UK climber Steve Crowe (a regular visitor to Catalunya) has informed us that, due to the presence of a rare species of plant, three of the classic hard routes in Tres Ponts have been 'banned' by the authorities. These are: El Segre (8a), Els Inconformistes (8a+) and L'Alternativa (8a+).
Apparently "Signs at the crag detail the plant species and location. Bolts and perma-draws still in-situ for now."
If practices employed at Camarasa a few years ago (when two complete sectors were stripped of hangers and the bolt-studs hammered into the rock because of the presence of Petrocoptis Montsicciana) it seems likely that the affected routes in Tres Ponts will soon be stripped...
Sorry, Off topic, but do you know where I can find the new version of the Lleida Climbs guidebook at a shop near Lleida or Balaguer? I'm staying in Vilanova de la Sal and have the first edition, but am looking for the 2nd without success. I tried Decathlon in Lleida, K2 in Tarragona when I was down there...and today I tried to find the shop Radical Sport in Balaguer (there is an advert for it in the first edition but it appears it no longer exists). Thanks!
ReplyDeleteRadical Sports in Balaguer has sadly gone out of business, but there are a couple of places even closer to Vilanova de la Sal where you can get hold of Lleida Climbs 2 — Camping la Noguera (Sant Llorenç de Montgai) and Bar Can Pere (Camarasa). Pete.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
ReplyDeleteYou can also get it in Abella de la conca at ethe eco refugio www.abellaclimb.com, and I think you can get it in the Onsight a new climbing shop in Lleida
ReplyDeleteYes, you're right, I just mentioned Camping La Noguera and Bar Can Pere because those were the two places really close to where the guy was staying (in Vilanova de la Sal).
DeleteRe the closure of these routes, its been now about 1,5years that they have been closed and the first few bolts were removed at the time, so I dont think they will remove the higher fixed draws and bolts...
ReplyDeleteOK, thanks for that info.
DeleteHi, I'm going to Lleida area soon and I wonder if there are any good climbing shops? The one in Balaguer was a bit disappointing when I visited it in February.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Hi There,
ReplyDeleteThere are hardly any climbing shops at all in Lleida province, let alone GOOD climbing shops!
The shop in Balaguer (Radical Sport?) has gone out of business.
There is a Decathlon and a WALA outlet in Lleida capital, which both stock a limited amount of climbing gear.
There is also a new shop in the city called 'Onsight', which is run by dedicated climbers. Their website (http://www.onsightlleida.com/) isn't operational yet but they have a facebook page and I suppose you could contact them to ask about specific equipment.
Have been to tres ponts 3 days ago. We were shocked, a lot of the bolts an lower off's were rusty! Taking about the easier routes at the sektors "bon combat" and "the main cliff".
ReplyDeleteThey looked horrible
Thanks for your comments. As we say in the introduction to the guidebook, equipping / re-equipping routes in Catalunya is a completely unregulated activity and the condition of in-situ gear may change over time. That said, rust is not always an indication of unreliability (unless it's caused by Galvanic corrosion — mixing stainless and non-stainless bolts and hangers) but I will get in touch with the local guys and ask them for more information.
ReplyDeletei like the climing sport and i will join the climbing courses. thank for sharing the more information of climbing sports and technique.
ReplyDelete