Spain: Hills White with Snow
This is an account of expeditions to two snow-white hills. Mulhacén and Monte Perdido are at the two ends of Spain. The Mulhacén is in the south, in the Sierra Nevada near Granada and is the highest mountain in the Iberian Peninsula. We climbed it, and the adjacent Alcazaba, in 1981.
Monte Perdido is in the north and is the third-highest mountain in the Pyrenees. We got there from Barcelona and climbed it six years later, in 1987. We went by bus and bivouacked or camped on both trips. We were hard-up then, and we stayed with friends in Granada and Barcelona.
carrying packs with camping gear. Both mountains were climbed in winter, when there was much more snow than there is nowadays. We were lucky with the weather on both trips and it was sunny and warm except on the north faces.
Monte Perdido, Pyrenees
On Monte Perdido, the snow was deep enough to kick good steps, so we climbed without a rope, using single axes and crampons. ‘La Escupidera’, the Spittoon, is a notorious, steep scree slope directly below the summit and is the site of numerous fatal accidents, particularly in winter when covered in hard snow or ice. A slip here can lead to a long, unstoppable slide over cliffs. Since we were on our own, and there was no one around, we took care not to have an accident.
Mulhacén, Sierra Nevada
Both climbs are relatively easy, and we didn’t find them difficult. On the Mulhacén, in the Sierra Nevada, we each used a short axe and hammer-axe and climbed roped up. The rope gave Scharlie confidence because the pitches were very icy. On some stances, we were able to get good anchors using ‘dead-man’ aluminium plates. On others, we had to avoid falling off.
The Alpujarras
After climbing the Mulhacén, we spent a cold night in the shelter next to the deserted summit refuge. Descending into the Alpujarras, we followed in the footsteps of Gerald Brenan (South from Granada) and walked from Trevlez to Yegen, finding places to stay in people’s homes.
Published 29 Jan 2024, 80 pages, ISBN 9781912460663
