[Krank]

Im heading out for a 2 week trip in December and would like to spend at least a week of the trip on some nice long bolted routes. Grade range needs to 7a and under. If there is some good single pitch, upto 7c, close by that would be good but not neccesary as we will have a car and dont mind doing long drives between area's. I like the look of turkey but im not sure if theres much multi-pitching, costa blanca was the other place i have looked and seems to fit the bill.
Cheers.

[ChrisC]

Sardina may well be worth looking at.  I've done some really good multi pitch bolted stuff there, and there's loads to go at, well bolted, and plenty < 7a. 

I think they have more rainfall than other Med islands, but that's just a guess based on how green the place looked compared to Mallorca.  There's a guy on here (Peter?) that will know loads more who lives there.

[Krank]

Yeah sardinia is good, we went ther last year the multi pitch stuff was good but i found the single pitch to be a bit poor, i dont know why.
Anyone been to corsica, it looks superb.

[magpie]

costa blanca was the other place i have looked and seems to fit the bill.

I've been out there for Christmas the last two years and the weather has been brilliant, it seems to be a really good time to go out as it can crap out a bit at the beginning of the year.  There's definitely loads to go at and if you want to do longer routes there are some really good options, you'd probably also find them quieter and less polished than the more obvious single pitch crags.

[Paul B]

I'm guessing Vilanova, Terradets, Montsant will be too cold?

[Krank]

cheers Magpie, ive been chorro/granada the last few years and the weathers been tip top. the longer mountain routes look good in CB.

Paul- After this winter i was looking to stay south, we will be dossing at crags ect so the big freeze aint to appealing.
Cheers all

[Paul B]

cheers Magpie, ive been chorro/granada the last few years and the weathers been tip top. the longer mountain routes look good in CB.

Paul- After this winter i was looking to stay south, we will be dossing at crags ect so the big freeze aint to appealing.
Cheers all

I can completely see why. We climbed a VDM in pleasant sun then topped out to a snow/iced descent which wasn't great (worse for the guy on the route next to us who'd broken his arm in a fall). Plus if we didn't have our Espresso maker in the van I doubt we'd have ever stepped outside that morning.

[magpie]

the longer mountain routes look good in CB.

There are some fantastic looking longer routes down near the Murcia crags, if you're camping / sleeping in a van then it would definitely be worth a trip down there for a day or a couple of days.  It's a bit of a trek if you're based further up but definitely worth a trip down if you are more flexible about where you stay.  I can probably dig you out some links if you want, a lot of the routes don't seem to be in the Rockfax guide.

[Krank]

links would be great, sounds good. cheers

[PeterH]

Sardina may well be worth looking at.  I've done some really good multi pitch bolted stuff there, and there's loads to go at, well bolted, and plenty < 7a. I think they have more rainfall than other Med islands, but that's just a guess based on how green the place looked compared to Mallorca.  There's a guy on here (Peter?) that will know loads more who lives there.

Here I am.
1. rainfall: the two decembers before last had heavy rain in the 3-4 day run-up to 24 dec then brilliant. This year it was lovely when Johnny Dawes was here 5-11 dec and was lovely to be back here in the warm after Xmas and the snow in the UK, on 31 dec we climbed at 800m in the sun. Officially the met man I asked said, " In Ogliastra (where we live) and in general in Sardinia, the rainiest month is December, followed by November. October is irregular: some years are very rainy and others are dry. The same is true for the months from January to April." So it could be wet...I would say, based on experience living here, that in a week in Dec you might get a couple of wet days. On occasions wet = torrential rain, flash floods that wash away roads. But when the sun comes out, in half a day the rock is dry, even after rain this heavy. See point below about slabs not suffering seepage.
2. MP routes up to 7a: there are TONS and they wouldn't generally suffer seepage if it had been raining since they are slabs at this grade. Just near where we live, Punta Giradili with Wolfgang Gullich and 7 Anni di Solitudine, 500m of climbing between 6b and 7a, or the Aguglia at Goloritzè with 135m 5-pitch routes, you'd like Itu Damagoni. We climbed Sole Incantatore on the Aguglia the day after torrential rain when 5 people died in the south of the island October 2008 and it was dry except for a couple of pockmarks with water in;  Masua on the SW coast. Have a look at my UKC album http://www.ukclimbing.com/photos/author.html?id=47566 All the places I list are near to sea level and OK for the winter.

If you want detailed info, especially since the Pietra di Luna guide with MP routes is from 2002 and there are lots of new routes and topos around, email me peter@peteranne.it I am very keen that people have up-to-date info about the routes here! Many Brits know the SP climbing here but the best things are really the MP routes. Anyway, that's what I think... I even have a matrix of routes sorted by max grade / obligatory grade (=grade you have to be able to climb above the bolts) and "S" seriousness rating...

CIAO

[Krank]

cheers Peter

[PeterH]

Two other thoughts:-
1. (applies to all destinations in northern hemisphere, not just Sardinia) Obviously you have less daylight in Dec, time spent (?on rainy days?) reccying the approach to the routes and (in the case eg of Giradili) walk off is VERY well spent so you can do them in the dark (or abb back down if possible, not always very easy...)
2. You may not have enought daylight (obviously depending on yr level) to do the very long 400m routes near here. Masua, with 6 or so pitches, could be a better bet. Having said this, I remember in early 2009 Maurizio Oviglia did Spleen one early Jan morning, and I see in the sardiniaclimb DB someone did it mid November:     "Magnificent route, warm, while you ab down leave water, ab in 5 abs of 50 mt. 285 metres, difficulty: 7a+,6c,6b,6c+,7a+,6c,7a,7a,6c,6c+" Sounds like a good one for you guys 
Peter