How the Cavall was won

The Cavall Bernat is the reference monolith in Montserrat and one of the key landmarks of Catalunya. This rock causes jaws to drop, and every person with a climbing fiber in his/her body will dream of reaching the summit at least once. This tower is so striking and so entirely impossible to ignore, it is noticed and remembered by every person who makes the trip to Montserrat. “Look at that rock tower!” we all say the first time we look up. For climbers, the first glimpse of the Cavall

gives the fever – the kind that causes passionate discussions and sleepless nights. Tell a traveling climber he has a ticket for an ascent and all his plans, his money and his need for rest will be shoved aside: he’ll be ready to go at 6 a.m.

Even if today this awesome stone arrow if often stormed by a dozen people over a single week end, reaching its summit was once considered by many to be an impossible and foolish project. To climbers, it was one of the main trophies in the country, a captivating objective for many local strongmen. And to them, reaching the summit, this small rocky area with giant cliffs all around must have taken an enormous amount of courage: they had to climb well and with an equipment that would not help much in case things went wrong. But most difficult of all, they had to overcome the psychological barrier caused by a thousand people claiming this climb was madness.

On October 27^th 1935, El Cavall Bernat, Catalunya's monolith of legends was conquered by Josep Costa, Carles Balaguer and Josep Boix. Although fellow climbers witnessed the team reaching the summit from afar, many doubted the feat, in particular in the general population. Even for experienced alpinists an ascent of this difficulty and exposure was a bold step forward - a logical one maybe, but outrageously gusty. As for many of the non-climbers, it had to be a hoax.

Josep Costa put an end to the disbelieving tongues by repeating the ascent in solo the following year, this time inviting whoever was interested to see the feat in person. Journalists were also conveyed, and Radio Barcelona even fetched a small plane to have the climb witnessed and commented from above. The Cavall Bernat had been conquered, not only physically, but also in the public mind, and by a team of local climbers.

This was the last great climbing feat before the start of the Spanish Civil War. After Costa's repetition, the summit of the Cavall would not be reached again for four year and by then, Spain was under dictatorship.

TV3 has done a great short documentary on the Cavall Bernat, with a recreation of the first ascent, featuring the gears of the day. The recreated climb begins at 5:10

Climbing the Cavall Bernat

In total, the tower has 13 well-established routes, most of them on quite good rock, fun and exposed. Most of the original lines have been re-equipped with parabolts, but the initial placements were generally preserved.

The "Normal" is an obvious choice for a first ascent because of its low grade and small length (80m/5). It starts with a traverse and then goes up a dihedral, which gets steeper on the last moves. This is a nice line, opened in the alpine style of the days. However some of the holds are quite polished from repeated ascents and can be a bit slippery. Also, it is oriented towards the mountain and therefore is much less exposed that the other routes.

The Punsola-Reniu (220m/6c+/5 minimum) and the Gran Il.lusió (235m/7a+/6a+ min) are both on the valley side of the mountain and provide the full effect of the tower. They are often cited as the Cavall Bernat’s “basic” routes and are highly recommended.

La Valentín Casanovas – an unforgettable route on the Aeri

It is a feature of all multi-pitch routes, and perhaps even more of conglomerate rock that, seen from afar, the wall appears featureless, impossible to climb and impossible to protect. Looking up from the Refugio de Santa Cecília at la Paret de l’Aeri, the first thought that useally occurs is: how could anyone possibly climb this! With its 300 meters of compact rock and broad, almost square shape, the wall looks featureless and vertical, without even the slightest garbanzo to hold on to.

High up on this wall, following a fain dihedral and a long vertical slab, starts an elegant crack that eventually faints near the top. Most likely, this is what climbers wanted to reach when they first launched for what became the Valentín Casanovas. This was golden inspiration: these two pitches of laid back climbing are now established at some of the most fantastic and aerial stretches of climbing in the entire range.


The stats for Valentín Casanovas are:

• 290 meters
• Average ascent time: 8h
• 8 pitches
• 7c (6a obligatory)
• First ascension: 1976 Antonio Picazo and José Rodriguez
• Equipment: varied, with sections of parabolts, protectable cracks, PVC pipes and nylon block chokes (not kidding, and they’re good!), sections of bad/rusty buriles
  
• Gear: a normal rack with a couple of #3 and #4 cams and etriers
• Rock: mostly good quality, compact conglomerate
  

When it was opened and for some years following, the Valentín Casanovas was one of Montserrat’s respected test pieces, and it remains a reference for the type of climbing made possible when modern equipment became available in the 70’s.

