Ascents in Porto area

Must do!

A two star adventure all in all, so the rating is just for the climbing and the route itself, not considering the approach and descent, which can by themselves become epics, and almost did for us. Lost the cairns on the approach at some point in a thick brush, didn't want to waste any more time continuing the search and had to whack our way through, partly crawling along tunnels made by (probably) pigs. The climb itself went pretty well, the massive tafoni cave is the distinguishing feature of course. The line is not always 100% clear and there's lichen and a thin layer of moss in many places, but it's manageable. The crux pitches are a steeper tafoni section after the cave and a traverse, both of which have enough bolts. The pitch to the summit is an easy slab stroll, so we soloed it. After abseiling from that last pitch, don't miss the slit opening behind the huge boulder, you really need to crawl through it! There are a few cairns marking the first part of the descent from there, always traversing out a little, then finally through a narrow section onto the slab. From there, it's an easy, but exposed scramble down the slab, you have to trust your guts to find the easiest way. On our way down, we luckily found the cairn path and also realized where we lost it, so we marked that passage as good as we could (it's also not entirely obvious because you need to go down towards a deep ravine, then turn sharp right after a few meters).

Beautifully situated south of the Bussaglia beach, this fully bolted route is a nice afternoon (or, if it's too hot to climb in the sun, morning) adventure. The most adventurous part, actually, is the abseil, since it's often diagonally to the left, with a few bolts because it's overhanging, too. I think the way down took us almost as long as the climb itself. Pitch 1 is nothing spectacular, you might want to skip it if you're short on time or there's seepage (also saves you one abseil). Pitch 2 is already starting to get interesting, going up a blank wall right next to a dihedral. Afterwards, you're getting into the orange, steeper part of the wall, always following the line of bolts, roughly heading left towards the arête above a dihedral that marks the crux pitch. The latter is a little more athletic than the rest of the route, but the difficulties are over after a few meters, ending with a massive jug which invites you to cut your feet and hang a hundred meters above the sea. From there, the route follows the arête, sometimes stepping out into quite awesome, exposed positions. Great route overall, evening light makes for a brilliant mood.

The upper part has two parallel cracks, a hand crack and a finger crack. It's probably meant to be climbed like hugging a fridge, or at least using both cracks, but I wanted to try just using the cracks. Left one first (hands are easier).

Right-hand crack this time. Good fingerlocks, nothing too painful. Used a few footholds on the sides, though.

Interesting line and a fun slab problem at the end of the big flake, with memorable moves. In my opinion the best of all the routes here.