UKH

Really - in who's opinion ?

I'm planning a trip to Chulilla soon and this assertion got me thinking - how you judge the best climbs relative to your ability. I mean, I think I can recognise a 3* grade V - but that feeling of elation 'wow what a fantastic route' is rarely associated with those I find easy ie. 6c and above is where this starts to happen. 

So, I can understand that an 8a climber might actually be objective in asserting the 7c's are better than the 8a's at a site - but for a climber at this level 7a - 6c - 6b could just be rather - drab / boring .

So ... can a visitor to Chulilla get elated topping out on a 6b ... 6c ? - please qualify your frame of reference ! And conversely do the 9a climbers agree that 7c is nevertheless the sweetspot ?

I'm generally redpointing low to mid 7's, onsighting high 6's, and I can think of a couple of 6a's I've done recently where I topped out with a big grin thinking "that was absolutely world class!". So it is possible

Not at Chulilla though. Anacreonte (6a) & Il Movimiento Sexi (6a)

The big problem is that judging  'inversely' 90% of us can never contribute to the vote ie. its the opinion of a select minority if the best routes are centered around a grade higher than 'we' can ever sample ...

Oh dear. 

Chullila just happens to have loads of good 7c routes. More three star routes there are graded 7c (17 of them) than any other grade. 

However there are almost as many 3 star 7a routes. If you are onsighting anything between 6c and 8a, then it is a real world class destination. However, the sweet spot is 7c

Graded by the equipper I presume - who has his own drum to beat. Of the 17 in the UKC log page only 9 are voted unanimously 3*, one has 50/50 2/3* star voting and another 4 are mixed, one is voted solid 2*, while for 2 of them no-one was ever motivated to vote.

Which illustrates my point amply - its all subjective. I haven't got time to sift endlessly through the logbook ratings - but am considerably more comfortable with your assertion that otherwise:

If you’re an 8a climber I doubt any of the 6s are going to blown your mind, and probably not anywhere else either. At this level I think it’s often the scenery or something else that makes you enjoy the route (on a big mountain, sea cliff etc.). 
 

We have climbed loads of 7s at chullia, but if we want to do something easier we go down to costa Blanca for the big multi pitch routes or ridges. 
 

If you climb in the 6s then there is plenty to go at here, and if you can stretch to 7a (pretty much the same as the 6cs imho at chullia) then there’s weeks of climbing.

If this is what your asking ?!

Thats very valuable thanks. The '7c sweetspot' is either a fact or an opinion ... and I thought it might be interesting to find out which - 

Did you ever finish a day at Chulilla wowing more over one of your warmup routes than the hard target tick of the day ??

edit: wowing is too strong. rather - with an equally strong memory of the warmup routes - for their character or interest; obviously not for their difficulty

Dunno about 7c, but if you want a 6c that’ll hit the sweet spot alright, check out 

El signo de los tiempos (6c)

it’s solid 50m of single pitch climbing, and my word it’s good. (Lower off via the anchor on the route to the right.)

The whole Palmeral sector is new-ish and has a lot of good stuff on it by the looks of things. Am itching to get back there. 

The ‘sweet spot’ for chulilla is 7a-8a. There’s months/ years of quality climbing to get on at this grade. A surprising amount of variety too, it’s not just face climbing; you’ve got walls on edges, tufas, grit-style friction climbing (chorreras), cracks, steep stuff, slabs, corners. 

The 6s are ok, especially at lamentaciones, but like rachel said many of the 6c/+ routes here aren’t worlds away in difficulty from the 7as. Some are harder (if you’re not a boulderer) because they’ve often got Short sharp cruxes. The 7a’s seem more drawn out, more to them but move-wise easier. 

if you climb 8’s there’s tons 8a-8b+ but the nice thing about chulilla is it’s not really a hard crag destination. It’s never that steep, it just gets more sustained and thinner I guess. If you were climbing 8s you’d go up to tarragona / Lleida. 

I don’t think chulilla is a good place to go if you’re climbing low 6s. In my option almost anywhere else is better, there’s obviously stuff to do though. Maybe the so called 7c ‘sweetspot’ is so because you can warm up on 7a’s, onsight 7b/7c’s and get quick redpoints of 8a’s. In this respect, if you’re climbing at that grade you stand to get the most out of this place. You’ll be amassing a tick list in a week that it takes less fit people a month to get. 
 

we’ve done loads here and I love it. Probably my single favourite sport crag. Suits us II trad climbers perfectly; it’s mainly long, steady endurance routes that you can often get first go. We’ve spent maybe nearly 10 weeks here now over a few winters and done ~150 of the routes 
 

Agree it’s not good for people climbing in the low 6s and below as there just isn’t much to go at. But I’d say if you can warm up on 6b or above Chulilla has to be one of the best sport climbing destinations in Europe. 

Which is why I’m planning to live there for the whole of February 2021!

Thanks! your logbook text contains contagious enthusiasm  

Do you ever/often find favored routes/sectors too busy ie. queues building up ?

I'm getting a more balanced picture now thanks ! How is it for finger-tip wear ? (not tendons) I suffer from tip tenderness which quickly became intolerable eg. the black weathered Siurana rock - where it is less than vertical.

I’ve only been once, late last October, and if anything we found it remarkably quiet. We never waited for anything, though I do remember it being busier on Saturday and Sunday (for obvious reasons). It may be busier this time of year, as it was still a bit too hot when we went so I imagine a lot of people were in Catalonia. 

Depends on the rock and temps.

If it's cool and you are not climbing the rougher tufa style routes or the less steep greyer rock with lots of water worn little sharp pockets, you should be OK.

Hope that helps.

TJB.

A good route is a good route. Sure, sport routes can be forgettable, especially ones you find easy, but if they’re really good you should be able to tell that regardless of whether you climb 7a or 8a or 9a. That’s the mark of a good route I think. 

Depends. I’ve been fine for a week, but it’s warm now (25°) and I’m 8 days on, climbing some routes I find hard, so I’ve got thin skin now. I did a bouldery route at chorreras and that really took a layer off (it’s all friction slopers and monster tufas trees there). It’s generally quite static climbing here. It’s when you’re throwing for things that you’ll wear yourself out... 

So you're there now ? Nice ! But you have me worried - our trip is planned for late March ! We had 21 deg yesterday here but dropped back now.

I must presume you don't log warm-up routes ??

This is the 4th winter I've been here, don't think I've known it this hot before!

Chulilla is home to two of the best 6b's I've ever done (they're on the extreme right hand side of the cliff where Oasis is found, on the other side of the sector with all the enormous tufas). I did these on the same day as a 7c which is also one of the best I've ever done, and they are just as memorable. But they are literally the only low 6's I remember there (my wife, despite onsighting 7b+ there, was mostly climbing lower grade routes). The amount of high quality routes in the upper 7's and low 8's is outrageous though. Especially around 7c/+

I log every route I ever do!

So maybe a hangboard warmup is more practical at some sectors ?!

Yeah normally the routes here are long and not cruxy so it’s easy to warm up on them bu just going really slow and resting. Buy there are a few, especially around oasis, with crimpy bouldery starts. A friend had an edge on string and I was surprised how useful it was for a few minutes swinging around on before you pull on