PRINT: Rock Climb Espolon Manolin, Madrid

Espolon Manolin

5.9, Trad, 700 ft (212 m), 6 pitches, Grade V,

Avg: 4 from 7 votes
FA: Daniel Jiménez, Fernando Negro, Pedro Tena y Manolín, 1977.
International > Europe > Spain > Madrid > Madrid - Sierra… > Pico de la Miel

Access Issue: Raptor Closures Details

Some routes are closed from January to August. This happens when Griffon Vultures or other endangered birds nest on the ledges near the route. You can consult escaladasostenible.org for an up to date list of climbing restrictions. You will also likely find a sign on the affected route itself. Please refrain from climbing on these routes as there are forces in Madrid's administration that would easily shut down all climbing in protected areas if they perceive that this compromise of closing selected routes is not working.

Description

The longest route in Pico de la Miel following the oblivious central pillar

Pitch 1 - IV/5.6: Climb the slab along the left corner to have something to hold on to, then traverse right to go towards the crack system using a bolt, keep going until you get to the anchors. You can go directly to the crack system via a hard bolted slab that is allegedly 6b but is poorly bolted and has a nasty potential fall. Do not recommend it.

Pitch 2 - IV+/5.7: Continue along the slabby crack system with good pro.

Pitch 3 - V/5.8: Things get spicy here as you move into pure slab climbing territory, thankfully there are a couple of bolts to ease the journey. Pitch ends right at the bottom of the vertical wall with a bronze plaque

Pitch 4 - V/5.8: The classic pitch. Climb up the exposed vertical wall along cracks and chikenheads. Good pro and a number of bolts to boot. There are many variations all of which go at around the same grade, some make exclusive use of the crack others follow the numerous handholds. End towards the left of the pillar on a ledge.

Pitch 5 - V/5.8: Short intermediate pitch with one tricky move to climb to a ledge. Keep going until the anchors at the bottom of a short but cool looking vertical crack

Pitch 6 - V+/5.9: Last but not least, a short hand-crack with what are probably the hardest moves of the route. No more bolted anchors after this so built one where you feel comfortable roping-off and walking to the summit.

Descent: Walk off from geodesic pole at summit

Location

Route goes along the obvious central pillar

Protection

Full rack with doubles for extra safety, many bolts on unprotectable sections, and even some on protectable parts too

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Espolon Manolin topo

Espolon Manolin Topo with all varaitions for pitch 4

Belaying from the 3rd anchor

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Morgan Smith
Chattanooga, TN

5.9

If you are visiting the Madrid area and looking for a nice multi-pitch to warm up to the Pedriza/Cabrera granite, this (or any climb on Pico de Miel, really) would be hard to beat for a short day out. Not far outside the city, simple approach, great views, excellent hardware/anchors, and overall nice climbing. I suppose it depends on your safety preference, but a single rack of cams would be fine for most climbers on this route. For extra assurance, perhaps double in the #1-2 range is all that is needed. Bring at least 8 draws of some fashion for pitch 4, which is mostly bolted. Though a clear crack line is on the right looking up from p3 anchors, this is not as travelled as the left variations and for good reason. The headwall on pitch 4 (left variations) is easily the highlight. The lower pitches have scattered bolts protecting spots. After pitch 4, I don't recall any bolts. We chose to rap from pitch 6 (cables slung on boulder choke with rings have been added since the description above, no gear anchor needed), which was easy with a 70m, but we had it to ourselves. This may not be OK with climbers below. There is another set of anchors ~20m up and climbers left of the P6 anchor (also cable and rings) for adjacent climbs but we didn't rap this so I'm unsure of length needed. Easy to link pitches if you want with good runner placement, though maybe not 5/6 due to the ledgy/slopey nature. As the above says, don't take the bolt line up like we did unless you are in for a stiff warm-up, it's easily hard 11 or 12-. Go up the chute to the left of the bolt line at the start and traverse over. Feb 4, 2025