Yes, we drove all the way to Spain for a two week trip.
In fact, we drove to Spain the long way…. by which I mean we went the wrong way, were terrified of the Pyrenees, then back-tracked and went the right way. Fortunately we were driving a micro-camper/car hybrid, so we could sleep en-route as soon as the caffeine wore off. Boy did the caffeine wear off.
First stop, Mercadona for Alioli and other less important supplies. Second stop: Margalef, where a sea of pockety, pebbly conglomerate limestone awaited.
Margalef village
Margalef seems to have been built for comfort in the hot summer months, making it mega chilly in the winter. Built on and around conglomerate formations, it’s made up of a jumble of those thin, tall streets that are exactly what you’d look for quaint mountain villages. In one alley a woman fed a herd of cats, on the main street some builders used a wheelbarrow to winch cement blocks up a 4 story building. According to Wikipedia, Margalef has a population of 108 people, I have no idea where all those people were. Although the bar and shop are generally rammed with climbers, there seem to be tensions between locals invested in the village and the growing number of van-dwelling tourists making use of carparks and lay-bys (a subject for another blog post).
Image by Seb (@seabass_draws), the rest of the story is on his insta.
Climbing in Margalef
Follow the signs to Margalef dam (the panta) and it’s a whole other story; every South-facing crag felt like the place to be. Bolting began 20 years ago in Margalef and there are now 82 crags with well over 1400 routes (according to the guidebook). The drive itself gets you psyched because you’re obliged to stop the engine and watch whilst wads attempt the famously difficult climbs that hang over the road so that they don’t hit the roof of your car when they take a whipper.
2 blurry photos… Right: wad watching on the panta road; left: looking at the view from the Tobogàn car park.
We started the acclimatisation-process to the Margalef-style in Tobogàn, a crag as steep as any toboggan slope you might see on a Red Bull rampage, if Red Bull sponsored tobogganing (they should). It looked like a gentle slab until you were actually on it, then all of a sudden things started to feel a bit technical and vertical. The sector got the shade in the morning, so it was wonderfully quiet – if not a little cold – all day long.
Acclimatising to the Margalef style is tricky, especially if route-reading isn’t your strong point. Conglomerate limestone is like pebble-filled cement, with pockets in abundance where the pebbles have made their escape. It took few days to accept that you couldn’t really read beyond the first bolt of the route, and we eventually learned the art of obliviously committing to the next hold in hope that there’d at least be something up there that we could pull on.
Pockety, pebbly goodness (or badness, depending on how you look at it).
Unlike Tobogàn, other South-facing crags were bustling and there was no easing in with a gentle slab. Many walls were shaped like overstuffed sofas; bulging overhangs at the bottom followed by glorious slabs or vertical walls that were periodically interrupted with further bulges. It was wonderfully varied, albeit a variation on the theme of pockets, pebbles, and powerful starts.
Raco de les Espadelles was probably one of the busiest sectors we visited. With the quality and quantity of climbs there it was no surprise that the terrifying mountain road up didn’t put people off (in the words of Tim: ‘if you meet another car, you’re sharted’). We spent two days climbing there, enjoying the all-day sun and the atmosphere, but our favourite climb and sector was quieter and colder.
El Viatger (Can Dit Gros), a 35 metre 6a that had us walking in along a frozen river and climbing in all our layers, took the line of least resistance diagonally up the wall. With lots of bridging and a crux that made use of two pillar tufas and gave you little on the feet, it was well-worth braving the cold for.
By the time we’d gotten used to Margalef, it was time to drive around the mountain to Siurana. I’ll publish that bit when I get round to developing the photos…
A quick note about poo.
People poo everywhere at crags, crags are like poo minefields. Don’t poo where other people have to encounter your poo.
More info about Margalef
- The lady in the food shop (La Botiga) is so so lovely. So lovely.
- There are two Margalef guidebooks, the ‘Comprehensive Guide’ has hand-drawn topos, the other one has photos. We got the 2019 edition of ‘other one’ on the 1st Jan, so they’re very efficient. Both are available in the bar and shop.
- The recycling point for Margalef is on your way to the dam (at the turning to Raco de les Espadelles).
For anything else just google ‘Margalef climbing’ or something. You’re bright, I’m sure you’ll work it out.
– Hati
A few more photos (I have nowhere else to put them)
Hati Whiteley 