Antonio Picazo, who opened the route with José Rodríguez Soria in 1976, when they were both 19 years old, provides fascinating anecdotes about the route in his book Ascenciones de Leyenda:

Valentín Casanovas was opened in the most innocent style possible, with limited idea about how difficult it could be, and will little else than homemade pitons and wood chokes. They were able to reach the summit after only 4 weeks of assault, at a time when walls of this type would take months or even years conquer. Upon reaching the large flake, 2 thirds up the wall and after one of the most difficult segments, Rodriguez, who was opening then, progressed some 7 meters up the crack and was able to set a few pros before his rope ran out. This was a poor spot to set up the belay: the crack is a 20cm off-width, awkward to climb and impossible to protect with the gear he had. Rodriguez, exhausted and unable to find a decent resting position, took a look inside the crack and saw that a few rocks were wedged randomly within. Out of desperation, he took off his gear-holding sling and tossed all his material as far as he could inside the crack. He pulled on it softly…and it seemed to hold! Very slowly he begun to put more weight on the sling and nothing budged. This is how the 5 belay station was first set up.

Valentín Casanovas is a direct ascent, drawing almost a straight line, up some of the most vertical section of the Paret de L'Aeri. Even if this is a very engaged climb, it is not the hardest line of this area and as such, it is accessible to common mortals – meaning a 7a level should do it. However, the route impresses by its length, its continuity, and its ample variety of climbing and protection styles: thin and footsy moves, dihedral, laybacks, roofs, handjams, awful chimneying… It is truly a test of nerves and endurance and a very rewarding one.

My friend Julia made a great blog entry about our climb here.

The route starts with a stretch of well-protected 6c+ on thin crimpers, and turns into a dihedral with a fun roof at 6b+. After this come 3 pitches of very vertical slab, with some sections of 7c. This should be done in A0, although the bolts are quite old and rusty, and one of them is broken (at a 6b section). Following this come the “bavaresa”, the aforementioned flake. It starts as a mini dihedral and progressively opens into an off-width demanding at times strenuous layback and number 4 cams. Finally the route leads to a large roof crossed diagonally by a strange chimney. Doing the worm-dance in a bat-poop filled v-shaped chimney with you’re body hanging halfway out and 280 meters of void below, after 7 pitches of hard climbing is and experience hard to put into words.

The bibliography for this post can be accessed here.

Montserrat: a brief history

Just 50km North of Barcelona lays La Muntanya de Montserrat one of the most striking rock formations of all Catalunya. A spur of 10km by 5 km, this relatively small range amazes by its brusk 1000-meter rise, in steps of breathtaking vertical cliffs and strangely shaped rock towers. It is often said that all of the Catalan territory can be seen from El Mirador de San Jeroni, Montserrat’s 1236 meters culminant point, as well as the Baleares, the Pyrenees, Aragon and Valencia.

Perhaps the most recognizable feature of Montserrat is the Cavall Bernat, a fantastic rock needle dominating the view from below.

The Montserrat massif is composed of very dense conglomerate rock, created from an accumulation of river sediments that occurred some 38 million years ago. This material remained underwater for millions of years, where it acquired its high density, before being raised above the waters by tectonic forces and eroded into its present shapes.

Montserrat plays a very important part in the Catalan folklore and its toponomy has many links to the local history. Any visitor will quickly understand the reasons for this: the mountain has something eerie and mysterious to it that strikes the imagination and gives an aura of supernatural. This is particularly true in foggy weather, when rock towers are veiled and revealed as if the rock was in motion.

The story of human interaction with Montserrat goes back several hundred years. The principal legend attached to the area is La Virgen de Montserrat, also called La Moreneta, the patron saint of Catalunya. According to the story, in 880, a light led young herdsmen into a cave where they found a statue of a dark Virgin Mary. The local bishop tried to bring the statue to the nearby city of Manresa, but its weight was so great that they were not able to do it. The bishop interpreted this as a divine sign and gave orders for the construction of the hermitage of Santa Maria, which later became the Monastery of Montserrat.

Today, Montserrat is a classic outing for Catalans and foreign visitors. The Monastery attracts many, for spiritual reasons or just for the sights, and easy access by rack train, cable car, bus or car causes the place and its immediate surroundings to become very busy on sunny Sundays. Even if this activity can be somewhat of a burden, it is not difficult to find great, secluded areas in Monsterrat at any time of the year. There are many entry points to the massif, most of which are less crowded, and usually visited by the outdoor-oriented only. In particular, there is a lifetime of excellent quality climbing to be done on these conglomerate cliffs, which will be the theme of many upcoming posts.