La Intrepida Sirena
5.10a YDS 6a French 18 Ewbanks VI+ UIAA 18 ZA E1 5a British PG13
| Type: | Trad, 350 ft (106 m), 5 pitches |
| GPS: | 42.10187, 3.1837 |
| FA: | unknown |
| Page Views: | 122 total · 23/month |
| Shared By: | MattH on Oct 13, 2025 |
| Admins: | Jason Halladay, David Riley |
Description
Probably the steepest 10a you'll ever climb, and mostly bolted for maximum fun. Overhung on several pitches so you'll need to be smart about having rappeller #1 clip directionals to keep the anchors within reach, especially the traversing P1 (without it you'll rap into the sea).
A series of airy raps lowers you onto a platform 3m above the sea (splash zone at high tide/big wave days). From there, a series of juggy, steep pitches all in the 5.8-10a range lead back up to your starting point with huge exposure and huge fun. Be solid, though - spaced fixed gear (including some aging fixed rope slings) mean that a light rack is recommended for lessening runouts and backing up old fixed gear.
A word of caution, given the spaced-out pro and lack of escape alternatives: the route's biggest holds tend to follow a crack system that can be extremely wet and slimy in high humidity even if other parts of the cliff are less-so - check the holds under the top roof on the first rap - if they're moist, the rest of the route will be soaked (virtually every hold except a few at the start of p5), so you should consider another route (eg: Poseidon down the road at L'Estartit).
P1: from the platform, a series of mega-jugs lead up into the dihedral above before a few cruxy moves traversing right (trust that there's a hidden bolt) and through the airy moves to the anchors above. 35m, bolts, 5.9+/10a
P2: A series of juggy moves leads up a few thin moves stepping right to a faint dihedral, 15m, bolts, 5.10a
P3: Gain the dueling crack systems following a mixture of bolts and gear, and follow the increasingly positive holds to the next belay. 15m, mixed, pg-13, 5.9+.
P4: Some of the biggest outdoor jugs possible lead up to the final belay ledge of the route. 15m, mixed, 5.8.
P5: You guessed it: more jugs in a dihedral. A victory romp up the final corner to the belay tree. Lots of huge holds for both hands and feet with 300' of exposure below you. 15m, bolts, 5.9+
Recommended to link p3+4 on rappel and on the way up - they're quite direct. P1 rap NEEDS to be done with a directional in the dihedral.
Pitch grades are an estimate based on the various online topos + subjective estimates of what the pitches would've felt like if dry (maybe soft because the holds are massive, just hard to use when wet). I gave the route a pg-13 for p3's combo of runouts and aging fixed gear, but some of the lack of gear opportunities might've been due to the slimy conditions at the time (and you can back up the fixed gear on rap if you brought slings).



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