Climbing in Vilanova de Meià

Last week I went with some friends to climb in the huge cliffs of Vilanova de Meià.

Vilanova de Meià is a very small village near Lleida. It may go unnoticed by most but it is well known to climbers because of its large amount of rock. The crag itself, and it’s surrondings, can be a spot to climb in a whole life, well… not a whole life but you have climbing routes enough for years and years.

Photo: Pär Lindholm

Here in Vilanova, you’ll find from sport routes of only one pitch to 250m of traditional and aid climbing. Here multiple styles coexist next to others. You can be climbing a bolted 6c pitch and the route next to you is A3. The limestone here is quite particular, it has a lot of horitzontal strips with flat holes so it’s easy to get pumped if you are climbing at your limit grade. Another thing to get in count here is that graduation is tough here, the routes are very athletic. Don’t underestimate the V+! The best place to practice sport climbing here is the famous La Cúpula. It consist in a 15m overhang at 15/30º with good holds. There are more or less 15 routes, the most between 7b and 8a. There are a lot more of sport climbing sectors, but this is the most well known.

Photo: Marieta aka Tufa-Tufa

To practice aid climbing, you can do it in all the trad sectors but the most famous is El pilar del Segre. If you want to enjoy a complete day of climbing, combingin a couple of routes in La Roca Alta or climbing a complete route in La Roca dels Arcs should be enough for an average climber.

If you are coming to climb here for first time, I recommend to get used to the local grading and the climbing style. A good route to do for first contact is Necronomicón. Quite fast and well bolted, it can be done only with quickdraws and it’s easy to combine with another route.

Some other recommended routes of Vilanova are: Tierra de Nadie, El Somni de Quimfer, La Chica del Martini, El Señor de los bordillos, Porno Estar, Amadeus, Casting Buñuel… ad infinitum. You can check a post of Julia on Wild Planet, another recommended one!

By the way, the route I climbed was Peque Mantecas: a 6 pitches route of 160m. The first pitch is a pumpy 6a+ crack, protected by pitons and a bolt. If you know how to jam (I don’t) it’s easier:

The second pitch is an easy traverse with a boulder move protected with a bolt, here you’ll see the tough V+ gradings of Vilanova… The third is a clean and easy diedhral where all the cams and nuts can be placed perfectly. I joined this two pitches in one using long slings.

The fourth is a vertical wall with really nice moves. It’s very protected with pitons and bolts in the hardest part, V+ again. The fifth is an easy traverse -with the worst rock quality of all the route- that lays you on the bottom of the exit of the route and the wall: a clean slab full of holds that takes you to the last -and hard- diedhral with a difficulty of 6b (you can climb it in A0).

A good route climbed with good friends!

By the way, soon you’ll be able to order the Vilanova de Meià guide at our shop or you can buy it at Cirera’s Bar in the village. Enjoy your climbing!