A trip to Tartareu offered what looked to be a winning combination of a good mix of grades and steep pocketed rock.

It delivered on both counts, but also provided a useful reminder of the importance of reading the guidebook. .. I hadn’t really noted that the crag faces East so very quickly plunged us into the shade and a major chill :-(. Also, perhaps befuddled by the cold I then launched myself up a 6c+ only to be chastened at half height, eventually escaping with the loss of a maillon. Closer inspection revealed it to be 7c+ – foolish boy!

Having come to terms with the shade and made sense of the guide we both enjoyed a couple of really good routes on the steep tufas and pockets.