Alquezar

The problem with working is that it can get it the way of doing something fun. The solution is holidays. Usually holidays are taken to celebrate a well-known historical day or a famous person, for example here in Cataluña September 11 commemorates the day Barcelona was sacked by French-Spanish forces (apparently there is no victory in Catalan history to celebrate). However, requiring an event or a person to take a holiday can lead to the problem of needing a holiday when no holidays are in sight. Thus, feeling desperate in the period between Christmas and Easter, Spain invented a holiday. I think the Spanish government forgot the second step of assigning some meaning to the holiday, but at least everyone got to enjoy a day off of work. So with three days free we decided to check out a new area: Alquezar.

Alquezar is an old town in the Pyrenees of Aragon, and it certainly holds the mysticism suggested by the name. Over the centuries the limestone stained Rio Vero has cut the mountains of the Sierra de Guara and formed a deep canyon surrounded by sheer walls. These days it is a paradise for hikers, canyoners, and climbers. While it was the climbing we came for, I think I enjoyed experiencing the landscape the most. It was like nothing I have seen, like the start of another world.

The climbing was excellent, and we spent two days climbing long routes on the right side of the castle and one day getting crushed on the caves to the left. I enjoyed getting some nice easier onsights and on Sunday pulled off a great onsight of Alquezar.com 12c. On Saturday I had a little bad luck when a foothold broke well after the crux on another 12c onsight, but no worries, onsighting Alquezar.com was enough. Usually when I show up at a cliff for the first time there are certain lines that immediately catch my eye, series of chalked holds that flow through improbable features or natural lines up the rock tend to be where I look. The better I get the more incredible lines open up to me, and this was definitely the case for Alquezar.com. The climb is actually two pitches, the first a long and vertical 11b, and the second an explosively overhanging 12c. In this case you don’t stop to belay, but instead keep climbing. Overall the climb was probably about 150 feet tall, with all of the hard moves in the top twenty feet. One move involved a dynamic leap from one two-finger pocket to another two-finger pocket, leaving me dangling by a total of four fingers and no feet! Usually I don’t think too much while I climb, but I did have a split second thought: “Aww man that was sick!” Not very eloquent, but it was best I could do in the moment. I struggled to clip the anchor, and it was a very rewarding onsight.

Alquezar is know for being a winter climbing spot because all of the walls face south and it gets a lot of heat. For the days we were there it was actually a little too hot, and so we ended up climbing some easier routes during the day and then getting on the harder stuff as the sun was setting. On Sunday, we found the middle of the day simply too hot to climb. I decided to venture down the canyon to check it out, and I ended up going for a swim.

When I rejoined the rest of the group it was still too hot to climb, and after my tale of a refreshing bath we all went down for a swim. Unfortunately my camera battery died filming my first trip down to the river, so I didn’t get any footage of our whole group swimming.

I think we caught the climbing on the end of the season, so I won’t be heading back to Alquezar in the near future. However, nearby Rodellar is just coming into season so I’m looking forward to getting back to the Pyrenees sometime soon.

For now I’m off to Montgrony!