Cadí, Serra del

Overview

"The little Catalan Rockies" This mountain range is more than 20 km in length and its two very different North and South faces separate two different types of landscape also. The South face is a long smooth slope where the snow melts quickly, but the North face is a steep wall of rock and couloirs where you can find snow six months per year. There are many peaks in this range but no one is clearly defined, because all the mountain is like a wide ridge above 2400 meters. The highest peak is called Vulturó and it is 2658 meters high, situated more o less in the middle of the mountain range. Cadí North face is more interesting, in Summer there are a lot of rock climbs in a magnificent mountain atmosphere. Even more interesting is in Winter where you can find almost one hundred ways to climb the face, couloirs of different difficulty make it a very frequented site. If you want only to walk then you must go by the South, where it is very easy to walk all the range by the wide ridge.

Getting There

The North face is approachable from the general road N-260 from la Seu d'Urgell to Puigcerda. There a lot of crossroads that take you to beatiful towns near the mountain: El Quer Foradat, Estana, Ansovell ... To go to the South face you must go to Gosol, Saldes, Baga ... which are accesible by the road that goes from Barcelona to the Pyrennees.

Red Tape

No permits required. But you must take into account that the area is a Natural Park (Parc Natural del Cadí-Moixeró) so there is a strict protection of the flora and fauna. You can acces by car till the last towns where usually you will find a barrier to go further.

When To Climb

All year round is possible to climb the mountain. Usually the North face has snow from the end of november till the end of May. The snow in the South face normally melts quickly.

Camping

Free camping is not allowed in the Natural Park Area but there are lots of facilities in the towns near the mountain, public campings, hotels ... There is a refuge in the oriental part of the mountain: Ref. Cesar August Torras in Prat d'Aguiló (2037 m.), you can find information in www.feec.org. It is very interesting to go to Cal Basté in Estana, where a lot of people write in a book what they have done in the mountain and the conditions.

Mountain Conditions

In winter the north face is a prone avalanche zone, so you must know the danger of avalanche, available in www.icc.es/allaus/home.html.

Books about Cadí

Escalades al Parc Natural del Cadí. Jaume Matas. Editorial sRoc. 1988. A very interesting book about climbing in the area, includes rock and ice climbs and detailed descriptions and graphics of the routes.