Torozo

Overview

Torozo seen across Puerto del Pico

Torozo is the westernmost summit of the Macizo Oriental, the eastern part of Sierra de Gredos. It towers above Puerto del Pico, the road pass, which separates it from Macizo Central. Like all of Sierra de Gredos it is made up from beautiful granite, which makes it one of the main climbing attractions in the range. There are three summits, positioned in a triangle, the highest of which is Torozo North. The other two are Torozo South (also called El Torozo or Espolon de la Hora), and La Albujea (also La Pared de Alberjal), the south-west summit. The summits are connected by ridges with La Albujea separated by a saddle.

Again, like most of the summits on the Sierra de Gredos main ridge, El Torozo’s aspect is utterly different when viewed from the north or the south. While to the north, it sends out a steep slope, to the south massive walls of up to 400m height drop almost vertically into Valle de las Cinco Villas (valley of the five villages: Mombeltran, Santa Cruz del Valle, San Esteban, Villarejo and Cuevas del Valle). Both sides are popular, the northern one among hikers who reach Torozo Nord by a circular route, the southern one among climbers who can choose among the roughly 80 routes of up to 250m and difficulty up to 7c+. The granite is very compact and short access from Puerto del Pico adds to the popularity of the mountain in both respects. Also, many of the easier climbing routes can be seen as practice routes, ensuring that Torozo, together with the towers of Los Galayos is among the best known climbing locations of the Iberian Peninsula.

La Albujea, the south-western summit, is much more compact than its higher brethren. At its base, up to about half its height, it is nearly devoid of features like ledges or fissures. Therefore much of its climbing is friction based. The Torozo summits on the other hand offer a lot of chimneys, dihedrals and ledges, which facilitate climbing but impede orientation. Also, depending on usage and wear, they can be covered in dirt.

Although they form one massif, La Albujea, El Torozo and Torozo North are clearly separated by two big gullies, which lead to the south-west and south respectively and which offer access to the climbing routes. The first one divides La Albujea from Torozo North while the second separates Torozo North from El Torozo. On La Albujea the routes range from V+ to 7a+/7b, with the majority at 6b/6c. There is bolted protection which, however is scarce and old. On El Torozo the itineraries range between V and 7a+, with the fissure and dihedral routes between V+ and 6b. Protection is even more scarce but there are plentiful options to place your own equipment. Torozo North offers routes between V and 6c, with very little fixed protection.

Also, a herd of male Gredos Ibexes has chosen Torozo’s summit slopes as a home, offering great opportunities to the nature oriented photographer. The ibex (Capra pyrenaica victoriae) is protected all over Spain and the males won’t be bothered by human visitors. During kidding season, female ibexes are more nervous but they are still curious enough to check you out if you don’t perform any quick movements

Historical significance of Puerto del Pico

As mentioned above, the Torozo Massif towers above Purto del Pico. The pass has been an important trade route between the two Castillas (today Castile and León and Extramadura). Even in the time of Celts and Vettones (a pre-Roman people living in the area) it was known and used. During the time of the Roman conquest of the Iberian peninsula a road was built, the remains of which can be seen near the pass even today. After having undergone conservation, the Roman Road is in excellent shape between Cuevas del Valle in the south and Puerto del Pico up north.

While the original road was built for strategic reasons, to facilitate the conquest of the peninsula, later it became a trade route and was used for transhumance between the north and the meadows of Extramadura and Andalucia in the south. In consequence a vast network of paths and roads was established, offering easy access to the south while diminishing the confusion of large flocks mingling with each other. Even today – while transhumance appears a thing of the past – large flocks of livestock can sometimes be observed near Puerto del Pico.

Climbing Routes

As you can see from the tables below, there are a lot of climbing routes on the south pointing faces of Torozo. The routes have been compiled using the Desnivel publication (#1. under "Maps & Books") Here is a short summary:

• Average route length: 200mm
  
• Maximum route length: 380 m
  
• Number of Routes: approx. 80
  
• Routes up to V: 15
  
• Routes between V+ and 6c+: 70
  
• Routes above 7: 15
  
• Best time: Spring and autumn

El Torozo Routes

The routes onto the Torozo north and south summits are classical short granite routes in an alpine environment. They make use of dihedrals and fissures. There are five different sectors as listed below

Sector 1

Sector 2


Sector 3



Sector 4



Sector 5

La Albujea Climbing Routes

La Albujea, also called La pared de Alberjal, is the south-western of the three summits of Torozo. It is connected by short ridges to the other two summits. In its form it resembles La Pedriza, Europe's largest granite formation 42 km north-west of Madrid. The La Albujea routes are shorter and less frequented, mainly due to the antiquity of the bolts used for protection here. There are two climbing sectors on the tower.

