Montjuic

Last week I had the strangest climbing-related experience I've ever had. I don't know why I continue to be surprised at all the weird things I see in Barcelona, but this one was really crazy. I had heard rumors of a tunnel somewhere in the Barcelona area plastered with climbing holds. Since I've seen bridges, tunnels, and even silos in the U.S. equipped with holds and bolted sport climbs, I wasn't immediately blown away. When I did some research, however, I found that this place is unique in its own right. Located on the hill of Montjuic, the site of the Olympic Games which is still heavily saturated with sporting activities, there is a long tunnel between two rugby fields. The story I was told goes as follows:

There once was a tunnel. Some crazy spaniards had the bright idea of plastering of the walls of this tunnel with old (and i mean old) climbing holds. This lead to sport routes being equipped within the tunnel itself. From there, hordes of crazy spaniards joined in on the fun plastering and bolting. When the tunnel was sufficiently full, the bastards started drilling into the concrete covered wall of the next-door hill. This stuff is chunky, rocky, sharp concrete. What are the ethics of chipping and hold manufacturing on concrete? None, as you'd imagine. Some routes on this wall had holds plastered on, while others used the "natural" features. this wall runs for maybe a hundred yards and is roughly 40 feet tall. Its equipped with all of the usual safety features-- bolts and anchors-- and the routes are even named and graded. Furthermore, if only to spice things up, the bits of rebar hanging out of the concrete have NOT been removed, making whippers a more serious risk, and thus making the route that much more classic (read: terrifying).

But alas, I've gone off on another tangent. Where were we? Oh yeah, hordes of climbers. So these guys were such avid tunnel climbers, and so numerous, that the traffic issues they caused prompted the city to shut the tunnel down to motor vehicles and build a new one! Score one for climbers! This place is too funny. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. Anyway, enough talking. Check it out for yourselves:


An 8a!!!! For those who don't speak Euro grades, that's 5.13b



All the little orange squares are actually foot-long pieces of rebar. In case you're silly enough to ask, no I did not climb any of these death routes.



One section of wall. The 100 yard tunnel was plastered like this all the way down.



An idea of the length of the tunnel. This traverse, due to bad feet and some slick old holds, can actually get you a little pumped!

I know its not as cool as Santa Linya, Margalef, or Rodellar, but climbing within Barcelona itself is definitely an adventure!