A lone climber on the left part of sector Vermell de Xincarró. Click the photo for help locating the climber.
Are you planning a visit to Montserrat in the near future? Within a month, temperatures will drop and the south side of Montserrat will be a very good option for climbing near Barcelona.
Sport climbing on the south side can be defined in one word: endurance.
Here we are going to recommend you some of the most representative sectors of Montserrat’s south face, with plenty of routes from V to 8th grade.
Vermell del Xincarró:
More than 160 routes from IV to 7c+. It consists in two walls forming a right angle. One of the walls is east faced and the other one is south faced. This makes it possible to climb here any day of the year. The majority of routes are quite long (30m) and probably, you’ll find the low grade routes a bit polished. That’s because it was one of the first big developed crags in the south face.
Topos: East, South 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Courtesy of Onaclimb.
Cova de l’Arcada i Desdentegada:
More than 150 routes from V to 7c. If you pass the Vermell del Xincarró crag and keep walking 15 minutes more, you will arrive in the middle of a dry torrent. The wall on the left (east faced) is the Desdentegada, the other wall (west faced) is the Cova de l’Arcada. This two crags are newer and less crowded than El Vermell del Xincarró.
Desdentegada is better if you are in the 6th grade. Otherwise, if you are climbing in the 7th grade, Cova de l’Arcada is your crag. Prepare yourself for enjoying long routes, small holds and technical moves.
Topos: Desdentegada 1, 2, Cova de l’Arcada 1, 2, 3. Courtesy of Fernando.
Agulla del Senglar:
This is a small crag in comparison to the others of this article, but here you’ll find 20 routes from 6a to 8a+. Mainly are between 7b and 8a+. The best 8a’s endurance climbs can be found here.
If you keep walking a couple of minutes more, you’ll arrive to the Agulla fina. Prepare yourself for 60m 8b’s. One of them bolted by Alex Huber and called Un poco loco (a little bit crazy). I’m sure it’s because he only used 11 bolts in all the route. Scary!
Topos: Contrafort del Senglar. Courtesy of Fernando.
Well, I’m sure you have homework enough if you decide to come climbing in Montserrat. This might not seem like it but it is just a small selection of sport crags in Montserrat. These topos and lots of other ones, can be found in all the Montserrat’s available guidebooks in our on-line shop (open in january).
