Rock climbing at Riglos

Riglos is a picturesque village in the foothills of the Aragonese Pyrenees Mountains. Behind this village are huge red conglomerate pillars that rise up to 300m high, of which “El Pison” dominates them all. These pillars provide adventurous multi-pitch routes that are a mixture of trad and sport, with grades from F4’s to F8a.  

The photograph shows the main cliffs of Riglos. The Fire is on the left (in the background), the broad pillar of El Pison, and the Visera on the right. 

Published in 2024, the Riglos Vertical Guidebook is the definitive guidebook detailing 340 routes at Riglos.   Buy this guidebook from our shop.

The conglomerate nature of the rock provides numerous small pebbles and larger stones, which means the style of climbing is very different to other rock types (particularly limestone). Therefore Riglos offers a total different climbing experience to other parts of northern Spain. There are 340 routes at Riglos across a wide range of grades from F4 to F8a on steep or slightly overhanging rock.

Virtually all the routes at Riglos are multi-pitch routes that range from 150m to 300m long, and therefore twin 60m ropes are essential. The sport routes are usually well bolted though as on multi-pitch routes it is advisable to carry a small rack of trad gear as some sections can be exposed. 

Published in 2024, the Riglos Vertical Guidebook is the definitive guidebook detailing 340 routes at Riglos. Buy this guidebook from our shop.

The other climbing areas around Riglos offering a variety of climbing. The routes at Mallos de Agüero and Peña Rueba are generally multi-pitch routes on conglomerate rock. These routes are mixture of trad and sport, and are around 100m to 300m long, with grades from F4’s to F8’s. Whilst the routes at Foz de Escalete, Castillo de Loarre, and Bentue de Rasal are generally single pitch sport routes on limestone rock, with grades from F6’s to F8’s. A separate guidebook called Mallos Vertical rock Climbing Guidebook covers these crags and is available to buy from our shop.

Vadiello is the closest crag to Huesca. It is very extensive with over 400 routes on a mixture of conglomerate and limestone rock. The style of climbing is also very varied from slab routes above the reservoir, to steep and overhanging routes in a sunny cave above the canyon.

During a quick fire 4-day visit Ian Wyatt discovers there are numerous tips to be learnt when climbing the 300m multi-pitch routes at Riglos. Read his article Tips for climbing the great towers of Aragon.