The Serrat d'En Muntaner is a very pretty sector on the south face of Montserrat, just before Vinya Nova, above the Clot de la Monica. It's easy to get to, not very busy and well exposed, making it a great place to combine great routes with top-quality sport climbs. The Orgull Mapuche follows a very vertical route and crosses slightly above the Divorci Imminent vein, which crosses diagonally to the right. The equipment is excellent. The route is worth the detour mainly for its intense, continuous 2nd pitch and a dihedral climb on brilliant rock (6b). The 1st pitch isn't too interesting apart from completing the whole route, and the last isn't too bad with a nice 6a pitch. On the other hand, don't continue towards the summit, because even if some topos include a 4th pitch in II (!), the terrain is broken up and there's no point. We'd be better off doing 1 abseil down to the ridge at R1, where, if our arms are still strong, we'll be able to do some sporty stuff to round off the day.
2ème longueur en 6b
Technical summary
Access to the place
From Barcelona, drive to Collbato and climb through the village to join the track leading to Vinya Nova. After a few hairpin bends and before you reach the restaurant, there's a straight stretch of esplanade under the trees where you can park on the left. This is the Clot de la Monica and you're right in front of the Serrat d'En Muntaner and its huge neighbor, the Pastereta (with a big, long nose...).
Itinerary description
Hiking to the start 20'
Take the well-marked path leading up the mountain from the parking lot. After a few hundred metres, continue straight ahead on a tiny blue-marked path. It twists and turns upwards, and you soon come to the Serrat in question, with that big rock in front of it: el Frare Baix. Turn left onto one of the paths leading to the foot of Frare Baix. You then pass the start of the route, more or less in line with the crack above marking the 2nd pitch. You can easily see the first 2 plates.
Course
The east-facing route is 85m long in 3 pitches (35m, 30m, 20m). Provide 14 quickdraws.
L1 (35m , V)
Little equipment for this first pitch. The start is fine, all grip with 2 pads, then higher up a protected step over a large rock. The rest is almost a walk through the shrubs to reach the ledge below the wall where the R1 belay is located.
L2 (30m, 6b)
This is obviously the main dish of the route. It starts off very strongly with a series of steps in 6b then 6a. It's athletic, sustained, in opposition to a not-so-big crack, but there's plenty to climb. Alternating between left-hand plate climbing, dihedral climbing and opposition climbing in the crack, it's really interesting. Don't forget to save your energy, as the rest of the climb is sustained. After a less tense passage in the crack (V+), we start again to finish the pitch to the right on a very fine plate and without a single nail for the last 6 or 7 meters...! in short, we've left some juice behind, but it's a very nice pitch.
L3 (20m,6a )
The pitch is just off the R2 belay. There's a small overhang to overcome with a good reverse to the left to bring the feet up and reach a nice right-hand tub above. A nice step, then the rest is easier up to belay R3, the route's finale (leave it above, it's all rotten!).
Back
From R3, abseil directly to R1 on the ledge (45m). Then turn right (looking at the wall) to find a path in rather poor condition which descends as best it can, eventually joining the main approach path.
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