Roca Verde

Las mejores guías de Escalada Deportiva de la Cordillera Cantábrica. Sport climbing guides to north-west Spain: Asturias, Leon, Cantabria. Me contacten / Contact me: richie@rocaverdeclimbing.com

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Roca Verde
    • About Roca Verde
    • Where is Roca Verde?
    • Sample Topos
    • Reviews
    • Bolt Fund
    • Where to Stay
    • Advertisers
    • Weather
    • The Author
    • Contact Us
    • Useful Links
  • Buy Roca Verde 3 UK/EU
  • Comprar Roca Verde 3
    • Roca Verde (Es)
    • Ejemplos de páginas
    • Fondo de Chapas
    • Localización
    • Sponsors
  • Comprar La Hermida 2 (Es)
    • Sobre La Hermida – los hechos y las cifras…
  • Buy La Hermida 2 – UK/EU
    • La Hermida guide – The facts and figures
  • RV3 Errata / Errors
    • Errores con los símbolos del sol
    • Errata – vías de Roca Verde 3
    • Errors with sun symbols
    • Errors – Routes in Roca Verde 3
  • Croquis Nuevos / New Topos
    • Restricciones por nidificación Mayo 2021 – IMPORTANTE
    • New Bird Bans – May 2021 – Please Read!
    • Mergullo – PDF – Asturias Centro
    • Navalones – PDF – Asturias Centro
    • Baiña – PDF Asturias Centro 02032022
    • Teverga Sectores – PDF – Valles de Trubia
    • Ordiales -PDF – Teverga
    • Villa de Sub – PDF – Valles de Trubia
    • Gamoniteiru – PDF – Asturias Valles de Trubia
    • Valle de Lago – PDF – Valles de Trubia
    • Següenco – PDF – Asturias Oriente
    • Trincherona_Fitu – PDF – Asturias Oriente
    • Amieva – PDF – Asturias Oriente
    • Cabañes – PDF – Sectores
    • La Cueta – PDF – León
    • Sena de Luna – PDF – Croquis/Topo
    • Genicera – PDF – León
    • León – Piedrasecha Sectores
    • León – Pedrosa
    • Cuevas Sectores – PDF – Valles de Aller
    • Pelúgano_Paredón_PDF – Valle de Aller
    • Panondres
  • Videos
  • Apartamento Roca Verde – Teverga
    • Roca Verde Apartment (Eng)
    • Apartamento Roca Verde (Es)
  • Casa Quirós Holiday Cottage
  • Blog
You are here: Home / Uncategorized / Niall Grimes reviews Roca Verde climbing…

Niall Grimes reviews Roca Verde climbing…

August 1, 2014 by Roca Verde Climbing Leave a Comment

My memories of Asturias are strong: long, sandy surf beaches populated by locals; rolling green hills not ten miles from the coast; wide open, quiet countryside with a ruralness reminiscent of quieter parts of Provence; drinking strong cider in cider-bars in quiet country towns. And being on the wrong route on a fabulous sport crag.

Asturias is the coastal province on the northern coast of Spain. Think ‘left of France’. It’s a big holiday destination for French and Spaniards, although little known outside these two countries. While this may be true from a tourism point of view, it’s an undisputable fact when it comes to climbing. Well perhaps this is about to change.

Roca Verde is a new guidebook from British ex-pat Richie Patterson. Richie has been living and climbing in the region now for eight years and has dedicated the past few to bringing information on the local crags together into one volume. As is often the way in Spain, some of these crags were covered in small, area specific guides, and some never recorded before. The result is a book which throws a whole new climbing destination onto the table for rock-hungry Spainophiles to get their teeth in to.

It looks amazing. The action shots reveal the blockbusting quality limestone that we have come to demand of Spain – steep walls, overhangs, tufas, orange-and-blue streaks – these are all in evidence here. The routes look cool and well featured and the photos – mostly Richie’s own – make me want to be there. I must point out one thing here: the author has allowed himself the indulgence of putting an okay shot of himself on the front cover, something that hasn’t happened since Andy Pollitt’s day. But we’ll overlook that for now.

+Gema Lanza climbing in the amazing Desfiladero de la Hermida, 222 kb
Gema Lanza climbing in the amazing Desfiladero de la Hermida
UKC Gear, 15 Jul 2014
© Richie Patterson

One thing that turns me on about the photos is the background. There’s more green around than we have come to expect from Spanish climbing settings. Trees and grass attest to the area’s higher rainfall when compared to the Costa Blanca, but all that dust down on the east side does my head in after a while. I’ll take the odd shower, especially since there are plenty of crags in this book that are weatherproof.

There’s a huge amount of rock in these pages. As well as Asturias it covers the neighbouring regions of Cantabria and León combining to nearly 3,000 routes from 2s and 3s right up to tediously-hard 9as. It seems best, in general, in spring and autumn, although lots of the crags I looked at were goers in summer and winter too.

