Our chosen route was Boulder Terminal, a 6 pitch HVS. However, when we arrived it was in the shade and a cold northerly wind was blowing onto the crag. Not a good start!
We called over to Rachel & George who were on the Triple Direct route (a 9 pitch E1) and they confirmed it was a bit chilly!!
Ann suggested we try a route in the sun, what a good idea. So over we went to the classic HVS 'Llobet / Bertomeu. This is a longer route, with almost 300m of climbing at a fairly sustained grade. I'd climbed this route a couple of years ago and remembered it to be fairly tough in places. As we didn't have a topo today I hoped my memory of the route would be enough, thankfully it was!
We enjoyed 7 glorious pitches of mega exposed climbing high above the Mascarat gorge. It's a weird place to climb, with the sea so close, but also a main road and a tramline right underneath. All of this adds an extra dimension to being here. Some don't like it because of these distractions, personally I feel they add to the experience and drama of the place.
We topped out at about 5pm so had our work cut out to get back to the road before dark (it's a long way down). We made it just in time for sunset and the Alpenglow on the crag, gorgeous.
These crags are home to many adventurous multipich routes and have very easy access. Quite literally roadside multipitch 🙂
Thanks to Ann for joining me on this one
Mark