Sector 1



Sector 2

Getting There

Torozo is very popular among hikers and climbers because it can very easily reached from the road pass Puerto del Pico (see History section above). From Madrid it can be reached by two routes, north and south.

Northern Access

• Take motorway A-6 north to Villacastin
  
• Switch to motorway A-51 to its end at Ávila
  
• Take N-110 for a few 100 metres until N-502 turns off left to Puerto del Pico

Southern Access

• From Madrid, take motorway A-5 until you reach Talavera de la Reina
  
• East of the town switch to N-502, which takes you north to Puerto del Pico

Red Tape

Torozo belongs to the small section of the Macizo Oriental, which belongs to Parque Regional de la Sierra de Gredos. Wild camping is not allowed in this area but there is a campground close by and two (shepherds) huts offer shelter in case of adverse weather.

Flora and Fauna are protected and special mention has to be made of the Gredos Ibexes (Capra pyrenaica victoriae), which graze in large flocks on and around the mountain. They were at the brink of extinction but their popupaltion rebounded after the first natural preserve was created near Laguna Grande in 1905. Today there are roughly 10000 specimen around, who all seem to know that they are protected and can't be bothered to take notice of any humans around.

Weather Conditions

Since there is a huge elevation gain of up to 1000m between the north and the south of the Sierra de Gredos Main Ridge, weather conditions on both sides are very different. In addition to the temperature differences created by this elevation difference, the mountains themselves serve as a barrier for the dry northern winds as well as the typical humid south-western winds. Therefore the north is far colder and dryer than the south. The following widgets give you the weather for the closest villages on both sides of the barrier.

Accommodation

In Sierra de Gredos you have all options for accommodation, from the Parador de Gredos, a hotel near Navarredonda de Gredos to private apartments, campgrounds and even shelters (shepherds huts). A Google search will give you a good number of options.

The closest campground is located in the south of Puerto del Pico, at Prados Abiertos, complete with apartments and fincas:
www.pradosabiertos.com/

There are two shelters on the slopes of Torozo. One is placed at approximately 1500 m, on the trail to Torozo from Puerto del Pico. The other one is located approximately at 1915 m, above Fuente de los Cervunales and below Collado del Risco (1935 m). Both are not too clean but good in bad weather situations. Especially since free camping is not allowed in the Parque Natural de la Sierra de Gredos.

Maps & Books

Maps

• Sierra de Gredos
  Mapa Y Guía Excursionista
  Editorial Alpina
  1:25000
  ISBN: 978-8480903097
  
• Parque Regional de la Sierra de Gredos
  Adrados Ediciones
  1 :135000 / 1 :25000
  ISBN : 978-8492236367

Books

1. La Sierra de Gredos
   ISBN: 8487746446
   Author: Gabriel Martín
   Date: 1994
   Editorial: Desnivel
   Language: Spanish
   
2. Crónicas de Gredos
   ISBN: 490000
   Author: Juan Andrés Feliú Suárez
   Language: Spanish
   
3. Cuadernos de Montaña
   ISBN: 8484600165
   Author: Eduardo Martínez de Pisón
   Date: 2000
   Editorial: Temas de Hoy
   Language: Spanish
   
4. Gredos. Guía de excursiones y ascensiones.
   ISBN: 8495368110
   Author: Carlos Frías
   Date: 2001
   Editorial: El senderista
   Language: Spanish
   
5. Guía de la Sierra de Gredos
   ISBN: 100001
   Author: M.A. Vidal
   Language: Spanish
   
6. Rutas para descubrir la Sierra de Gredos
   ISBN: 8481830747
   Author: Carlos Manuel Martín Jiménez
   Date: 2000
   Editorial: Ámbito Viejo
   Language: Spanish
   
7. Sierra de Gredos : guía de escalada
   ISBN: 978-8498292848
   Author: R. Lora
   Date: 2013
   Editorial: Desnivel
   Language: Spanish
   
8. Sierra de Gredos: Circo de Gredos – Valle del Tiétar – Valle del Jerte
   ISBN: 978-3-7633-4716-2 (Spanish)
   ISBN: 978-3763343812 (German)
   Author: B. Plikat
   Date: 2011
   Editorial: Rother
   

Appendix: Conversion of Climbing Grades

Images

View Torozo Image Gallery - 81 Images