Gorro Frigi

Nice view from the top

More or less a month ago, Xavi and me tried ourselves at a famous climbing route, at least on a local level, which is called Via Badalona. It goes up the Gorro Frigi, one of the most prominent needles to be found in Montserrat. Gorro Frigi in fact is such big a needle that in my opinion the word needle doesn't fit anymore. I'd call it a really fat column instead...

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Route description taken from: escalatroncs. In black our variation of the last two pitches

 Our previous try to climb the Badalona ended up with us first having problems, then getting kind of lost and finally abandoning the wall. This time we knew what we had done wrong the other day and felt confident to enjoy some smooth climbing. In order to take as much advantage as possible from last day's experience, Xavi again started first with me leading the second pitch. Compared with the difficulties we had engaged a month ago, it indeed went very smoothly.

Xavi during the second pitch

 It's the third pitch where we had lost our route the last day, so this time Xavi paid some extra attention, found it and thereupon saw himself confronted with the route's steepest part, rated V-. That's still easier though, than some of the climbing he had done the other day after he inadvertently had left our foreseen route. This time he opted for a mixture between struggle and resting that enabled him to overcome the obstacle, and soon he mounted the day's third belay station.

I then led the two final pitches. Still in the proximity of our stand, I saw a line of green painted bolts leading up the wall and going straight to the top. It looked so neat to climb, that after some communication with Xavi, and some looking up in the description of the neighbouring Via Carles, we decided to scratch the rest of the Badalona in favour of this line.

Us posing with the summit cross

Due to the unnecessity of actively having to look for the rather difficult to find Badalona route, I soon stood on top of Gorro Frigi, where Xavi joined me only minutes later in order to celebrate our finally successful climb.

Climbers on Magdalena Superior

After a rather long photo session we took the way down. This time no abseiling was included for there is a fixed chain route on the backside of Gorro Frigi that allows one to get up and down without having to do much climbing.

A big Thank You to Jim, Dana and Rose, a family of climbers from New Hampshire. We got to know them for they were climbing a route next to ours. After Xavi and me had come down from the top of Gorro Frigi, I inadvertently left my camera lying on a stone next to the spot, where we had put off our climbing gear. They found it and chased us in order to returning it to me. Thank You so very much, guys!