As summer is slowly arriving and the climbing season is kicking off, here is some inspiration from last October’s club trip to Spain. Trip report courtesy of Javi.
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From the 26th to the 29thof October, eight Hüttli decided to pay a visit to one of Spain’s most iconic multi-pitch climbing areas: Mallos de Riglos.
As soon as we arrived and started warming up, we realized that everything said about Riglos is true: a very special type of conglomerate rock that requires some mental effort to trust, an athletic /overhanging climbing style, and a “particular” bolting philosophy, with a general scarcity of bolts up to V+ pitches.
The type of rock in Riglos makes very difficult to use trad-gear to protect falls or artificial gear to progress. That is why Riglos is one of the most legendary climbing areas in Spain. Many of its summits were not climbed until the 50’s, and its walls witnessed the initiation of the Spanish pioneers of Alpinism: Rabadá and Navarro, who died in the Eiger North Face in 1962.
Although Riglos is known for its micro-climate and the possibility of climbing year-round, the weather was specially hot for late October, so it was quite an experience to climb without t-shirts in such a magic environment with vultures and eagles flying nearby. Indeed, Riglos is a famous vulture and eagle nesting place.
The large route offering of Riglos and its surroundings allowed us to try very different routes, not only with different grades but also with different climbing styles, exposure and rock.
Some of the routes climbed were:
Galletas, al Fire (6b, 300 m). Pascal and James.
Directa normal, al Puro (6b, 180 m). Andrey and Florian // Aitor and Javier.
Espolón Gallego, Peña Rueba (6a, 250 m). Romain, Noemie, Stefan and ulla
Mosquitos, a la Visera (6b, 250 m). Pascal, James, Ulla and Javier.
J.A Sanz, al Frechín, (6a+, 220 m). Pascal and Ulla // Aitor and Javier.
Different routes in Aguja Roja.