Arboli

This long w-end turned out to be a raid on the little village of Arboli.  This is one of the lesser-known climbing areas in the Sierra de Prades, of Siurana fame.  We started very hardcore at the Falco, an incredible wall looking directly at the Siurana village and climbing walls.  It boasts very tasty lines, although the fun starts at 6c and up.  This wall has been equipped in St Benet style, and graded consequently (some older pictures of the same in a recent Luichi post here). 

I tried my new 9.1 joker at La millor de..., a delightful 6c both of us, Pau and myself, happily onsighted.  We turned next to Jinja, a deadly 7b with 3 consequent boulder problems and a 'micro' rest in-between.  Did i mention 6 bolts in 20 meters?  It does not seem that little - but it felt and looked crazy.  Props to Pau who fearlessly put the rope up it from the ground while i froze up and looked on from the belay post.  Deciding it was definitely too hard and out of reach this year, we turned next to another incredible line, Pa ella y pa los guiris, a 7a+ crack with the crux on top.  Not figuring out this one either, the day finished with another great 6c+, Trenca'm els pinyos, where i disgracefully hanged at the crux, but enjoyed the ride nevertheless.

We liked el Falco so much that taking pictures was forgotten for the day.  The camera came out of the bag only the next day that saw us attack Can Simiro sector.  I worked a 7a called CataCrack.  People keep calling it Supercrack for a reason, and seeing the line made me concentrate directly and only on this one climb, being a crack-freak myself for a couple of years now.  The crack was sent on 3d attempt, without any top-roping, whining, or additional draws ("alargos para los alejes") required, maybe due to the Falco experience of the previous day:

Pau went crazy at Can Simiro, below he is happily leading his 6th grade 7 of the day (Agua de Fuego, 7a) with the Siurana dam in the background:

Last day, we 'rested' at the Ermita.  This is a short wall right above the Arboli village, close to the actual ermita, another mountain refuge now invaded by crazy climbing lizards.  We tried a couple of 7s there, Pau got his 7a second try, and one day i'd like to come back to send the Caipirinha, 7a+, the only one i liked of the routes there so far.  Here is Montse and the crazy sky:

To finish off sweet desserts were consumed 'en masse' at the very recommendable (one and only) bar l'Hostalet d'Arboli, also selling the topo of the area.  Great team, awesome raid, and welcome to Josep, who apparently finally discovered that sport climbing could be a rewarding experience, and also took some good pictures in the process!