Rock Climbing at Montgrony and around Ripoll and Berga

The towns of Ripoll and Berga are situated in the foothills of the Pyrenees in northern Catalunya, around 100km north of Barcelona. In this area are a number of crags that offer well bolted sport routes as shown on the map. However, the standout crag of the area is called Montgrony. 

Montgrony is an internationally well-known crag that is famous for its overhanging walls of tufas – and offers some of the best routes in Catalunya for this type of climbing. In total there are around 300 routes here, many of which are F7a and above, though there are also many quality routes from F6a to F6c+.  The character of the climbing is long single pitch sport routes on good quality limestone rock.  However, be warned many of the routes are sustained, bouldery and physical – everything you would expect from overhanging tufas.

The crags of Corones and Gombren offer routes with a similar style of climbing to Montgrony, whilst Coll de Merolla has many easier routes that are between F4 to F6c.  The best multi-pitch climbing in the area is at Coll Roig with routes up to 150m long, where the climbing is characterized by long columns of limestone rock.  All of these crags are not as popular as other crags in Catalunya, which means there are rarely any crowds, and the scenery is fantastic.

When is the best time to climb at Montgrony and around Ripoll? Montgrony and most of the other crags in this area are at an altitude of over 1,000m and face south catching the sun for most of the day.  Hence the best time of the year to climb here is from the autumn through to the spring. 

What is the best guidebook for Montgrony? 

The Montgrony Rock Climbing Guidebook is is a selective guidebook describing the best sport climbing at Montgrony and 9 other crags around Ripoll and Berga. The 10 crags covered are Montgrony, Ogassa, Corones, Clot de I'Espasa, Gombren, Coll Roig, Coll de Merolla, Roc de la Lluna, Malanyeu, and Riugreixer, describing over 500 routes.  Buy this guidebook for Montgrony from our shop.

The Ripolles Rock Climbing Guidebook is a comprehensive guidebook covering the rock climbing around Ripoll, including Montgrony. It covers a wide range of climbing from single pitch sport to long multi-pitch routes, and it also includes some trad climbing.  The guidebook describes 1,000’s of routes across a wide range of grades and styles.  It covers 22 crags, which are Coll de Merolla, Agulles del pla de la Pera, Coll Roig, Montgrony, Pardinella, Gombrèn, Clot de l'Espasa, Roca Roja de Corones, Pont de la Cabreta, El Sagnari, Les Coves, Cal Barricó, El Baell, La Lleixa, Vilamanya, Cingle de la Palanca, Dent d'en Rosell, Coma de Vaca, Mirador de la Tuta, Ogassa, Coma de L'Orri and Ulldeter.  Buy this Ripolles climbing guidebook from our shop.

Getting to Montgrony? Girona airport to the north of Barcelona is around an hour’s drive to Ripoll, where many budget airlines operate from.