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Elevation: 3,500 ft
GPS: 41.5896, 1.8276
Google Map · Climbing Area Map
Page Views: 52,842 total · 304/month
Shared By: Monomaniac on Dec 15, 2009 · Updates
Admins: Robert Hall, Jason Halladay, David Riley

Description Suggest change

NOTE: The sub-areas have been roughly organized in the order they would be encountered when walking along the main path from the top of the Funicular de Sant Joan towards St Jeroni.  Order is east-to-west, or left-to-right as you would see them from below. R Hall Admin  11/1/19

One "issue" is that the map associated with Mountainproject calls the top of the Funicular "Saint Jean", whereas all of the local (paper) maps of the area refer to Saint Jean as the actual small chapel about 1/2 km west along the path that bears the name of St Jean.  The top of the Funicular is called "Pla de les Tarantules". (R Hall Admin.)

The Gorros (or "Hats") formations tower over the Montserrat Monastery, catching the eye of climbers & tourists alike. While surely the most photographed rock formations in Catalonia, they are also among the most popular, offering long, clean routes at modest grades.

With the funicular combined with the wheelchair-friendly "Tourist Trail", these are also among Montserrat's most accessible formations, making them predictably crowded on weekends. The four Gorros towers stand in a North-South line, and while there are routes on all aspects of these towers, the vast majority of high-quality lines ascend the East faces. Wind can be a serious problem on these towers, as can sun & shade, depending on the time of year.

Routes on these formations tend to be very slabby, generally starting on ~45-degree slopes, and steepening as they ascend. The faces are not as consistently steep as they appear from a distance, so depending on the route, you may encounter pods that involve short vertical or even overhanging sections of climbing.

The Tourist Trail passes directly below (and in some cases THROUGH) these formations, so expect to run into a good number of curious people. Also consider whether or where you want to leave your belongings during your climb.

Getting There Suggest change

Park at or near the Monastery. Parking is very difficult on the weekends! Do not park in undesignated areas, you'll be ticketed. There are two options from the Monastery. The lazy option is to ride the Funicular to the St. Joan station, then hike the basically flat ¨Tourist Trail¨ for 5 minutes to the Formation. The Funicular costs 13.50 euro each for a round trip ticket and saves a good 20 minutes of knee crushing hiking each way. BEWARE!! there are two funiculars located at the Monastery, one that goes up & one that goes down. They are not the same and you need to enter & purchase your ticket at different stations. The Funicular that goes UP is located above & around the corner from the downhill Funicular.

The other poor man´s option is to hike "The Stairs". This is not as bad as it sounds, and unless you have a specific disability, highly recommended for the scenery. Walk through the Monastery area, to the far NW end of the buildings. Follow the stairs up, passing a nice fenced statue of Jesus standing in front of a seated Pontias Pilate (and some other figure, perhaps a Pharisee). Turn right here, cross a wooden bridge, then follow the well marked trail, up endless staircases, through the canyon. The trail is marked with red & white striped paint, and is very obvious most of the way.

After 15 minutes or so, the trail passes through a narrow cleft in the rock, with a metal hand rail on the right side (when going up, left when going down). Continue a short distance beyond here. As the trail starts to level out, you'll come to a trail junction & a sign with the arrows scratched out by stupid deuchebags. The Gorros are easily visible across the canyon. Take the left fork, which heads downhill, towards the St Joan Funicular station. The trail quickly crosses the canyon, and passes beneath a 20' high steeply overhanging cliff with bolted hard sport routes. Continue on the generally flat trail, arriving at another junction immediately below the left most tower ("Gorra Marinera"). You can see the guard rail of ¨The Tourist Trail¨ above. For a short cut, follow a slick climber's trail just left of this slab, or continue LEFT towards the St Joan Funicular for another couple minutes of flat walking. You'll reach another junction, in sight of the Funicular station. Take a sharp right onto the Tourist Trail. Follow this for a couple of minutes, passing along the base of all four Gorros.

19 Total Climbs

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