Well, here it is, the 2013 SunRock blog, only two months late. This year we decided to check out the climbing round Tarragona in Catalunya. This area contains some of the most famous climbing areas in Spain, including Siurana and Margalef, most of which were within half an hour of our accomodation.
By comparison with some of our other visits to Spain, this area was properly mountainous and very green. Instead of the usual scrub and cacti there were pine woods and grassy meadows. There were big yellow butterflies and birdsong at the crags. When you add to all this a spectacular landscape of deep ravines cutting into the mountains and soaring limestone cliffs, wild rock formations and clifftop villages this trip really was quite special.
The climbing was quite hard. Although most of the routes were well bolted there were few giveaway grades so egos had to take a bit of a back seat. However there was a good range of routes at all grades and conditions were perfect – any warmer would have been unclimbably hot – so the week saw a lot of climbing as well as some spectacular lobs. There were also some spectacular failures to climb. Professor Deeply Deeply Sorry missed a whole day due to an unprovoked attack by a bottle or three of wine, and Peri, Graham and Justine were victims of a sneak assault by a gang of very large vodkas one evening, next day they did more snoozing than climbing.
LOGISTICS
We stayed at Lo Refugi (http://www.montsantnatura.cat/cat/?s=lorefugi) in Cornudella De Montsant, basic but cheap and good bunkhouse style accomodation in Cornudella De Montsant, about 15 minutes drive from the Siurana crags. There was a decent gear shop in the village (which was handy for retail therapy) and the village was well off the normal tourist track, so we actually had to use our spanish (thank god for Google Translate).
Guidebook: Tarragona Climbs http://www.needlesports.com/Catalogue/Books-Maps-DVDs/Foreign-Climbing-Guides/Europe/Spain/North-East-Spain/Tarragona-Climbs-COR-CE424#.UbJOiKw1Irk
More pics (mine – please add links to your own too! ) http://www.flickr.com/photos/81529845@N00/sets/72157633299092768/