Peña Cigal, south-west face (below the big corner, about 50 m right of Reencuentro) · Liébana (Peña Cigal) · Spain
Six pitches up the big characteristic corner of Peña Cigal, with a 50 m third pitch that steepens to a 6c+ finish (A0 on two bolts and a peg). The rest is sustained 6a to 6b on good rock. Stainless bolts and ringed belays throughout.
Climbing mode: Big type, screen kept awake, tick pitches as you go.
Highest point about 1300 m above sea level (estimate: terrain height at the mapped point).
6c+VIII-5.11c6 pitches · 200 mEasy to bail
Greim takes the spectacular corner that is the most obvious feature of this part of the Peña Cigal face. The first two pitches were climbed in traditional style long ago by the GREIM club of Potes; the equippers later bolted the whole line for sport climbing with stainless steel, with the first ascensionists' agreement. The 50 m corner pitch builds from 5c to a 6c+ overhanging finish, which you can aid on the bolts (a 2017 party called it 'not obligatory'); the other pitches are 6a to 6b. The last two pitches are shared with Quimera and La uña que mece la cuna.
The atlas doesn't show topos: they are the work of the people who bolt and document these routes. See the topo at Grupo de Montaña Altai – Peña Cigal topo (pared central), or in Peña Cigal: photo topo and route list (central wall).
| Pitch | Grade | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 6a+VII-5.10b | 30 m | A steep wall on good, slightly spaced holds (6a), a traverse left under an undercut crack with precise footwork, then an indistinct channel on good holds. Watch for loose stones in the grass and scattered blocks near the belay. |
| P2 | 6bVII5.10c | 20 m | Short and intense on excellent rock: a shallow corner (5c), a strong, delicate move right into a vertical crack climbed by bridging (6b), a balancy step onto a narrow ledge and a slab move (6b), then an easier corner. |
| P3 | 6c+VIII-5.11c | 50 m | The big corner. Reach it straight up and traverse right, then climb it on good holds, mostly on its edge, from 5c at the bottom to 6c+ where it overhangs at the top. The hard moves are on two bolts and a peg and go at A0. Exit right with a short slab traverse to the belay. |
| P4 | 6aVI+5.10a | 50 m | Broken ground up and right to a ledge below a corner (5a), joining Quimera's blue-bolted crack; the corner needs technical moves and some laybacking (6a), then a cracked spur to a short traverse right to the belay (5c). |
| P5 | 6aVI+5.10a | 30 m | Airy slab moves straight off the belay (6a) to cracks followed to the end of the pitch on excellent rock (5c to 6a). Small, semi-hanging belay. Shared with Quimera and La uña que mece la cuna. |
| P6 | 6aVI+5.10a | 20 m | A crack past two small trees (6a), then a slightly overhanging wall diagonally left (6a) and easy ground to the last belay. About 20 m of easy scrambling with loose stones leads on to the platforms below the south summit. |
Potes is the nearest town (shops, accommodation). From Potes take the CA-184 towards the Piedrasluengas pass as far as Pesaguero, then turn off to Caloca. From the south, cross the Piedrasluengas pass from Cervera de Pisuerga (CL-627, becoming the CA-184 in Cantabria) and turn left for Caloca just past the first houses of Pesaguero. Before Caloca, after a series of hairpins, pass the El Cigal apartments; at the next left-hand bend a dirt track leaves on the right. Park in the lay-by a few metres along it, or about 300 m further up.
About 30 minutes. Take the left-hand, rising track (the right branch goes to a livestock farm). After a few metres a faint path enters a small oak wood on the right and climbs round above the farm building, then continues through scrub and up a grassy slope to the foot of the face, meeting a better-marked path that leads to the base of the reddish spur. A July 2026 party found the wood path nearly abandoned, with brambles at its top end, and on the way back found the better line above the farm. Greim starts directly below its big corner, about 50 m right of Reencuentro. Three routes start here: Greim (left, stainless bolts), Quimera (three or four metres right, blue-painted bolts) and La uña que mece la cuna.
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Coordinates · crag
Point from camptocamp summit waypoint 1934281 (Peña Cigal); the routes are on the south-west face below this point
Contains the route point.
Points from published sources, not surveyed.
Coordinates: 43.05462, -4.56012 (crag)
Abseil in three on two 60 m ropes. La Garafa abseiled Greim's own line for the top two pitches and then Quimera's, which is more direct and avoids swinging about: R6 to R4 (50 m), R4 to Quimera's R2 (50 m), Quimera's R2 to the ground (55 m). The equippers also say Greim can be abseiled on its own ringed belays. Walking down the Vira is banned until 1 September.