The book itself seems to work very well. It is functional, fact and number heavy, as is the way with continental sport guides. Maps aren’t beautiful, but who cares. Out of curiosity I picked a few at random and compared them to Google Earth and they all seemed spot on. Scales would be handy, all the same. Topos are excellent, taken in great light, and serve to showcase crags really well.

One last point I had to broach with the author, was what relationship Richie had with locals. To my relief it turned out to be a constructive one. Locals were a big help and in the production and have received the guide well, perhaps helped by the fact that Richie actually lives there. This impression is helped by the fact that, going by the names at least, the people in the action photos are locals. In addition to this, Richie has pledged some of the profits from the book towards local bolt funds. I imagine that goes a long way to making locals happy.

Niall Grimes (or Grimer) is a fixture on the UK Climbing scene, publishes climbing books for a living and is welcome to visit any time!!

Bovedas in Teverga features 6b slabs and 7b+ tufas!!
Bovedas in Teverga features 6b slabs and 7b+ tufas!!

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Tumblr
  • Google
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Email

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Cordillera Cantabrica, escalada asturias, escalada deportiva, escalada roca verde, guide, guide book, niall grimes, northern Spain, Picos de Europa, roca verde climbing review, roca verde review, rock climbing asturias, s, spanish climbing, sport climbing, tourist tips

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Blog Posts

  • Errata en Roca Verde – una ‘mea culpa’… August 29, 2021
  • Errors in Roca Verde – a ‘mea culpa’ August 29, 2021
  • La Hermida – ya este en las tiendas y anunciamos el ganador de los gatos… July 17, 2021
  • Comprar la guía nueva en venta anticipada y ganas gatos de Tenaya!!! July 4, 2021
  • New Bird Bans in Asturias May 2021 – Updated 19052021 May 16, 2021

