Pared de la Tubería, Baños de Panticosa · Aragonese Pyrenees (Tena & Canfranc valleys) · Spain
Read the cautionsBail with caveatsBolting confidence: high
High-mountain granite slabs and dihedrals above the Panticosa spa. Three 6a cruxes mix friction slab with a short flaky roof on pitch 7.
Fully bolted, but the pitch 4 chimney belay has been dismantled, forcing a 40–50 m pitch with heavy drag, and snow can block both descents early in the season.
The route
A nine-pitch, 300 m bolted route on the granite wall crossed by the hydroelectric pipe above Baños de Panticosa, starting at about 1,950 m. Easy slabs and steps lead to three 6a pitches: a thin vertical slab followed by a bulging corner and a chimney on pitch 4, a steepening slab on pitch 6 and a slightly overhanging roof of solid flakes on pitch 7. The 6a sections are short and closely bolted, and the rest is grade 5 or below. The main complication is that the original belay in the chimney on pitch 4 has been dismantled, which makes that pitch long and awkward. It stays in shade until around midday, so it suits hot summer days.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Length | Bolts | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 4b | 40 m | 6 bolts | From the starting slab follow a corner rising rightwards, then return to the slab before the belay. 6 bolts and 2 threads. A 2025 party did not find this belay. |
| P2 | 3b | 35 m | 2 bolts | Leave the belay leftwards and head for a big pine with a sling, below a slab with a bolt; the belay is on a wall to the right above it and is easy to miss. 2 bolts and 1 thread. |
| P3 | 5a | 40 m | 10 bolts | Straight up a series of steps (3c) to a first wall and a ledge, then a bulging slab (5a) to the belay. This belay has no abseil ring. |
| P4 | 6a | 40 m | 9 bolts | A thin vertical slab (5b, then 6a, very well protected) up to where it abuts the wall. On the left a corner gives access to a bulging slab with a good crack on the right, which some find harder than the slab. This leads into a chimney. The original belay inside the chimney no longer exists, so continue up the chimney to the belay at its exit. To here the pitch is 40 m at least, about 50 m by one account, with heavy rope drag. 9–13 bolts and 2 threads depending on the source. |
| P5 | 4c | 35 m | 8 bolts | A fractured, blocky zone trending right, leaving a dead pine on the right, then back left up a slab to the belay. Use long quickdraws. 8 bolts and 1 thread. |
| P6 | 6a | 40 m | 12 bolts | Step onto a ledge above the belay and go slightly right. Climb a slab split in two by a step, which steepens gradually (4c, 5b, then a thin 6a section in the middle) to a ledge. |
| P7 | 6a | 30 m | 14 bolts | Straight up to a distinctive rock spike with two slings, then a right-rising corner to an area of slabs. Traverse right and pull through a slightly overhanging roof of solid flakes (6a, physical) to the belay directly above. 14 bolts and 1 thread. This pitch was wet when the rest was dry in one report. |
| P8 | 5a | 20 m | 4 bolts | Leave the belay on the left in an exposed position, traverse 3 m, then climb an ill-defined corner that lies back onto the final grass. |
| P9 | 2 | 40 m | 3 bolts | Easy rock steps between the grass to a hump with a terrace. One party could not find the final belay and used a block; another belayed on a pine. |
Getting there
Base is Baños de Panticosa (Balneario de Panticosa, about 1,665 m) at the head of the Tena valley. Park there and start from the Casa de Piedra refuge. Camptocamp lists no public transport service to the Baños.
About 1 h (reports range from 40 min to 1 h 30). Leave Casa de Piedra on the Bachimaña path. After the viewpoint cross to the left bank of the Río Caldarés and take the GR11 path towards the Labaza and Bozuelo lakes (Brazato direction). Shortly afterwards turn left onto a well-marked path that leads to the Lumiacha pool. You pass the pipe twice; once it is behind you and on your right, and after a slight descent, you reach a zone of blocks. Take a faint, damp path on the right (cairn) that climbs rightwards through big boulders for about 5 min to a grassy shoulder, from where you see the starting slab. A small orange banner, now faded to white, on the first bolt carries the route name. The route Pa ti es la vía starts to the left, at the lowest point of the wall.
