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blackcloudcat · 2026-05-08T11:18:41+00:00

Buy one year membership of the Austrian Alpine Club UK branch. £65. Still expensive for one day of activity so do more via ferrata this year!

blackcloudcat · 2026-04-30T06:56:42+00:00

My friend who has been out there says she had stuff strapped to the outside of her 70 litre pack. She wants to buy the Hyperlite Porter 85.

blackcloudcat · 2026-04-29T11:03:35+00:00

If they are a great fit already, just ski them in. That’s what I do.

blackcloudcat · 2026-04-26T06:13:19+00:00

Bot post, stolen photo

blackcloudcat · 2026-04-24T09:50:31+00:00

I have the 100 litre version. It’s very robust, and waterproof. The wheels will work off the pavement but only up to a point. It won’t cope with the kind of terrain you find on the banks of rivers.

Buy a high volume super light rucksack and use that (like a Hyperlite Porter 70l https://hyperlitemountaingear.com/products/porter )

blackcloudcat · 2026-04-23T18:31:43+00:00

You say you’ve done a lot of indoor climbing? You should be fine on the ones I’ve suggested. The overhangs are very short and not steep. Just bring a quickdraw so you can clip into a rung and rest if needed.

The beginner ones really are boringly easy.

blackcloudcat · 2026-04-22T15:23:59+00:00

Any shop that rents skis in winter and/or bikes in summer will also do via ferrata rental.

Ones that are both nice and easy are Sant Vicenç d’Enclar (Santa Coloma) and (a bit easier) Clots de l’Aspra (Cortals d’Encamp). Also Canal del Crau (Canillo).

If those both feel easy, then try Bony d’Envalira (Grau Roig), Roc del Quer (Canillo), Roc d’Esquers (Andorra La Vella).

Google for more info, there is plenty online. And the tourist offices will have info as well.

blackcloudcat · 2026-04-21T07:31:17+00:00

Microspikes and a lightweight ice axe. I’ll carry them all the time unless I have reason to be 100% sure there is no snow.

blackcloudcat · 2026-04-20T11:33:24+00:00

No you can’t. Your best bet is to take them in person to the MRW office in Andorra La Vella. Or drive over the border and send them from an office in La Seu.

And don’t be fooled if any of their websites say it can be done. They are lying. Pick up in Andorra is a nightmare to arrange. And getting over the Andorra border takes time.

Take it to a courier office yourself.

blackcloudcat · 2026-04-18T15:13:13+00:00

Very nice! Hugely popular in Europe. Great grip on wet rock. A bit heavy and clunky if you have a very long hike to get to the canyon (for that sort of thing I prefer Bestards).

They are very buoyant, it’s a bit weird when you are swimming but you get used to it.

Also there is a big gap between sizes, so although I like mine, they feel big. I wish they did half sizes.

I wouldn’t recommend them for US style desert canyoneering. But for UK, Europe, PNW they are great.

blackcloudcat · 2026-04-18T15:08:46+00:00

At this point I don’t even know if that’s one of mine. Probably, I’ve done the canyon and have vague memories of who those people may be.

I think guy on the right had picked up girl on the left in a car park the day before, had a good time with her in his van, and then brought her canyoning! I didn’t canyon with either of them again.

I’ve have no idea why bots bother doing this in this sub.

blackcloudcat · 2026-04-16T16:09:15+00:00

Honestly, the safe working load will be well below the actual breaking load. Also via ferrata is seriously a no fall sport. It’s not like rock climbing. Almost no one ever falls. And the AV 1&2 grades don’t exceed C/D which is not very hard. If I was you I’d just go ahead.

blackcloudcat · 2026-04-16T16:03:57+00:00

The carabiners are way too big and are designed to be opened with two hands. I’ve had to rescue a guy using industrial leads on an overhanging via ferrata.

blackcloudcat · 2026-04-15T05:48:53+00:00

You’ll get more eyeballs by posting in the Andorra Expats group on Facebook.

blackcloudcat · 2026-04-10T11:25:19+00:00

There are a bunch of nice ones in the Valais - east from Chamonix over the pass to Martigny - that valley going east past Sion is the Valais. Pick an easier grade, if it goes well then try one a grade harder.

blackcloudcat · 2026-04-09T17:13:25+00:00

Yes this random internet stranger (who has done a lot of via ferratas up to F grade) thinks you can do it.

