On February-2 we decided to start our short week holidays climbing in the heart of Montserrat. We choosed to try JORDI VIDAL, an all-free route climbing the massive East wall of Plec del Llibre superior. The route consist of 4 long pitches (6b/6c/7a/6b+), the difficulty is mandatory and the equipment good (excellent bolts). It was established by Salvadó Figueres and Kim Santacatalina, what is guarantee of quality and boldness.
The climbing went smooth -except for a nasty wind that kept blowing during all the ascent- and every single pitch was great.
Pitch 1 is the easiest and the crux is the slightly runout section to enter the belay st.
Pitch 2 is wonderful, offering technical wall climbing with a distinguished crux to reach bolt 4. In this one there are no runout sections, but climbing is mandatory except for the central meters.
Pitch 3 has a boulder move to start, then sustained climbing all the way to the belay anchors. Look for single finger pockets in crux sections half the way up.
Pitch 4 enjoys the route's best rock and has the hardest (and mandatory) section from bolt 8 to 10.
The route is completely equipped. Bring 2 long slings for the belay anchors and 11 quickdraws, some of them longer than usual to avoid rope drag.
This is a magnificient climb, but to enjoy it you should lead at least 6c. It needs a little bit of traffic for the rock to be cleaned up in some flakey sections, but it has what it takes to become a great -though difficult- classic free climbing route.
We at ROCKTOPO are currently finishing our ebook on Plecs del Llibre-Montgròs. As soon as it is ready we'll make it available for you to download at rocktopo.com. There you'll find detailed rocktopos for Jordi Vidal and many other great routes.