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
GPS line: one party's recorded GPS track of the whole day, including the climb and the descent. One party's recorded day in October 2018: walk-in from Casa de Piedra via the Brazato path and the Lumiacha pool (39 minutes), the climb, and the descent by the Brazato lake path back to the Baños. Do not follow it blindly.
GPS line: janic · CC BY-NC-ND 3.0Parking
Baños de Panticosa (camptocamp access point)
Point from camptocamp waypoint 1133950
Contains the route point, parking and a GPS line. Opens in most mapping apps and GPS watches.
Points are compiled from published sources, with the precision stated above. They were not surveyed on the ground: check them against a current topo.
Coordinates: 42.76807, -0.22492 (crag) · Parking: 42.75957, -0.23461
Getting down
Walk off. Option 1 (camptocamp, 1 h 20): from the top take the path NNW, as if heading for the Bachimaña refuge, which you can see clearly, then return by the Lumiacha pool path; it is 15–20 min from the top to the junction with the path from Lumiacha. Do not take the longer path towards Labaza. Option 2 (several parties, about 1 h): go right from the top, away from the refuge, and follow the pipe for about 25 min through two tunnels to join the path (GR11 from Brazato) that drops to the car park in a further 35 min. Abseiling the route is possible only as an emergency: camptocamp says the belays have rings except the third, and the original fourth belay is gone.
Retreat
Bail with caveats
Yes, but treat it as an emergency option. Camptocamp says the belays have abseil rings except the third, and escapes are noted at the second and fifth belays. One party abseiled the whole route in April 2023 when snow blocked the walk-off. The original belay in the pitch 4 chimney has been dismantled, so that pitch is a 40 to 50 m abseil.
Partly inferred from the route facts
Safety
Sun and weather
West to south-west facing granite between about 1,950 m and 2,200 m. In shade until 12:00–13:00 in summer, which makes it a good hot-weather route; in late September the sun only arrived at the fifth belay and it was cold. Trip reports run from late June to early October. If it rained the day before, the delicate moves are likely to be wet. Early in the season snow blocks both walk-offs. Popular, with queues reported.
Sun on the wall · SW-facing
Working out the sunlit hours for this month.
Sun on the wallDaylight, wall in shade● Usual season
Estimated from the wall's aspect only. Ignores surrounding terrain, gullies and the wall's exact shape. Clock times are local to the wall (Central European time), for the 15th of each month.
Climate figures for Aragonese Pyrenees (Tena & Canfranc valleys) are not available yet
What to carry
15 quickdraws including some long ones, plus two extra if you run pitch 4 through to the chimney exit. Camptocamp lists a 50 m rope, but with the chimney belay gone a 60 m rope is the safer choice. Helmet. One party added a cam and a sling in the chimney on pitch 4 to avoid a slide back into it; this is optional.
Derived from the route data; check it against a current topo
From climbers
Reader reports are not being collected yet. Until they are, check a current topo and the local club or guidebook publisher for recent changes to Roca por un Tubo.
Worth knowing
Open questions
Provenance
Same area
Spain · Aragonese Pyrenees (Tena & Canfranc valleys)
Varied, sustained limestone of chimneys, dihedrals and compact fluted slabs high above the Tena valley. Bearded-vulture nesting closes the face from 1 Dec to 31 Jul unless lifted early, so check montanaregulada.org.
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Read the cautions
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A mountain-style line on dark, weathered granite twenty-five minutes above the spa of Baños de Panticosa. It links ramps, a short overhanging break, slabs and a rounded boulder, with one well-bolted 5c move and the rest 4b to 5b. The rock between the good sections is earthy and lichenous, but the friction is excellent and the bolting generous.
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Austria · Karwendel (Innsbruck Nordkette)
A plaisir line straight above Innsbruck, reached by cable car. Two pitches are UIAA 6-/6 (5+/A0) and the rest is mostly grade 4–5. The upper pitches are grassy, so avoid it when wet.
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Compiled from published sources and last verified October 2026. Bolts, anchors and access change. Climbing is dangerous and you are responsible for your own decisions: check a current topo and read the disclaimer.