my wife lived in and around Barcelona for five years), and would like to go somewhere new.

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I went to Todra BITD and the climbing was pretty rubbish.
Thanks! That's three strikes and it's out!

tomtom

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#5 Re: Yule cragging
September 23, 2018, 08:24:25 pm
I follow a couple of climbing sites/groups on Tenerife and there seems to be a steady stream of development...

TobyD

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#6 Re: Yule cragging
September 25, 2018, 11:14:56 pm
OK, so we would like to go sport climbing somewhere we have not been around the mediterranean in late december.
We would like quality routes from low sevens to low eights or thereabouts.

Cimai. Outstanding routes. Great mid winter conditions. Allegedly best 8a in the world. Not trendy and therefore quiet. Half an hour from Toulon airport... What more could you want? Patisserie you say? Oh those as well.

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#7 Re: Yule cragging
September 26, 2018, 05:28:52 am
Hi J, 

Sardinia is amazing. Closest I’ve been to paradise in Europe. Climbing/landscape-wise is was amazing. Never been there round NY though and a bit hesitant to do so. Had my worst climbing holiday on Corse during NY: 10 days of non-stop rain and everything was closed during the holidays. A bit afraid of experiencing the same on Sardinia.

Weather-wise Tenerife would be the number one choice. Never been there but it is high on the list as I tend to choose the wrong climbing destinations in winter and spend most time waiting for the rain to stop...

Claret/Seynes is a good option, unless you’ve been there to often already.

Datça might be an option - if willing to travel to a totalitarian regime.

To make shure Todra stays of the list: haven’t been there myself, but couple of my friends have who’ve also been to Taghia. Unanimously: not worth it.

duncan

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#8 Re: Yule cragging
September 26, 2018, 08:41:17 am


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The most consistent NY weather I’ve found is Tenerife: two trips, four weeks, no rain. Climbing is not amazing.
We're embarrassingly picky about the climbing though...

And so you should be. Put it this way, I don't remember seeing many French climbers there. Plenty of Germans and a scattering of other northern Europeans. The climbing is good if you are a 6s - easy 7s climber and your benchmark is Portland. It also works well if you see it as one compent of a mixed trip (the windsurfing is world-class apparently). Las Canadas, at altitude up near Tiede, is a very attractive spot but the climbing is mostly easy. The other main areas are all in slightly scruffy dry river gorges, routes are mostly quite short, but the rock is rather good pockety volcanic something-or-other.


Datça might be an option - if willing to travel to a totalitarian regime.

Or the UAE.

T_B

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#9 Re: Yule cragging
September 26, 2018, 09:07:26 am

And so you should be. Put it this way, I don't remember seeing many French climbers there. Plenty of Germans and a scattering of other northern Europeans. The climbing is good if you are a 6s - easy 7s climber and your benchmark is Portland. It also works well if you see it as one compent of a mixed trip (the windsurfing is world-class apparently). Las Canadas, at altitude up near Tiede, is a very attractive spot but the climbing is mostly easy. The other main areas are all in slightly scruffy dry river gorges, routes are mostly quite short, but the rock is rather good pockety volcanic something-or-other.


And apparently the trail running around Tiede is incredible "it's like running in the High Sierras of California" so I'm told. Would love to go as the harder bouldering is supposed to be decent.

tomtom

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#10 Re: Yule cragging
September 26, 2018, 09:34:56 am

And so you should be. Put it this way, I don't remember seeing many French climbers there. Plenty of Germans and a scattering of other northern Europeans. The climbing is good if you are a 6s - easy 7s climber and your benchmark is Portland. It also works well if you see it as one compent of a mixed trip (the windsurfing is world-class apparently). Las Canadas, at altitude up near Tiede, is a very attractive spot but the climbing is mostly easy. The other main areas are all in slightly scruffy dry river gorges, routes are mostly quite short, but the rock is rather good pockety volcanic something-or-other.


And apparently the trail running around Tiede is incredible "it's like running in the High Sierras of California" so I'm told. Would love to go as the harder bouldering is supposed to be decent.

I go with work (students) every year - and have been a couple of times on research trips (looking for tsunamites and other things) which involves scrambling around the coastline on the N.of the island. There is loads of undocumented routes/bolted lines on the columnar lava outcrops there - often spectacular though sometimes the bolts look unused and rusty! Above the wave platform there are loads of areas where there are superb 2-8m blocs of all shapes and angles - some with some amazing weathered features. The potential AWAY from the Arico arroyos (in the S. where most of the climbing is) is huge - and there is climbing there that will be local knowledge only... All I've seen is single pitch though,. That said - I've seen people climbing on the cliffs of los Gigantes (500m of mixed choss and good stuff) that looked like a proper adventure!!

Aside from surfing and high altitude trekking around Teidi (jesus that would be hard work at 2k m elevation and zero humidity) the MTB is apparently superb (bus ride up to 1500-2000m and ride down) and the general walking from high down to the coast and around the coast is great. Pretty well signposted and maintained and a good bus service (buses are known as GuaGua in Tenerife BTW) up to these points. The Masca gorge walk is superb (bus/taxi up to masca at c.1500m and walk down a amazing ravine to be picked up by boat at the base of 500m sea cliffs...

 But if you want a week-10 days of proper single/multi pitch bolt clipping of high quality every day (without having to scratch out where some interesting stuff is) then its probably not the place to go :D

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#11 Re: Yule cragging
September 27, 2018, 06:22:48 pm
Mallorca?
Oltra finale?

jwi

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#12 Re: Yule cragging
September 27, 2018, 08:03:56 pm
For family reasons I'd like to avoid the French mediterranean coast, as there's only so much drama I can take...

Hi J, 

Sardinia is amazing. Closest I’ve been to paradise in Europe. Climbing/landscape-wise is was amazing. Never been there round NY though and a bit hesitant to do so. Had my worst climbing holiday on Corse during NY: 10 days of non-stop rain and everything was closed during the holidays. A bit afraid of experiencing the same on Sardinia.

Sounds interesting, I checked on meteoblue, and apparently average December rainfall is 64 mm on Sardinia and 121 mm on Corse, so on average it should rain quite a bit less in Sardina.

Datça looks very interesting as well. I'm fine with propping up the economy of authoritarian regimes prolonging the suffering of its people, so I'm more worried about temperatures. Not too cold in december?

 

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