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Montgrony; Tufa Heaven.

Costa Blanca is soooo 1990’s. Gandia’s alright and everything, but the North West corner of Spain is fast becoming the best sport climbing area you could ever hope for. Every month the magazines seem to have pictures of some amazing looking tufa covered wall that nobody here has ever even heard of, and the reality is that Catalunya has so much amazing rock it’s just not fair. Rodellar, Terredettes and Santa Linyi are becoming a bit better known, but one place that still seems to be a bit of a secret to us Brits is Montgrony.

Perched on top of a hill in the foothills of the Pyrenees is a small, tranquil, beautiful religious retreat. On the cliffs surrounding this are some of the most incredible, sustained and amazing tufa walls you will ever find. The drive along the narrow windy road gives a glimpse of some great looking lines above the road, then you pull up at the car park under the shadow of an even better looking wall. But keep going, round the corner, and prepare to have your breath taken away by line after line of drainpipe tufa’s snaking up gently overhanging walls.

The bunch of 7a’s around Aliens are a great place to start, and offer some brilliant 3D climbing and steep pulls on brilliant pinches. The wall round to the right is bigger, and once you’ve got warmed up the 7b+ at the right hand side of the wall gives amazing sustained, perfect tufa climbing right to the top…nearly. A few savage pulls to the chain will probably ruin your on-site, but you won’t be too bothered cos it just means you get to do the bottom bit again! Just left of Aliens is one of the most striking lines you’ll ever see. Some bolted on jugs lead over a roof at the bottom to a perfect, thigh size drainpipe tufa soaring off into the distance. If you climb 8a+, I really can’t imagine a better route to get stuck into. Plenty of other awesome looking lines to keep you busy on this sector alone for a week. At some point you’ll probably want to get involved with the shorter routes above the road. Although a bit shorter, these are just as good lines. Grab the tufa, pinch like a disease, crank for your life, scream your head off, and enjoy!

Perhaps a really appealing aspect of Montgrony is the seemingly huge amounts of sectors to go and explore. Ever been to the Mega Tufa Wall at Alaro in Mallorca? Well it’s mega, but look along the hillside from Montgrony and there’s Mega Tufa Wall’s everywhere! More lines are getting bolted all the time, and the routes book kept at the Refugi de Coll de Merolla should have all the details. There really is enough amazing climbing here to keep most people entertained for a couple of weeks at the very least, but because of its proximity to Barcelona and the accessibility of the climbing, it’s ideal for a short trip. Just don’t forget the big guns!!

CONDITIONS:

Being tufa cliffs, they do seep. If you happened to arrive after a week of rain you’d probably find everything to be wet. But they also seem to dry out pretty quickly, and within a few days everything will be bone dry. Montgrony is at about 1300 metres so it can get cold in winter and spring, but in the sun you can climb all year round, although the height of summer is probably too hot. March to May and September to November are probably the best.

THE KNOWLEDGE:

The best bet for accommodation is the Refugi de Coll de Merolla, which will do you for beds, meals, and beers. They also hold the routes book, and will photocopy any topos for you FOR FREE! It’s about a 20 minute drive up to the crags from here. However it is possible to discreetly bivi around the crags, or next to your car. Be responsible if you do this; don’t put tents up, tidy up after yourselves, don’t crap in the woods). There’s a spring just down the path into the woods from the parking for drinking water. There’s absolutely nothing in the way of food up there, and your best bet is to stock up in the supermarket in Rippoll, and keep stocked up on bread etc from the smaller shop in Gombren.

HOW TO GET THERE:

Fly to Barcelona, and battle your way out around the ring road, heading for the N152 north towards the town of Vic. Keep going to Ripoll, and a few kilometres past Ripoll, turn left on the B402 to Gombren. A couple of kilometres past Gombren, turn right (signed Montgrony), and follow the windy road up to the top (or don’t turn right, and keep on up the road to the Rifugio). At the end of the metalled car park, a small track carries on (on the right), drive down this for 100 metres to the Sector Parking, and get cracking!