{"id":691,"date":"2014-03-22T15:21:06","date_gmt":"2014-03-22T14:21:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.escalade.pro\/news\/?p=691"},"modified":"2014-11-30T22:35:03","modified_gmt":"2014-11-30T21:35:03","slug":"espagne-abella-conca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escalade.pro\/news\/espagne-abella-conca\/","title":{"rendered":"Climbing in Spain, Abella de la ConcaGrimpe en Espagne, Abella de la Conca"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"escalade<\/a><\/p>\n

Catalunya is full of unknown climbing gems. Pete O\u2019Donovan and Dani Andrada teamed up for the first & second edition of Lleida Climbs (http:\/\/www.lleidaclimbs.com\/<\/a>) and helped expose a handful. Abella de la Conca is one of them. Situated in at the foot of the Carreu & Boumort Sierras, in one of Catalunya\u2019s \u2018most beautiful villages\u2019 you can join the locals picking up water at the village fountain, admire the view, bathe in the canyon pools or visit the 11th century church with rare romantic paintings. On the cliff walls, a stone\u2019s throw from the main square there are all grades to enjoy, in season all year long. Around 200 routes have been put up mainly by Pep Boixados (Rosso\u2019 who runs Deu Dits rocodromo in Barcelona) since 1985 and Gee since 2000 (who runs http:\/\/www.climbcatalunya.com\/<\/a>). Other routes were put up by Jordi Pou, who nearly single handidly put Margalef on the climbing map. Nicolas Durand & Eleanor Moore, who have just opened a refugio which has been ecologically renovated (www.facebook.com\/abella.climb<\/a>) , have more recently contributed to the expansion of this crag adding new beginners sectors offering 35m well bolted 4\u2019s and 5\u2019s to hard lines , winters desperate projects and also cool summer sectors where you can belay feet in the water.
\nThroughout the year geologists from around Europe come to view the unique landscape formations surrounding the village. One of those, three successive tufa stuffed rock arches have given way to a new incredible summer sector that stays shaded pretty much all of the time and is blessed by the ambient cool air of 1200m altitude.
\nClimbers are not the first to inhabit this feature. It used to be an ideal hideaway for local young men from Franco\u2019s army and its name, \u00ab\u00a0El Forat dels LLadres\u00a0\u00bb (The Robber\u2019s Cave in Catalan) hints at even earlier occupations. Today the access is aided by a 35 meter via ferrata which can be found after a 15 min steep walk from the Costera sector. A good warm up, with beautiful views over the valley, the walk-in offers the sector a serenity and peace unknown to more roadside crags.
\nTicks in Abella de la conca are hard to earn but the rewards of its technical climbing, wilderness and sheer beauty are for sure more important than a scorecard…<\/p>\n