The longest route in the Muntanyes de Prades: 185 metres of granite spur climbing to an iron cross, in a hidden valley near the monastery of Poblet. Almost no fixed protection, and rock that makes you think you're in the Pyrenees.
Book NowThere is granite in Tarragona, and almost nobody knows about it. The Vall de Castellfollit hides a set of granite towers and spurs so unlikely for this part of Catalunya that climbers write the same sentence every time: you'd swear you were in the Pyrenees, if it weren't for the holm oaks growing all around you.
The Aresta GER is the great classic of the valley — opened in 1972 by Ramon Bruno and Quim Miralles of Reus, and at 185 metres, the longest route in the whole Muntanyes de Prades. It takes the most logical line up the spur of the Roc de Ponent, following good cracks and clean dihedrals through a characteristic natural window, and finishes at a large iron cross on the summit that doubles as the final belay.
There are a handful of old pitons on the first two pitches and essentially nothing after that. Everything else is protected with nuts, cams and long slings around the trees that grow on the ledges.
From the parking in the Vall de Castellfollit, a marked geological trail through the Paratge Natural de Poblet drops to the riverbed, crosses it, and climbs a scree slope to the foot of the spur — where you'll find the letters "GER" carved into the rock.
The steepest and most technical climbing of the route, on good granite with a few old pitons for reassurance. Cracks and dihedrals, athletic in places, with the difficulty concentrated here.
The route passes through a characteristic natural window in the rock, then flanks across an inclined slab protected by a small line of pitons — the most distinctive passage on the climb.
Around 25 metres of III to IV+, flanking diagonally rightwards, clean of fixed protection — placed gear only.
A long pitch of around 50 metres following the edge of the spur at III/IV, pleasant climbing that you protect as you like. This is the part people come back for.
The difficulty falls away in the final pitches, easing to scrambling along the arête until you reach the large iron cross that crowns the Roc de Ponent — a superb viewpoint over the whole valley.
On foot along the back of the Roc, then a path down to the right and a scree slope back to the base of the route.
You're climbing inside the Paratge Natural de Poblet, a short drive from a Cistercian monastery that has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1991, surrounded by vineyards and old mining paths. Climbing here has been going on since at least 1945, when a rope of climbers from Valls made the first recorded ascent on the Roc de Ponent. It is a genuinely lovely corner of Catalunya, and remarkably quiet.
Climbers comfortable seconding grade V who want a real classic rather than a sport route — and anyone who wants to know what granite feels like without driving to the Pyrenees. The climbing is described as very approachable for the grade, with the seriousness coming from the lack of fixed gear rather than from difficulty. Your guide places all of it, so what you get is a long, elegant day on beautiful rock.
Make a weekend of it: the monastery of Poblet and the Conca de Barberà wine country are both a few minutes away.
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Granite in Tarragona, climbing without bolts, and what a day in the Poblet valley involves.
For the same unbolted, classic character on limestone, the Cresta de la Coma de Gelis rises straight out of a reservoir in La Noguera. If you want to place the gear yourself rather than follow, start with the Trad Climbing Course.
