L'Olla  Photos:  Recent | Best | Popular Elevation:  2,300' Lat, Long:  41.2661, -359.0632 Map Page Views:  2,974. Good page?    Administrator:  Tom Erickson Submitted By:  Monomaniac on Dec 9, 2009 Make this area a Favorite What's New   Print a Mini-Guide with routes Add Route  Add Photo  Add Comment  Add Event

Enjoying warm winter sun on "Ya Os Vale", 5.12d, a...

Description 

The famed Sector L'Olla is Siurana's power headquarters; the place to come for those in search of short & fierce roped bouldering. Many famous power routes reside in the tiny tufa-studded cirque at the center of this cliff, most notably "La Cara Que No Miente" (8a+) and "Bistec de Biceps" (7b+). Both routes were featured in the legendary Eric Pearlman series "Masters of Stone". Despite the stunted height of this cliff, this is undoubtedly some of the nicest limestone at Siurana, offering amazing sinker pockets, frustrating wide tufas, and beautiful orange and blue streaks. The central cirque overhangs a good 30 degrees, making all of these routes burly & gymnastic. This is also what Ron Kauk would call a "ropebag-free zone", meaning the cliff-base is free of dust & other debris.

Despite its reputation, there is a little something for everyone at this crag, with some of the best 5.11s around, such as "Mayling" and "El Caganer", located on the right end of the cliff. There are also a handful of standard-length sport climbs on the far left end of the cliff, including the classic 8b "Migrany". In total, there are ~35 routes ranging in grade from 6b (5.10+) to 8b (5.13+).

This crag gets a bit more shade than other places at Siurana, due to its location tucked in the back of the canyon. The entire cliff is shady until ~11am. Ya Os Vale & routes to the left stay shady for another hour or so, and then the cliff is in full sun until the afternoon, when the Siuranella cliff provides a bit of shade in the winter, starting at around 2pm.

Getting There 

L Olla is part of the same general cliff band as Espero Primavera. Park and approach as for Espero Primavera, but continue west along the cliff base trail. The trail descends, and passes around an enormous detached pillar. Stay right after the pillar, passing below the El Pati cliff, and its famous testpiece šLa Ramblaš. Stay right at all of the trail forks, eventually gaining a high extremely exposed ledge. Continue along the ledge to a beautiful steep cirque of short, tufa-ed sport routes.

The Classics

Featured Route For L'Olla

Bistec de Biceps 5.12c  International : Spain : ... : L'Olla

This beastly power route is among the most classic routes at Siurana, and according to 8a.nu, it is THE most popular (at least it appears on more scorecards than any other). The business is no more than 10 feet of difficult cranking, but it packs quite a punch in those 10 feet. How can such a short route be so classic? The rock is excellent, the moves are fun, and believe it or not, this is one of the longest routes at this sector, which has some of the best rock anywhere. Reach for the horiz...[more]   Browse More Classics in International

Photos of L'Olla Slideshow

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L'Olla is famous for this small cirque of brillian...	The left side of L'Olla. These routes begin on a ...	The right side of L'Olla offers several classic mo...
The right side of L'Olla, including the right-half...	L'Olla lies in the back of the valley.	Topo with key routes marked.