Today's destination was Roca de les Hores up at Montsant. We thought we'd be able to drive up to the normal parking for it but were halted by a rough bit of track right at the start so parked way down below at Albarca. This meant that what should have been a 20min approach turned into more like an hours slog uphill. But the views were amazing today as the strong winds meant that the air was really clear and you could see for miles, so it wasn't so bad.
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| Tash on the approach to Roca de les Hores with stunning views. |
We had the crag to ourselves all day and thankfully the wind dropped so it was quite pleasant in the sun - t-shirts for climbing and jacket for belaying.
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| A sunny Roca de les Hores (note the sea on the right!) |
I warmed up on a nice 6b on the left-hand end of the crag, which felt a little stiff with no chalk to follow. Then I tried a 7a+ called 'Mohave' that was a complete sandbag. It didn't help that the hard bit involved pulling on a pocket that dug into the hole that I put in my finger last week, so I very quickly sacked it off!
But the next two routes I did made up for the poor start to the day. They were two 7b's next to each other, starting off the top of a huge block, and were two of the best routes I've done at Montsant. The first called 'Mal de ojo' climbed a brilliant gently overhanging crack with plenty of laybacking on totally solid rock - so rare for a Montsant route! (I don't mean solid rock is rare at Montsant, but normally the crack lines are really loose!). The second, 'Xulu verdures', was completely different and just pure steep pocket pulling, but on a streak of the very best quality Montsant rock - totally solid dark grey pocketed limestone just like the Berlin sector in Ceüse!
Tash also had a good day, getting a few more 6b on-sights which she was happy with because she didn't use to get on with pockets at all! And also the routes feel a lot harder without chalk on them to follow.
Another successful day in the sun, and at least it was all downhill back to the car!
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