El Viejo

Overview

Superb granit climb, may be the best in this wall. Put up by the real "boss" of these walls: Gabriel Martin along with Juan Carlos and Manuel Cardero during the fall of 2006.
Every single pitch is worth it, friction slabs perfectly bolted and clean crack climb will make a perfect day. All the belays are ready for rapelling.

Getting There

Once you are in "El Puerto el Pico" walk up to the restaurant and in its rear you'll find a good trail taking you to a shepherd's hut 15 minutes away. Don't continue straight, take the right branch of the trail right here and continue down towards the south, cross a small stream, continue the trail till you get to the bivy existing at the bottom of the Albujea (30 min). This is a good place to wear up the harness and the gear as well as to leave the backpack. What you see from here is the south-west face of the Torozo but the route is in the south-east so continue following the cairns 20 min more till you get to the route's base. See the map:

Descent

Downclimb the summit towards the west following cairns. Then turn to the north. If the summit slabs are wet choose rapelling from the bolts over here. If not, continue downclimbing to the north till the col between the Torozo and El Torozo Norte. Then turn to the west again going down a gully that gets you to the backpacks again

Route Description

You begin in the same place than the "Moby Dick" route and then continue in a right traverse. Follow the topo for more detail.

Essential Gear

18 quickdraws.
A set of cams and nuts.
Two 8.5 mm, 60m ropes
Personal rock climbing stuff

Weather

This is the weather forecast for the closest village, a thousand meters lower than the route base, so use this information wisely

Book of Topos

Some time ago, and still today, before Internet was the place to find "all the information", was normal in Spain to find the topos gathered by some local climber in a book left in a bar at a near-to-the-crag village.
Well, this group of walls have one of the best hand-written"topo books" I've ever seen. Everything about the climbs in this massif is in it. Made by Gabriel Martín the most active climber of Villarejo and El Torozo, you'll find it at the "Bar Oliver" located in the village San Esteban del Valle from where you can perfectly stare the granit of the mountains.

When arriving the bar just ask to the bartender for a beer and "El libro de vías" and enjoy both.

Images

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