rocaverdeclimb

Meteo / Weather Teverga y Quirós 1052022 Felices Meteo / Weather Teverga y Quirós 1052022 Felices fiestas. Muy buen día en Teverga y casi no hay nadie. Soleado pero con un viento fuerte entonces dentro de la sombra hace frío. Va secando todo pero después de la lluvia hace 5 días hay bastantes tramos mojados, sobre todo las chorreras.
Stunning day but although it's sunny there's a strong wind so it's cold in the shade. Everything is drying off after the rain last week  but still quite a few wet patches, especially the tufas.
#rockclimbing #teverga #climbing #escalada #escaladaenroca #paraisonatural @casa_quiros #climbinglife #sportclimbing @grupoagujasobia #asturias #rocaverde #meteo #weather #cordilleracantabrica #climbing_is_my_passion #klettern #desnivel #escalar #escaladadeportiva #Spain @teverga_paraiso @turismoasturias
♥️♥️♥️♥️. @climbatcenters ♥️♥️♥️♥️. @climbatcenters
Meteo / Weather Teverga y Quirós 24042021 Despué Meteo / Weather Teverga y Quirós 24042021 Después de la lluvia ayer ha empezado genial hoy, casi sin nubes ni viento. Obviamente habrá muchos sectores que quedan mojadas pero creo que se puede escalar en varios sectores que secan rápido como Entecampos, Placas del Sol, Muro Techo y tal...
After yesterday's rain its started off with blue sky and plenty of sun. Obviously lots of stuff will be wet but there should be a bunch of the quick drying routes in condition.
#rockclimbing #teverga #climbing #escalada #escaladaenroca #paraisonatural @casa_quiros #climbinglife #sportclimbing @grupoagujasobia #asturias #rocaverde #cordilleracantabrica #climbing_is_my_passion #klettern #desnivel #escalar #escaladadeportiva #asturias #meteo #weather @teverga_paraiso @turismoasturias
Meteo / Weather Teverga y Quirós 15042022 Una sem Meteo / Weather Teverga y Quirós 15042022 Una semana Santa perfecta. Casi todo seco y listo para unos días de escalada buenísimos. Ya hace calor entonces igual una tarde dentro de la sombra puede ser la mejor opción.
Stunning Easter so far and gonna be a great weekend for climbing.
#meteo #weather #asturias #rocaverde #paraisonatural #escalada #escaladaenroca #climbingrocks #climbinglife #sportclimbing #escaladadeportiva @casa_quiros #climbinglife #sportclimbing @grupoagujasobia #klettern #desnivel #escalar #cordilleracantabrica
Meteo /Weather Teverga y Quirós 09042022 Día cas Meteo /Weather Teverga y Quirós 09042022 Día casi perfecto, pero porque llovió bastante anoche hay tramos mojados que necesiten un rato para secar. Pero con la combinación del sol y el viento creo que todo va a secar rápidamente.
Really nice day and good drying conditions after quite a bit of rain last night.
#rockclimbing #teverga #climbing #escalada #escaladaenroca #paraisonatural #escaladadeportiva #asturias #rocaverde #weather #meteo @grupoagujasobia @teverga_paraiso @turismoasturias #cordilleracantabrica #climbing_is_my_passion #klettern #desnivel #escalar @casa_quiros
Meteo / Weather Teverga y Quirós 08042022 Día de Meteo / Weather Teverga y Quirós 08042022 Día de viento y cielo gris. Como 14 grados o más y con la posibilidad que va a llover. Lo bueno es que el viento va a secar bien las vias que quedan un poco mojado después del deshielo. Pero dan muy bueno el finde entonces merece la pena mucho venir.
Great drying day with strong winds and a good forecast for the weekend. See you on the crags.
#rockclimbing #teverga #climbing #escalada #escaladaenroca #escaladadeportiva #asturias #rocaverde #weather #meteo @grupoagujasobia @teverga_paraiso @turismoasturias #cordilleracantabrica #climbing_is_my_passion @casa_quiros #klettern #desnivel #escalar
Meteo / Weather Teverga y Quirós 06042022 Día ma Meteo / Weather Teverga y Quirós 06042022 Día magnífico, y como ayer creo que por la tarde habrá perfecto para la escalada dentro del sol.
Stunning day and like yesterday I reckon it'll perfect for climbing in the sun this afternoon.
#rockclimbing #teverga #climbing #escalada #escaladaenroca #paraisonatural @casa_quiros #climbinglife #sportclimbing @grupoagujasobia #asturias #rocaverde #cordilleracantabrica #climbing_is_my_passion #klettern #desnivel #escalar #escaladadeportiva #asturias #meteo #weather @teverga_paraiso @turismoasturias
He llevado los gatos de @tenayaclimbing para mucho He llevado los gatos de @tenayaclimbing para muchos años (son fantásticos) pero cada vez cuando tengo unos nuevos y abro la caja es como la primera vez: con mucha illusion probarlos. Porque para mi no hay un sentido mejor que gatos nuevos aplastando los pies. Escaladores y sus gatos, es un amor muy profundo 😍😍😂😂
I've been wearing Tenaya shoes for years now but everytime I get a new pair and open the box for the first time the feelings  just like that first time a giddy excitement to try them on. Because for me there's no better feeling than brand new shoes squeezing the life out of my feet. Climbers and their shoes, it's a deep, strange live. 
#rockclimbing #teverga #climbing #escalada #escaladaenroca #climbingrocks #climbinglife #sportclimbing #paraisonatural
Meteo / Weather Teverga y Quirós 05042022 Totalme Meteo / Weather Teverga y Quirós 05042022 Totalmente despejado pero con la resulta que hizo mucho frío anoche y habia una helado bastante fuerte y unas temperaturas muy bajos. Ahora mismo el termómetro dice 0°. Pero hay sitios secos como Entecampos, Entecampos arriba, El rincón, Placas del Sol, Muro Techo y creo que dentro del sol hará bastante calor para permitir la escalada. Y como siempre en Quirós las placas secan y calientan rápidamente. 
Totally clear but very cold. Down to minus 5 last night but I reckon this afternoon in the sun it should be OK for a climb.
#rockclimbing #teverga #climbing  #escalada #escaladaenroca #paraisonatural @casa_quiros #climbinglife #sportclimbing @grupoagujasobia #asturias #rocaverde #meteo #weather #cordilleracantabrica #climbing_is_my_passion #klettern #desnivel #escalar #escaladadeportiva #Spain @teverga_paraiso @turismoasturias
Meteo / Weather Teverga y Quirós 04042022 Mucho f Meteo / Weather Teverga y Quirós 04042022 Mucho frío, nieve y cielo gris. Un día para entrenar. 
Training day. Cold and grim.
#rockclimbing #teverga #climbing #escalada #escaladaenroca #paraisonatural @casa_quiros #climbinglife #sportclimbing @grupoagujasobia #asturias #rocaverde #meteo #weather #cordilleracantabrica #climbing_is_my_passion #klettern #desnivel #escalar #escaladadeportiva #Spain @teverga_paraiso @turismoasturias
Load More... Follow on Instagram

About us

Want to find out a bit more about the author of Roca Verde… click here

Our Mission

Have fun, climb a lot and make great guidebooks!

Recent Posts

  • Errata en Roca Verde – una ‘mea culpa’…
  • Errors in Roca Verde – a ‘mea culpa’
  • La Hermida – ya este en las tiendas y anunciamos el ganador de los gatos…
  • Comprar la guía nueva en venta anticipada y ganas gatos de Tenaya!!!

Search / Buscar

Copyright © 2022 · Outreach Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.