Cavallers

The impressive walls and slabs overlooking the Cavallers reservoir in the Catalan Pyrenees add yet another dimen sion to Lleida climbing: mountain granite. This exceptional zone is located within the Aigües Tortes & Sant Maurici National Park, an area of stunning natural beauty, and offers routes from just a few metres long to over a thousand, at grades ranging from IV to 8b. Note: no multi-pitch routes (longer than 3 pitches) are included in our selection. Granite can be a frustratingly smooth and featureless rock, often rendering anything steeper than 60° all but impossible to climb. Fortunately, in Cavallers this is frequently not the case, as the presence of many vertical or even slightly overhanging pitches, even in the lower grades, attests to. Having said that, aficionados of friction slabs will not be disappointed, and neither will those revelling in strenuous layback and jamming cracks. The sectors we feature are all situated close to the lower end of the Cavallers reservoir, with relatively easy access, and collectively offer hundreds of excellent one and two pitch climbs ranging from IV to 8b. The local ethic is that ‘sport’ climbs (routes of 1–3 pitches) are invariably bolted, even the cracks, and while this may seem rather alien to those with backgrounds in placing natural gear (cams, wires, etc.) on granite in other parts of the world, it certainly makes for a lighter rucksack! In this mountain environment the rock climbing season is generally rather brief, April to October at best. In high summer, when temperatures in the rest of Lleida sometimes reach levels that make even climbing in the shade barely comfortable, Cavallers can be a breath of fresh air. That said, even up here July and August may see tempera- tures high enough to send climbers seeking out the shadier sectors. As with any mountain area, the weather can change rapidly and afternoon thunderstorms are by no means infrequent. Note: many of the pitches here are long — often in excess of 35m — and while some are equipped with mid-height lower-offs, others may require a second rope for descent.