Oliana

Nowadays Oliana is one of the most famous Spanish crags. It is well known abroad especially because of ‘La dura dura’, Chris Sharma’s great project of 9B+. It has a high concentration of hard-grade routes, most of which are great quality and as a result Oliana has recently become a popular destination for the strongest climbers in the world. 

Oliana is situated about 90 km north of Lleida (a Catalan town lying about 150km east of Barcelona). The whole area to the north of Lleida is now considered to be one the best sport climbing areas in the world as it is home to many top quality crags.  There are crags of all types (from all difficulty sport climbing areas to sandstone bouldering and the multi-pitch classics). 

Oliana is a high overhanging limestone wall with no more than 30 routes from 7a to 9b+, most of which are up to 50 meters long. Sustained athletic climbing on tufas, big pockets as well as crimps and a lot of stamina is what you will find in Oliana and it is fantastic! Just count on the fact that to really appreciate the wall you will want to be able to climb 8a's or 8apluses.

Apart from the main sector of Contrafort de Rumbau, there are low to middle-grade climb options in La Paret de l’ Obaga Negra which offers slab and vertical routes worth trying as well. 

The best time to go to Oliana is wintertime. The crag is in the sun from the morning until about 4pm or 5pm, depending on the line. You must count on shorter climbing days though as it often takes a long time before the morning fog disappears and as soon as the wall gets in the shade it gets too cold. On colder Autumn and Spring days you might get good climbing conditions too but remember that the noonday sun gets very strong. 

Even though the wall is situated close to the village of Oliana you will need a car. There are little hotels and guesthouses in Oliana as well as in the nearby villages which you might find convenient, especially in Winter as it gets very cold in the area.