Ari and I took a few days off and headed to Prades. We’d been to the mountain region before in 2022 and also in 2024 and we liked the area. The weather wasn’t excellent when we arrived mid afternoon on Friday. It was cold and windy but we went for a walk in the afternoon all the same before hanging around our plush apartment that we had rented.
On Saturday I went for a run in the morning in the hills around Prades. It was still cold and very windy. I jogged along dirt roads and up a small track to a big plateau. From there I descended back down on the side closest to the township along another rough road with large rocks. Later in the afternoon we ventured out to a climbing crag in Mont-ral. The crag was sheltered from the wind and we did a a few easy climbs there before retreating to the apartment.
On Sunday we headed to Vilanova de Prades. There a big cliffs above the small town and we’d checked them out a couple of years ago but never climbed there. We parked below the cliffs and walked up to the far right hand side where the guide book had promised us a row of climbs of grade 5. Finally there was no wind and the sun made it warm enough to climb in a t-shirt. Another couple were climbing next to us for a bit but they soon departed and it was just the two of us crushing 5s. The climbing was quite nice – very short climbs with a mix of good holds and smaller holes in the rock that were suitable for a finger or two. We did a few climbs and then headed back to the apartment where we hosted our hosts for dinner! That was fairly random but I’d cooked a much too large a curry and they seemed happy to socialise. Our hosts were Ally from Singapore and Eduard from the Catalonia. They were a very friendly couple about 10 years younger than us.
We were promised the best weather on Monday and it delivered. We drove through the hills to a ferrata named Venes de Rojalons and parked in a muddy little car park. There were a bunch of other people who were just finishing the ferrata so we knew we were in the right place.
It was a 15 minute walk up a dirt road and then a 5 minute walk through scrubby bush to the base of a band of cliffs. The ferrata started there and we headed off up the rock. It was harder than I expected but ok. We had great views out of the hills to the flatter land below. The route traversed along the cliffs and then up to the crux. There was an easier section to the left and the crux of the route to the right. We opted for the right. It was a bit of a haul up over a slightly overhanging bit but we both got up ok.
After a break we descended following the route as it down to the entrance of a cave. Head torches on, we continued through the cave and then as the route left the floor we clipped into the steel rope running along the rock wall. We could see a point of light from the bottom of the cave some way below us, somebodies head torch that must have been dropped earlier in the day.
The cave split in two and we took the harder route. It ended in a climb up a shaft. There was a girl wrestling with the climb as we arrived and we waited while she hauled herself up. It was fun and required some rock climbing skills. You had to push yourself against both sides of the rock and pull yourself up. I got up first and chatted to the group at the top while Ari climbed on up.
We walked back down to the car and drove back to Barcelona. A good weekend away.
