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
Five 8b+ routes in five days!!! Sounds pretty hard…?
I brought the UK climbing legend Steve McClure to some of the best routes in my Roca Verde book, challenged him to climb a bunch of them and we filmed what happened…
In this video you can see the first part of our 5 day adventure.
Despite the fact winter in Asturias can be a bit harsh (although nowhere near as bad as the Peak district where I lived for years LOL) it’s sometimes the best time to have a crimpy project as the conditions get pretty good for pulling on small edges.
And Teverga, which has got its fair share of technical wall climbing, has quite a lot of stuff which stays dry throughout the year and at Muro Techo (literally translated as Wall/Roof) we have a venue that good some of the best perma-dry routes from 6b to 8b that are maybe best enjoyed in cooler autumnal/winter conditions. I really like the climbing here (not having the big muscles you need for super steep caves) and have spent many a day on the brilliant routes.
Here’s one I did last year, and one of my faves, Escorpion, 7c+, (which I suggested the name for as it definitely has a sting in it’s tail) which gives you an idea of the style of the climbing here.
Get the guidebook here: buy Roca Verde
And you can check out our guest house for a great place to stay close to the crags of Teverga
Here’s another short video about the climbing in Asturias, and although it focuses on the bouldering as much as anything there’s some lovely shots of some of the sport climbing in Teverga too.
However, as it’s winter this video’s quite apt as it’s probably the best time to look at the bouldering which Asturias has to offer. There’s a bunch of spots across Asturias and a pretty dedicated crew – and many of the spots, especially El Cantu, Teverga (3.50) and La Collada, Quiros (4.05) dry quickly and are at their stickiest in the winter sun. The beach locations El Trankeru and Cabo Negro are more fickle but again, cool dry conditions can be found throughout the year depending on wind and tides.
You can get the locations of these spots and more in my book Roca Verde – available here…
And for climbing in Teverga or Quiros our rental house in Quiros is well worth a look…
El Cantu, en Teverga, Asturias es una zona típica de búlder; un revoltijo de grandes bloques de piedra caliza en las laderas debajo de las paredes. Con alrededor de más de 100 problemas de todos los grados distribuidos en un área amplia, hay muchas cosas para hacer. El Cantu tiene una caliza gris excelente, compacta, que forma pendientes frustrantes en igual medida que pequeñas regletas. “¡Uno de mis problemas favoritos de El Cantú fue Houdini, un 8a bastante corto de 5 movimientos, que terminó con un doble lance lateral espectacular!” dijo James Pearson Once Upon a Climb cuando le llevé alli hace 4 años! Grabado por Muérdago Films Foto 300bolts
El Cantu is a typical bouldering area; a jumble of big limestone blocks on the slopes below the crags. With around 100 problems of all grades spread over a wide area, there are plenty of things to go at. El Cantu is superb, compact, grey limestone, which forms frustrating slopers in equal measure to tiny crimps.
As James Pearson said “One of my favourite problems from El Cantu was Houdini, a rather short, 5 move 8a, which ended with a spectacular sideways double dyno!” Filmed by Muérdago Films Photo 300bolts
Want to find out a bit more about the author of Roca Verde… click here
Have fun, climb a lot and make great guidebooks!