Easy to bail
Abseiling is the normal descent and every belay has two ringed bolts, so you can retreat from any stance. The abseils are long (50 to 55 m), so two 60 m ropes are needed.
14 quickdraws and two 60 m ropes. Helmet.
South-west-facing limestone wall below a 1532 m summit, so it gets the afternoon sun. Parties report climbing it in March, July, September and October. The cracks are increasingly grassy and the vegetation is very slippery when wet (2026). Vultures circle the face throughout the day. A 2021 report on a neighbouring route (7paredes7jamadas) said the face had become little-climbed, which does not help maintenance and cleaning.
Forecast · next 7 days · 1300 m
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Model forecast for 1300 m. It cannot tell you whether the rock is dry. Data: Open-Meteo, CC BY 4.0.
Time plan · 6 pitches
Working out sunrise and sunset.
An estimate. Queues and route finding cost time, and shaded walls go dark before sunset. Local time (Central European time), flat horizon.
Sun on the wall · SW-facing
Working out the sunlit hours for this month.
Sun on the wallDaylight, wall in shade● Usual season
From the aspect alone; terrain is ignored. Local time, 15th of each month.
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr (usual season) | May (usual season) | Jun (usual season) | Jul (usual season) | Aug | Sep (usual season) | Oct (usual season) | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean daily high °C | 5 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 13 | 8 | 6 |
| Mean daily low °C | −2 | −2 | −0 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 1 | −1 |
| Rain days 1 mm or more | 13 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 13 |
● usual season. 1991-2020 averages at about 1316 m; rain is for a 10–25 km grid cell. Weather and climate data: Open-Meteo, CC BY 4.0.
No reports yet.
Spain · Liébana (Peña Cigal)
Sustained 5c to 6a climbing on grey limestone slabs, cracks and corners at the left end of the Peña Cigal wall, with short harder sections up to 6b. The hardest move is the first one off the ground. Bolted in stainless steel and abseiled from every belay.
6bVII5.10c6bVII5.10c5 pitches140 m
Spain · Liébana (Peña Cigal)
The hard neighbour of Greim: a perfect corner and a technical roof traverse (7a) on pitch 2, then a sustained, airy slab of 6b+ to 7a, before joining Greim for three pitches of 6a to 6b. The obligatory grade is 6b, so the 7a moves can be aided on the bolts.
7aVIII5.11d7aVIII5.11d6 pitches
Read the cautions
Spain · Liébana (Peña Cigal)
Long, sustained 6a pitches of slab, cracks and corners, then a technical 6c wall of small crimps on the third pitch, on the left side of the Peña Cigal wall. Stainless bolts and ringed belays throughout. Above the first pitch it is an autumn-only route because of nesting vultures.
6cVIII-5.11b6cVIII-5.11b4 pitches150 m
Read the cautions
Around 6c+ · about 6 pitches
Croatia · Paklenica
The line used for Paklenica's annual Big Wall Speed Climbing competition: steep, direct and on very rough rock that has stayed unpolished. A sustained 45 m 6c+ pitch on small holds is the crux, followed by sharp runnels, a big corner and three overhangs to finish. Fifteen minutes from the car.
6c+VIII-5.11c6c+VIII-5.11c6 pitches200 m
Croatia · Omiš
A 2024 line up the detached needle, nicknamed the Salami, on the south flank of Kula in the Cetina canyon behind Omiš. Five sustained pitches of 6b to 6c+ on excellent rock, split by a short walk across a ledge: crack-seamed slab, water grooves, an airy corner crack and steep technical wall climbing on the headwall. The obligatory grade is high.
6c+VIII-5.11c6c+VIII-5.11c6 pitches220 m
Read the cautions
Italy · Lecco & Valsassina
A short, steep sport multipitch on the Punta Centa, the grey limestone pillar of the Pizzo d'Erna above Lecco, climbing almost parallel to the Gamma 1 via ferrata with a big view over the town and lake. Technical slabs and walls get steadily harder, with the 6c+ and 6c pitches at the top, but the obligatory grade is only about 6a because the bolts are close. Expect a few friable holds and people on the ferrata beside you.
6c+VIII-5.11c6c+VIII-5.11c6 pitches150 m
Read the cautions
Spain · Costa Blanca (Peñón de Ifach)
The sport classic of the Peñón: a thin slab, a corner crack that steepens into an overhang, a pillar, then a wild exit from a big cave 200 m above the sea. Sustained at 6b with a 6c fifth pitch on polished slopers and a 6c+ last pitch whose crux can be pulled through on a bolt.
6c+VIII-5.11c6c+VIII-5.11c7 pitches220 m
Researched and aggregated by AI from published sources, last compiled October 2026. It can be wrong, and bolts, anchors and access change: check a current guidebook and read the disclaimer.