Climbing in Riglos: the great towers of Aragón
The Mallos de Riglos are unlike anywhere else you have climbed. A row of red conglomerate towers, up to around 300 metres tall, rising straight out of a village of a few dozen houses in the Pyrenean foothills. The holds are rounded pebbles and cobbles cemented into the wall, from pebble-size to bigger than your head, and the climbing is steep, physical and wildly exposed. Griffon vultures nest on the walls and circle past you on the upper pitches.
What the climbing is like
Riglos is multi-pitch territory. The modern classics are bolted, steep and pumpy, long sustained pitches on huge jugs where the difficulty is managing the exposure and saving your arms rather than tiny holds. The older classic routes mix bolts with traditional gear and demand more mountain sense. Either way, this is not a place for your first multi-pitch: you want solid rope management, efficient changeovers and a cool head for air under your feet.
Where to start
The Aguja Roja is the traditional first date with Riglos: introductory bolted routes of around 100 metres, like the Normal (100 m, IV+) or Edil (110 m, V), that let you get a feel for the strange conglomerate before committing to the big towers. From there the famous walls await: El Pisón, El Puro, El Fire and La Visera, home of legendary steep routes that draw climbers from all over the world.
When to go
Spring, autumn and winter are the seasons. The area claims around 300 sunny days a year, and the south-facing walls make cold clear days ideal. Summer on these faces is brutal. Keep an eye on route length versus daylight: the big lines are serious outings and slow parties get benighted here every year.
Contact the local professionals directly.
Getting there
Riglos sits about 45 minutes northwest of Huesca and around an hour and 20 minutes from Zaragoza, whose airport has connections through Madrid and Barcelona. The village is tiny and the walls start at its last house: the approach is one of the shortest in big-wall climbing.
Ask about upcoming courses and guided days with certified guides.
Climb Riglos with a certified guide
If the towers call to you but the exposure, the gear or the route-finding give you pause, this is exactly the kind of place where a certified local guide changes everything. You climb the tower, the guide manages the rest: route choice for your level, belays, timing and descent. Confident seconds with basic multi-pitch experience can reach summits here that would otherwise be years away.
Tell us your level and dates, and climb a Riglos tower with a local guide
Useful links
- Climbing guides in Riglos (profiles in Spanish, several guides speak English)
- More climbing destinations in Spain