Calcena, near Zaragoza, was without doubt our favourite discovery of our 2022 Spain trip:

Calcena – a New Addition to our List of Favourite Places

More Calcena and a Rest Day with the Vultures

With a decent forecast we were keen to introduce Jim and Claire to this delightful part of Aragon.

… and we were pleased to find that the Albergue have upgraded the van parking area, so there’s now a new toilet and shower block (copious hot water) and even electricity points if you want all mod cons. There’s now a charge of €5 per van plus €1 per person, which is a bargain – nice to have the opportunity to put something back into this lovely place. You can also get fresh bread from the bar in the Albergue, but it’s worth knowing that it is closed on Thursday (though you can still use the van parking).

Freezing overnight, the availability of sectors which face every conceivable angle is a real bonus. Over the course of 4 days we explored most of the east-facing Peña de la Mesa crags on the south side of the road for our warm-ups, and were soon in T-shirts despite the modest air temperature.

You get a good view over to the crags on the North side of the road and can gauge the best time to swap sides according to the sun / temperature. In the foreground is Aguja Sninfo, with the towering Aguja de Diablo dominating the skyline.

Here’s Helen on the tricky Lucia Nadal Sachez, 6a:

… before kindly putting the clips in the adjacent El Espejo y la Plancha (a thin 7a which makes a full-page pic in the guide).

Further round on the south facing Aguja Pillar Bolea, here’s Jim on the excellent Cena de la Berenjena, 6a+

… and back left on the sunny side of Sninfo, I just missed the last of the sun on my ascent of El Tablon, 7a (there’s a mystery intermediate loweroff around 2/3 which it was tempting to stop at, but I persevered with a big fight for the full tick).

Further on up the valley into vulture land, we did a few routes on Peña de los Buitres. Here’s Jim on Badaran, 6a

Me on Saon de Hermita, 7a, on Aguja del Collado…

… and Jim on the appropriately named Safari, 6a+

With Jim heading off for a run, Helen and I planned for a day of multi-pitch adventuring, starting off with…

… a 3-pitch 6a+ which takes a line up the central tower, just left of the orange wall.

Here’s Helen leading the first pitch:

Not content with one MPA we crossed the valley…

for a second Espolon of the day – Espolon SE on the Aguja del Diablo. Double Esplon-dido!

One feature I’d been hoping to come back to climb was the stunning rock arch of Puente de los Lobos. You can see the giant’s shoulder in the middle of the shot below, with the natural archway beneath.

There’s a thin looking 7a, Irenborj, which I was keen on, but decided to do the first couple of pitches of the classic Espolon de los Lobos, 6a, 6b, 6c to start with. These give a great 40m outing, gradually steepening all the way:

Rapping down the 7a I was disappointed that it seemed to be largely made up of cemented, sika holds, and it somewhat lost the appeal. Maybe next visit.