LOGISTICS
from its capital is Otinar’s cave, where, last year, Adam Ondra found an old unclimbed project and focused on it. He visited twice to climb the route, but the route awaits a free ascent. Most of the routes start at 5.13a and they require stamina because of the amount of big holds on overhanging rock.
In less than two hours by car, you can be around Granada and at the walls of Loja.This is the popular tufa crag of Andalusia with its two rock buttresses. Asombrao is the main tufa area. It isn’t as overhanging as Otinar, but has lots of flags and flutes. The sickle-shaped wall ranges from 20 to 40 metres. There are beautiful 15- metre parallel tufas, considered the jewels of Loja.
The next stop is Villanueva del Rosario, only 25 minutes from Malaga, one of the main Andalusian cities.Villanueva del Rosario was made famous by its route Chilam Balam 5.15c, an 80- metre roof covered with tufas and stalactites. It’s named after a Mayan story, and was climbed by Bernabe Fernandez in 2003. Fernandez spent three years working the 22- bolt line, using static lines and metre-long quickdraws to decrease rope drag and fall potential from the radically overhanging route. The route was climbed in three attempts by Adam Ondra in 2011. Villanueva is a typical Andalusian town surrounded by cliffs. The best time of year to visit Andalusia to go rock climbing is from the autumn through to the spr ing. With the Sierra Nevada Mountains r ising to 3,500 m above Granada it is also possible to mix some skiing on the same tr ip.