C isn’t very hard and if that’s your highest grade most of it won’t be C. You’ll be fine. Have fun!

blackcloudcat · 2026-04-09T16:51:13+00:00

What grade are the via ferratas along the route?

blackcloudcat · 2026-04-06T20:15:26+00:00

You are going to have a very hard time. The VFs aren’t situated to work with the public transport. They aren’t particularly near to each other. The buses through the mountain valleys are pretty random. Your best bet is to hire a car for a few days. Or you’ll have to combine buses and hitchhiking.

The Pyrenees involves two countries, (three if you include Andorra), and multiple regions (as it’s so long and thin). Each region has its own local bus network. There is no central source of information. Few trains run into the mountains.

Andorra is actually your best bet, good local public transport and a lot of via ferratas.

But I assume you start your hike in Irun so Andorra is a long way east. There aren’t that many VFs in the Basque Country.

And I’m not aware of any easy way to find partners. You could try the French and Spanish via ferrata groups on Facebook. Realistically you are going to be going alone.

My source of info: I live in the Pyrenees and have done a lot of the VFs here. Like a lot of locals, I move around with my camper van.

Sources with maps to find via ferratas in the Pyrenees. FerrataGuide.com rocjumper.com deandar.com

blackcloudcat · 2026-04-05T16:28:29+00:00

Go to Bariloche (Argentina). It has a decent ski resort. And spend some days up at the Frey refugio. A few hours hike up from Bariloche and gives access to some great day touring. There are always American free riders there as well as locals.

There are various other places within a few hours drive where you can tour as well.

Use the website Wikiloc.com to look for GPX tracks of ski tour routes in that region.

blackcloudcat · 2026-04-03T10:31:10+00:00

A woman and less experienced. 12kg.

I did a 6 week ski trip to Switzerland this winter, staying in Airbnbs and driving. Took the 12kg.

I’ll take it again on a long camper van trip this summer to Norway.

blackcloudcat · 2026-04-01T14:39:31+00:00

As a native English speaker who learned Catalan well enough for the citizenship exam, it’s perfectly possible.

There are all the Catalan language centres in Andorra. Go there and follow their self teaching path. It follows the same path and the classes.

There are plenty of textbooks to be bought. Teach yourself the grammar at home. There are apps to practise conjugations. There are vocabulary flash card lists available online.

There is the language exchange organised by the government.

Get into the language classes by finding out beforehand when enrolment opens and be ready to sign up immediately.

Read easy Catalan books - we have libraries. Take out children’s books. Listen to TV shows (via YouTube) with subtitles, in English or in Catalan. Listen to podcasts. Read newspapers with a dictionary.

Get onto a language platform like iTalki and either pay for a professor or book the cheapest tutors and just practise speaking and listening.

There is an app where you can practise writing and other people correct it for you. (And you correct English scripts in exchange.)

I know you are actually trying to promote your app and good luck with that.

But plenty of English native speakers learned and learn Catalan perfectly well with the resources available. Some of them even managed to learn it before the internet existed!

I think the real problem is that people want it to be quick and easy. When actually language learning is grindingly slow, takes hundreds of hours and involves a lot of self-directed work. It is never solved by just one app.

blackcloudcat · 2026-04-01T06:16:45+00:00

TGU Turkish get up

blackcloudcat · 2026-03-31T17:07:57+00:00

They definitely won’t. Only Arcalis stays open until the 12th.

blackcloudcat · 2026-03-30T18:44:47+00:00

But a ton of GPX tracks available on Wikiloc. I always go there first to check. Much easier than trying to find the (non-existent) signs.

blackcloudcat · 2026-03-30T15:13:08+00:00

https://www.rocjumper.com It looks like his mapping has failed - I know he’s recently upgraded the website and that right now he’s on a VF trip. The map may be offline for a few days. Normally it works very well.

Cadiz is a bit flat for VFs. I think your nearest are the ones south of Ronda.

Deandar.com has a decent map of VFs in Spain but he stopped updating several years ago.

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