The main climbing area is called Mascun. This is just one small section of canyon in a area known for it's cayonnering. There is tons of rock around depending on how long one is willing to hike.
The rock is mostly blocky with tuffas and very steep. Stuff that looks like choss is often times very high quality stone.
LOGISTICS Fly to Barcelona then drive, you could do public transportation but it would leave you about 25 km short of where you need to go and the buses may not run every day of the week so it is not really an option if your stay is short, though if you have unlimited time and no issue with hitch hiking it might work.
WHERE TO STAY There are 4 main options and several other homes that you might be able to rent a room in.
Camping Mascun- the biggest scene and more expensive, camping and bungalows (the 4 person ones were pretty rundown, but the 6 person ones were nicer looking). Located on the right near the end of the road in Rodellar, no need to drive as you are only about a minute or two from the trailhead. Small grocery store and restaurant.
Camping El Puente- Quieter camping and bungalows (the 6 person bungalows were about the same price as the 4 person ones at Mascun and as nice) there are also "apartments" for 5 people which are small and cramped, not as nice. Located down a road on the left as you drive towards Rodellar about a km before town. You will need to drive daily as it is a very steep km off the main road down to the camping then another km to the trailhead.
Albuergue Las Almunias- Basically a hostel in the small town of Las Almunias 4 km before Rodellar on the left side of the road, small square building. There are 6 rooms with 3 bunkbeds in each and each room has its own bathroom. This is where we stayed and during the week we had the place completely to our selves but if the weather was nice the place was full on the weekends. There is a community kitchen that is small and a dinning area with sofas and tables. There is a restaurant downstairs. This is the cheapest besides camping.
There is another place right across the street from the Albuergue, it is a large building, the biggest in town. It is a hotel, albuerge and they also have apartments to rent. The one apartment I saw was pretty large and quite nice, full kitchen and laundry machine, though it was for 8. Don't know how this compares in price to the other options. There is a restaurant here as well.
There are several houses in Rodellar that you should be able to rent a room in though they never answered their phones when we called. Casa Orilla, Casa Juliette, etc.
There is also a large parking lot below the road on the left as you come into the town of Rodellar, it looked as though you could set up and leave a camper van here, don't know if you have to pay or not.
Getting There
Head to Lleida then on N-240 (a new highway is going in called A-22) towards Huesca. After passing through Barbastro continue towards Huesca but turn off towards Abiergo. From Abiergo you can follow signs to Rodellar.
The Classics
Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Rodellar:
At the start there are 3 routes really close together, this is supposed to follow the middle line of bolts but for the first couple it really does not matter, just make sure you are in the right place by the third bolt. The start is on several fun tuffas that you can move back and forth between. At about the level of the cave you will step to the right onto the face and climb up a bit then make a move back to the single tuffa that runs the length...[more]Browse More Classics in International
There is a very international flavor to the people you will meet here.
The mullet rules in Spain, go figue.
WARNING*Be careful about who you allow to belay you here, it seemed to me as though at least every other belayer was using a GriGri by simply holding the device OPEN and feeding slack, never with a hand on the break end unless they were taking slack in. A climber was dropped because of this the first day we were there. The belayer looked down and the climber fell, they probably hit the ground before the belayer even noticed.
If you are going ot allow someone besides your normal partner belay you , make sure to watch them belay before even asking and make sure you are comfortable with what you see.
My wife thought is was more like 75% of belayers were unacceptable.
By Monomaniac Administrator From: Morrison, CO Dec 11, 2009
We were here at the end of November and it was definitely "too late". We showed up on the 28th of November, and apparently it was bomber thru the end of that day, but then it rained the next two days, and that shut the whole place down. You would think a crag with so many huge caves would be good to go in the rain, but 90% of the good routes seap dramatically for days after it rains.
Anyway, this is one of the best sport crags on the planet, but I would come in late Oct to mid-November.
Would summer be too hot in Rodellar? Are there any good summer places in Spain?
By Monomaniac Administrator From: Morrison, CO Feb 16, 2010
I talked to some people (Emily H & Sam E) that went there in September, and they said it was "too hot". Obviously it depends on your heat tolerance. I think parts of Montserrat are good in the summer, but if you want to climb hard, I would go somewhere North.
I was out there in September 2009 and while it was probably warmer than ideal I would not say it was too hot. It was probably too hot in the sun but since most of the good climbing is in the shade from noon or so on and it does not get dark till almost 8pm it was fine. You could climb in pants and a t-shirt, on the warmer days it was shorts and no shirt while climbing but there are days when the belayers are wearing down jackets as well so it is pretty varied in September. I would say that October is the best time to go.
Lots of hot shot kids have been going out to Rodellar during their summer vacations and sending the place, so it's not like you can't have a good time in the summer. I would say it is like Rifle in the sense that yeah you can climb hard but will be limited in how much you can climb. Probably a bit in the later morning when some stuff on the far side of the canyon starts to go into the shade, then a siesta and again after 5 or 6 pm till when ever the sun goes down which is pretty late in the summer.
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