Tag Archives: rock climbing

Quirós by drone – a visual guide to the crag

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Set in a fantastic location, Quirós is unquestionably one of the best crags in the Roca Verde guidebook with a wealth of climbing across the grades on over twenty separate sectors. Historically important in the evolution of climbing in the Cordillera Cantábrica, its development goes back to the 60s and it is home to the first Asturian 8a. However, Quirós is not stuck in the past; it’s a vibrant, and very popular venue which is cared for by a dedicated crew of climbers including those from the refugio. Most of the sectors have been re-equipped with new bolts and chains and there has been plenty of new routing even in recent years.

Quirós is difficult to summarise due to the amount of climbing but several things stand out. Most prominent is the superb limestone, which, even after more than 40 years has hardly polished; then there is the variety, and although the climbing tends towards slabs or wall climbing, with fantastic examples of both, there are tufas, overhangs and even roofs! Add in a brilliant mix of multi-pitch and single pitch routes and the fact that a lot of the single pitches are of a good length and it’s easy to see why it’s a great destination.

Finally, Quirós is also very much an ‘everyman’ crag with the majority of the routes skewed towards the mid-grade climber as well as plenty for beginners and some superb, harder testpieces too.

Fraguel rock, a brilliant 6b on sector La Amarilla

Fraguel rock, a brilliant 6b on sector La Amarilla

Like Teverga many of the greatest Asturian climbers, as well as others, have left their mark at Quirós. Again the following list is probably not perfect but hopefully covers a lot of the main people: Eduardo Velasco, Francisco Blanco, Tino González, Claudio Sánchez, Javier López, Mariluz Santacruz, José Manuel Suarez, Nacho Orviz, Carlos Vásquez, José A Margolles, Plácido Suárez, José M Fernandez, Kike Oltra, Anselmo Menéndez, J Carreras, Jesús Martín, Roberto Magdalena.

Sports climbing at Muro Techo

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After heading up to the snow at the weekend, midweek was ripe for some sunny sports climbing and what better excuse to get out on the rock on a school day than two public holidays that convert into an epic ‘Puente’ long weekend.

So Wednesday saw us meeting up with friends at Muro Techo in Teverga. Parking for the crag is at Sobrevilla village, a 20 minute drive from Casa Quiros, and the walk in is a steady, mostly flat, 20 minutes. It’s one of the longer walk-ins in the area but hardly epic and also makes for a nice little warm up on cooler winter days.

Jairo on a great 7a at Muro Techo, Teverga

Jairo on a great 7a at Muro Techo, Teverga. Climbing under blue skies with snowy peaks in the. background

Our current guests, Tony and Sarah, are here for a three week stay and with their motto of ‘to rest is to rust’ they have been steadily ticking their way through the local crags whilst climbing pretty much every single day. No wonder I caught Sarah sneaking a power nap in the sunshine before cranking on!

Sarah dozes in the sunshine at the foot of the crag

Sarah dozes in the sunshine at the foot of the crag

Muro Techo has a ton of routes across the grades, with a lot of development still ongoing and continually expanding the options. (The Roca Verde guide has the most up-to-date topos.) It’s thus suitable for mixed-ability groups and is a very family-friendly spot with a large comfortable flat base and lots of trees and caves that little ones can enjoy exploring. (Once you wrest the tech out of their hands!)

In the pic below you can see our Jack in action at the end of the day on the lower section of the ‘Clásica de Muro Techo’ – a spicy little 6a pitch. And there’s Sarah in the background on the lovely, friction-laden 6b ‘El Costo de la Vida’.


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The other important fact that you need to know about Muro Techo is that not only does it catch all the afternoon sun going, it also stays dry in the rain. Whatever the weather there’s always somewhere great to climb in Los Valles del Oso!

Let it snow

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Early signs are that this year is going to be a good one for winter sports enthusiasts here in Asturias. Last week we had an early dump of snow up in the mountains and on the weekend we headed up to the mountain pass of Puerto Ventana to check it out.

Separating Teverga from León, Ventana has stunning views any day of the year but clothed in dazzling snow and clear blue skies it’s more spectacularly beautiful than ever. The road that winds up there is like a passage through Narnia, lined by snow-laden trees and white-carpeted fields.

The well-marked walking tracks that set off from Ventana to Quirós and León lend themselves brilliantly to snow-shoeing or cross-country skiing at this time of year and for the littler folk the slopes in the immediate surrounds of the parking are perfect for a little tobogganing.

At 1587 metres above sea level Puerto Ventana sits well above the snow line for most of the winter. The snow rarely dips much below the 1,000 metre mark in Asturias but access up to the high passes is quick and easy with good roads that are kept clear by efficient snow-ploughing.

Casa Quiros is at about 600m so you can often choose between sports climbing on sunny limestone or you can be at Alto La Cobertoria at over 1,000m in 20 minutes drive – another great spot for sledging, snow shoeing and cross country skiing. If you are more of a piste demon you also have 3 ski stations within one and a half hour’s drive of the house – Valgrande-Pajares, Fuentes de Invierno and San Isidro.

Whatever your winter bag and whatever the weather Asturias will have something to keep you active and entertained!

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Climbing with Children at Quirós

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Not every day’s climbing is about ‘sending the gnar’ (as some of our American friends like to say 😉 ). Sometimes just getting to the crag can be an achievement in itself. Take the other Saturday. I was here in Casa Quiros, car-less and partner-less, all set for an afternoon of house-bound pottering with our 6 year old son when I was messaged by some friends, a group of mums who climb. Turned out they were heading cragging here to Quirós. The perfect excuse to ditch the duster!

3 Mums climbing with their 4 kids - mission accomplished!

3 Mums climbing with their 4 kids – mission accomplished!

It was a beautiful afternoon so, even with an easily-tired six year old in tow, the walk from Casa Quiros to the base of the crag was a pure delight. We caught up with our friends halfway along the path – two brave mums with 3 small children. Brave because the first rule of doing anything with children (imho) is try and not let them outnumber you! This goes double for climbing but despite the odds being stacked against us we made it pretty painlessly to La Selva.

La Selva sector is a great spot for families and beginners with a wide, tree-shaded base at the foot of the climbing and a ton of easier routes, including some very fine slabs that go at between grade 4 and 5.  The perfect place for setting up camp for an afternoon.

Climbing in a three meant that there was always one mum with her hands free to supervise the four little ones, who ranged in age from 2 to 6. To be frank, this task would make sending sevens seem easy but sharing it between us and breaking it up with some 5 star routes helped preserve our sanity!

In fact we were all having such a good time that it wasn’t until twilight that we finally got ourselves packed up and headed back down. It’s a good thing the path is wide and easy! And so we arrived home with smiles on our faces and a real sense of achievement despite having no ‘gnar’ to report 🙂