With temperatures finally hotting up across Spain, we had a decision to make: stay south and bask in the sunny flesh pots, or strike out north to explore some new terrain in the mountains. Never ones for the easy life, we continued with our RockAroundTheWorld mission to coldly go where no one (or at least not many Brits climbers) had gone before.

We set the sat nav for Berga, capital of Bergueda County in Barcelona, and the main town in the Llobregat Valley that runs north from Barcelona cutting through the Pyrenees and crossing the border into France at Puigcerda. We’d made a very brief, and somewhat optimistic, foray a few years ago when there was a fair bit of snow on the ground.

Berga 

This time the forecast was a good deal warmer, although reality when we arrived in town was distinctly chilly. Unperturbed, we tracked down a copy of the excellent topo at the Tourist Office, and also picked up a copy of a really informative (and free!) Escala El Bergueda pamphlet. The former features 80 sectors and 1,650 routes, while the latter has topos of ten of the most popular crags. To be honest, the free pamphlet would give you plenty to go at for a week, and is testament to how welcome climbers are, but then you’d be missing out on the beautiful hand-drawn topos in the guide, and of course the opportunity to put something back.

Like all the main routes which cross The Pyrenees, there’s a fairly busy road in the valley bottom, lending a slightly industrial feel, but the huge amount of rock is evident in every direction, and you soon get into wild and beautiful sub-Alpine terrain as soon as you wind your way up into one of the side valleys.

We scanned the QR code (all mod cons) for Les Esposes, which looked to be a handy, easy-access, sunny crag to bag a YECTOYD. It delivered on all the above, including the requisite sunshine.

Surprisingly gritstonesque climbing on bulging, bouldery routes. Single Malt, 6a+, was certainly no giveaway:

You even get a handy topo on a notice board if you hadn’t managed to nip into the Tourist Office!

There’s quite a lot of tourist infrastructure in the area, including numerous campsites, but only a couple are open in March. The one in Berga itself looked a bit urban, so we set off up into the hills towards Camping Repòs de Pedraforca, at the foot of one of the most iconic peaks in the Pyrenees. We weren’t overwhelmed by the campsite, but the views were unarguably stunning:

There was enough snow in evidence, and a chill in the air, to deter us from 7 to 13-pitch adventures on a 2,500m mountain, but it has definitely added itself onto a future ticklist.

Instead, we wound our way up another set of tortuous zigzags to the gorgeous hamlet of Malanyeu and the crag of Taules de la Llei.

Literally this means “Tablets of the Law” and references the likeness of the crag to the tablets of stone of the Ten Commandments. You can see the two clean walls between the building and the truck.

The walls to the left are the Paret del Deveso; home to around a hundred multi-pitch routes up to around 100m.

The approach isn’t super-obvious – you basically follow the track down to a farmhouse and turn off rightwards just before you reach it, passing through the first of a number of wire gates in an electric fence.

Each “Tablet” has a dozen routes up to 50m. The left is the easier of the two, with routes from V+ to 6c, while the right one spans 6c+ to 7b+. Filosofia Perrene, 6a, is a memorable and slightly harrowing outing up the full height of the wall. You get 14 bolts but that means they’re over 10ft apart on average, and the climbing is very sustained.

Husky Trosky, the V+, is also excellent (and also no pushover). Over on the RHS I tried Kin Mal Karma, 7a, but ground to a halt just over the overlap. Plenty more to come back for.

A dull, rainy interlude prompted some crag reconnaissance, but not before a detour to check out the dinosaur footprints at Fumanya.

The visitor centre was closed but you could still see the footsteps…

Onwards to check out the extensive climbing above and to the west of Berga… This picture was taken on a drive-by through the valley on a sunnier day, a couple of days later.

The Santuari de Queralt is an impressive structure in the middle of it all, and even has its own crag – the appropriately named Sector Parquing. Not hugely impressive, but you couldn’t ask for a handier spot to bag a quick route in a sunny interlude.

That’s what I call roadside!

Abandoning the campsite agenda, we found a superbly appointed aire in the pretty hamlet of Sant Corneli, adjacent to the mining museum. It’s free to stay overnight, or you can plug in for €3, and there’s a great cafe / deli for your morning coffee and bread.

Fab views right across the valley where you can clearly make out yesterday’s venue.

The weather was much more cheerful the following day so we headed over to Grau de la Mola, just up the road. It’s one of a couple of developed sectors on a huge escarpment, a few km long. Only 30 or so routes, but a tremendous piece of rock situated just a short stroll from the very quiet road, without a hint of polish. It’s a bit like I imagine Stoney might have been 50 years ago, apart from the weather, outlook, tranquility and of course the bolts.

The showpiece is the central 30m tower of vertical white stone.

The left arete, Aresta de la Mola is a superb, sustained 6a.

I had a go at the two 7as which fire up either side of the main wall. Both are tricky, especially so where they break through the two overlaps. I got completely stumped on the LH one, Badalona 1, which has a hidden sting in the tail up a totally perplexing slab, whereas I fared better on Sense Ilagrimes which has the decency to finish up a corner crack. Loads more to go at in the 6c-7a+ range. I take it back – I rather suspect Stoney was never this good (and there really is no contest in the outlook!)