This week we publish the second volume of “Galicia, climbing paradise”. In this case we will focus on Ourense and Lugo, the two most mountainous provinces of Galicia.
In the Tierras del Miño Biosphere Reserve we find O Veral, in Carballido (Lugo).
Just 15 minutes away from Lugo city, this climbing area has beautiful gray granite walls. It has about 20 tracks and the average height is 10 meters. You can also find a variety of plates, some more inclined and others more vertical raising the degree of difficulty. This small climbing school was once a quarry that, after years of abandonment, was conditioned for the enjoyment of intrepid climbers.
In Foz, also in the province of Lugo, rises Pico da Frouxeira. With 427 meters of altitude this area is formed by adhesion plates, strips and fissures. The tracks have between 12 and 30 meters of granite of large crystals.
In the surroundings, you can find the remains of Castelo de A Frouxeira, a fortress that belonged to Marshal Pardo de Cela. This rocky platform has visual control over the lands of Foz and the northeast coast, Alfoz, and Valadouro in the western sector, and the productive and green valley of San Martiño de Mondoñedo at its feet.
Through the Sierra de O Courel, we arrive at Visuña, in the municipality of Folgoso do Courel.
This school has 38 tracks with an average height of 15 meters. In general, all consist of short roads on collapse and good edge. And instead of granite, abundant in Galicia, climbing is done on limestone. You can also enjoy places around Visuña such as the village of Seara and of course the landscapes of the Natural Park of O Courel.
And we enter the province of Ourense. Our first stop will be in Covas, a small village of Rubíá.
This school is located in the Natural Park of the Serra da Enciña da Lastra, so climbing is prohibited in some areas, and regulated in others. Thus, you will need to request permission a few days in advance to practice your favorite sport.
You will have to fill in this form, present it in an official register and send the copy presented to servizo.conservacion.natureza.ourense@xunta.es.
We are facing one of the few limestone sectors in Galicia, with a very high quality of tracks, around 20 meters high.
And we continue through Ourense. This time we go to the school of the Canyons of Sil, in Os Peares. Considered the natural starting point of the Ribeira Sacra, here the two great Galician rivers, the Miño and the Sil, converge next to the Búbal River.
You can use your climbing shoes along 100 routes divided into 8 sectors of gray and orange granite, generally with an edge. With a very good kit you will find walls ranging from 10 to 40 meters high.
This area is also specially protected so you must follow the same steps explained in the previous paragraph, but filling in the following form.
