Montanejos Rock Climbing

Montanejos es de puta madre.

The are all types of climbing to do in Montanejos: single-pitch routes, multi-pitch sport, multi-pitch trad and even a manufactured deep-water solo over the Maimona River. Some of the bolts date back to the 1960s, but modern development has been ongoing for the last 25 years. The rock quality is slightly worse than in the Montsant range (where Margalef and Siruana are located), but popular routes are usually good and less-polished than in some of the more famous crags in Spain (especially on easier routes).

The town has about 600 full time residents, a beautiful swimming hole and an awesome refugio. There are a few other eating and hotel options in town, but it seems that most climbers stay in the refugio. The bar in the central square has good bocadillos, and the restaurant next to the Arabian tower has a nice menu del dia. There is a small market in town, and free fuentes for water. The main attraction is the Fuente de los Baños, a beautiful oasis with blue blue water and luke-warm hotsprings in the back.

As is common in Spain, the owner of the refugio, Ernesto, is also the one who put up most of the routes in the area. Ernesto has put in over 1500 routes over the last 25 years and continues at a steady pace throughout the climbing season. The crew of dirtbags who run the refugio are also part of the bolting frenzy, and super fun to hang out with in the off time. The refugio rents tent spots and a couple of cabins, but the "jaimes" (mongolian yurt-like tents) are where it's at. There is a bolted cliff at the top of the refugio, which boasts about 20 short routes in the 6 range. The refugio is closed from mid-October to Jan.

There is a group of Climbers at Montanejos that want to recover more than 500 climbing routes. They are working so hard for months cleaning forgotten climbing spots and rebolting many of the old climbing routes. Discover the full project and new topos at Destino Climbing or at Inoxidemos Montanejos (Project official page).

http://www.escaladaenmontanejos.com/

https://www.destinoclimbing.com/info/montanejos/