Raco de les Tenebres  Photos:  Recent | Best | Popular Elevation:  1,740' Lat, Long:  41.2757, 0.7663 Map Page Views:  2,911. Good page?    Administrator:  Tom Erickson Submitted By:  Monomaniac on Dec 18, 2009 Make this area a Favorite What's New   Print a Mini-Guide with routes Add Route  Add Photo  Add Comment  Add Event

On-sighting the stellar "Magic Festival", 7c, at R...

Description 

Finestra's sister-cliff is known for a long, overhanging prow of brilliant orange stone that features four of Margalef's best jug hauls, inluding the area's best 7c, Magic Festival, and one of its best 8a's, Sativa Patatica. But that is not all Tenebres has to offer, featuring a compact cliff of classic vertical routes on the left, and a dramatic, 200-foot wide, 40-foot deep horizontal roof on the right.

The twenty or so routes here range in difficulty from 5.10 to 5.14c (and a few open projects), with an emphasis on the 5.11s & 12s. Technicians will want to try Meteora, 5.11c, one of Margalef's best 5.11s, and Chupa Sangra, 5.12d, an intricate pocketed line of tufa flowstone. Burlmasters will marvel at the astonishing roof lines, including the impressive "402", 5.13d, which Chris Sharma on-sighted.

The cliff faces Northeast, but thanks to dense vegetation the "Corner of Darkness" is shaded more or less all day. The massive roof provides some shelter, but most of the topouts will get wet in the rain.

Getting There 

From Margalef, follow the bridge East across the river towards the "Fonda Tres Pines" Hotel. Heads up for the tree that is literally in the middle of the road! Veer left after the tree, heading up a steep paved road signed for "Ermita Sant Salvador". Continue winding up this road, passing several crags on either side of the canyon. After ~1.8 KM, park at a fork in the road in any of the small pullouts. It looks like there might be a new parking lot going in here.

Follow a steep trail on the right (South) side of the road. Switchback up for ~3 minutes to arrive below a big orange, chossy wall with a gray slab above. Head right thru dense brush, then scramble up a steep cleft/chimney, then follow the trail left around the short buttress, continuing South through more scrub brush to an open area and a view of the impressive cliff. The reach the vertical routes on the left end of the wal, turn left, back into the brush, and follow the trail for ~100yds, crossing a gully, to reach the cliff. For all other routes, scramble down from the viewpoint with the aid of a knotted rope to reach the cliff.

The Classics

Featured Route For Raco de les Tenebres

Magic Festival 5.12d  International : Spain : ... : Raco de les Tenebres

The path to Tenebres snakes around through dense underbrush, thorns & gnarly cactus. Eventually the trail emerges on a small hill, revealing a bird's eye view of a spectacular, overhanging, orange buttress. Magic Festival is one of four world-class lines that breach this magnificent feature. The route is long, continuous & overhanging throughout. Fortunately it also features some of the best jugs at Margalef, making the route a classic enduro jughaul.Begin from the dusty, sloping trail on th...[more]   Browse More Classics in International

Photos of Raco de les Tenebres Slideshow

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Some of the routes at Tenebres.

The routes on the Magic Fest prow. All of these r...