Classic arête climbing on Cabe Esperar (8a) at Sombretivo.

Cuenca is a small city in central Spain, just two hours east of Madrid. The old town is perched on a cliff-lined plateau and is famous for Les Casas Colgadas, hanging houses built into the sheer rock walls that snake around the outer perimeter. Due to its abundance of historical attractions, Cuenca has been declared a UNSECO World Heritage Site and draws countless tourists every year, but the river gorges that surround the city are a major site for rock climbing, one of the most important in this part of Spain. But despite its quality climbing, visits from international climbers remain relatively rare, likely because Cuenca retains an old-school flavour, one where technique often trumps brute strength and tufas are practically non-existent. Regardless, the plentiful sunny aspects piqued our curiosity and we decided to dive in and book a mid-winter trip.

While climbing in Spain’s Costa Blanca in 2012 we were encouraged to visit Chulilla, an area to the north that came highly recommended. We were told that if we liked Wild Side at Sella – and we did – we’d really enjoy Chulilla since the climbing was similar: long, gently-overhanging routes with plenty of limestone tufas. A year later we were back in Spain, Valencia to be exact. Upon arriving in Chulilla we were suitably impressed. The climbing zone featured a pair of deep gorges with tall, tufa-streaked walls. Sound good? Read on for more beta…

 Landscape changing dramatically on the drive north from Margalef toward Terradets on Spain's C13


 Arriving at a parking area for Terradets

 One of the many climber-friendly conveniences of Terradets: a real supermarket with about 15 minutes of the camping and refugio

 Climbers approaching through a tunnel

 Context

 Views of Andorra's distant peaks with a coating of fresh snow from last night's storm

View from the hotel lounge in which I'm posting

 Belaying David on a 7b+ at Finestra

 Hiking up to Espedelles

 Hiking up to Espedelles

 A view of Espedelles

 A random guy climbing at Espedelles

 Sneaking in a lunch before hiking down (in front of a massive rain storm)

Trude inspecting our solution to a leaky tent situation... (which turned out to be a condensation distillery and no solution at all)

 A photo opp en route from Siurana to Margalef on the C242.

 Pulling into Margalef

Even the trees are overhanging.

 Walking through the "streets" of Margalef


 Potable water in town

 A view of (some of) Roco de Finestra

 A close-up of a mono

 Our strange camping arrangement

 Steve sprinting for the chains on a 7c

 Phil climbing into the sun on Bloc del Porc

 Trude warming up in the sun on Bloc del Porc

 Many abandoned buildings in Margalef



 Chairs enjoying the view