Lleida rock climbing

The area to the north of Lleida has the highest concentration of rock climbing areas in Catalunya, and such is recognised as one of the finest sport climbing venues in Europe. There is something for everyone from bouldering, hard single pitch routes to multi-pitch classics.

The above information has mainly been extracted from the guidebook called “Lleida Climbs”.  It is a selective guidebook describing the best sport climbing in Lleida, and it covers 22 crags, including Camarasa, Terradets, Vilanova de Meia, Collegats and Cavallers.  Buy this Lleida Climbs guidebook from our shop.

The Lleida area includes the following excellent rock climbing areas:

Terradets is a stunning limestone gorge and is dominated by the 500m high La Paret de les Bagasses buttress, which offers many classic bolted multi-pitch routes in the F5 to F6b grade range. However the Paret de les Bruixes is the test piece crag, with its overhanging bowl of limestone rock providing many tufas and juggy roofs, producing numerous quality routes at F7 and above.

Collegats is another spectacular limestone and conglomerate gorge that provides some impressive walls up to 350m long. Whilst there are some single-pitch sports routes here, the majority of the routes are Trad multi-pitch adventures, requiring nuts and cams for protection.

Vilanova de Meia provides some of the finest bolted multi-pitch climbing in Catalunya, with routes up to 200m long. The climbing is on good quality limestone rock, with the majority of the routes in the V+ to 6c grade range. 

Mont-Roig also provides excellent multi-pitch climbing with routes up to 300m long, of which many are around 150m long. The climbing is again on good quality limestone rock with the majority of the routes below F6b including many easy routes. Though some routes are fully bolted the majority are traditional routes requiring cams and nuts. There is a definitive guidebook for this crag called “Mont-Roig”, which can be bought from our shop. Note this crag isn’t covered in the Lleida Climbs guidebook.

Immediately north of Lleida are a number of limestone crags offering a variety of sport climbing to suit all tastes and experiences. At Camarasa the climbing is all single pitch with a good range of routes from F5c to F8c+. Santa Linya is renowned for its hard, steep and outrageous sport climbs. The grade range is from high F7s to top end F9s. St Lorenc de Montgai is home to hard climbing in some stunning caves with routes from F7a to F9a. There are also some single pitch and multi-pitch routes (up to 4 pitches long) in the mid-grade range from F6a to F7a. Ager is a south facing crag is a sun trap with plenty of routes ranging from F6b to F8b+. Alos de Balaguer is a crag of 2 halves with one sector having something for everyone with routes from F5 to F8b, whilst the other sector the routes are mainly in the F8s.

Oliana is situated in the west of the region. It is also renowned for its hard climbing, with the best climbing up the steep grey tufas. Here the routes are mainly in the F7s all the way up to F9b+, though there are some routes starting at F6a+.

Cavallers is situated in the foothills of the Pyrenees and as such offers something different to the other climbing areas around Lleida – mountain granite. The climbing here ranges from delicate slabs to steep walls, across a wide range of grades. Interestingly all the single pitch routes are well bolted, though the multi-pitch routes vary from fully bolted, to some limited in-situ gear, or completely Trad (requiring nuts and cams), and can be many 100’s of metres long.

Montrebei (the Congost de Mont-rebei) offers adventurous Trad multi-pitch climbing at its best. The climbing is on huge limestone walls in a spectacular gorge up to 550m high, with many routes between 150m and 400m long. The majority of the routes here are graded between F6a and F7b, and apart from some bolted belays and the odd peg Trad gear such as nuts and cams are definitely required. There is a definitive guidebook for the crag called “Montrebei”, which can be bought from our shop. Note this crag isn’t covered in the Lleida Climbs guidebook.

The Montsec Mountains (Serra del Montsec) offer multi-pitch rock climbing with the routes typically between 100m and 300m long. These multi-pitch routes are protected by a mixture of bolts and Trad gear, and generally are in easy to medium (F5 to F6c) grade range. There is a comprehensive guidebook for these mountains called “Montsec Oeste rock climbing guidebook”, which can be bought from our shop. Note these mountains are not covered in the Lleida Climbs guidebook.

The bouldering at El Cogul, near Lleida is one of the largest bouldering areas in Spain. These sandstone boulders offer a wide range of grades with generally good landings.