The Picos de Europa is a group of three limestone massifs in the Cordellira Cantabrica, which follows the Spanish north coast, about 30km inland. The Central Massif, where I climbed, lies in the south-east corner of the province of Astoria. The limestone package is severely deformed, with the bedding often nearly vertical, producing a total thickness of nearly 2000 feet in places!

I flew from Johannesburg International Airport on 25 July, on British Airways, the cheapest option after TAP (which were completely booked up!) landing at Heathrow, connecting to Madrid. Chatting to the pilots, I learned that a better option would be to fly from London to Bilbao, situated on the Spanish north coast, 200km east of the Picos; BA has a daily service on this route. (In comparison, Madrid is 400km south of Oviedo, the provincial capital, which in turn is 100km west of the Picos.)

Stepping off the plane at Madrid, the 34-degree Celsius heat was quite a shock. With no hassles at customs or the ForEx desk, I wandered out into the arrivals lounge. The line of jostling people that greeted me reminded me first of Nairobi, but, when no-one offered 'taxis - best deal - cheap, cheap', I realised I wasn't in Africa anymore. The Tourist information desk gave me a fair idea of Spain's face for travellers - limited amounts of English, but very friendly. As I was travelling 'idiot style' (no phrase book or travel guide), this was very important.

'The yellow bus' (airport shuttle) got me into Madrid for 350p. (R10), dropping me right outside the Avenida de America Metro terminal, named, presumably in honour of Americo Vespucci, Columbus' navigator. This clean, efficient means of transport is very similar to the London Underground, but 75p. (R2) buys a ticket to any destination, in my case Mendez Alvaro, 5 stops south along the circular (grey) line. A short walk down the hill from the Metro is the main bus terminus. The Alsa bus-line departs on the odd-hours from 7:00 until 21:00 for Oviedo. A return ticket on the (very comfortable) 'standard' busses will cost around 3,800p. (R110) and take 5 ½ hours to make the journey. While sleeping is often difficult on a bus, the latest busses obviate the need to find lodging in Oviedo.

I arrived at 20:30, and spent the next two hours wandering around trying to find hotels, hostels, or any other cheap accommodation. I then met up with a local returning from a back-packing trip abroad, who phoned around for me, before directing me to Calle Campoamor, just below the train station. Here I found two penzions, as private bed-and-shower concerns are called. At the top of the street is Penzion Gonzola, which offers en suite at 4000p. for a double room (not negotiable - I spent half an hour trying!) However, half way down, where the street becomes a pedestrian shopping mall, there is the extremely pleasant Penzion Australia, run by the serious, but very obliging, Mrs Australia. Although there are only two communal toilet-cum showers between some dozen rooms, the friendliness, and the 2000p. for a double room, makes this a better option; you can also leave whatever you don't want on the mountains here free of charge.

The next morning I met at other climbers outside the main Oviedo train station (uphill from the local station), and got quite a shock when some 16-year-olds I was speaking with told me they climbed 8a (29-30 in South African grades)! We then had a huge breakfast around 11:00 while meet fees were sorted out.

An important note about Spain - everything will happen in its own good time (except transport - that is prompt to the minute!). While on Blouberg climbers will often wake up, eat, and leave the cave by 4:00 to be on their routes, half-past-ten is a good time for Spaniards to start walking from the refuge (hut). The Austrian climbers and myself were continually frustrated by this, but were unable to leave much earlier because of the 9:00 breakfast.

Four hours on a chartered bus took us through spectacular Verdonesque gorges of perfect limestone rising far above perfectly clear streams with patches of green grass on the banks, finally depositing us at the paved road-head at 18:30. Two vehicles took our packs a few kilometres further to the true trail-head, from where we walked up good paths between small herders' huts, into low clouds, and, finally through into the clear air above. We passed through a portal in a limestone ridge, and suddenly found ourselves in a far more rugged, drier terrain, facing the summit of El Naranjo, far above us. Another two hours of toiling up steep scree slopes and harsh ground deposited us at the Refuge de Urriello, run by the Astorias Alpine Club. For non-members the hut costs 900p/person/ night, including breakfast and supper.

A note on the names of the most famous peak in Spain. The traditional name is Pico de Urriello, but it is more commonly known as El Naranjo de Bulnes (the Orange Mountain of Bulnes, coming from the colour of the huge West Face; Bulnes is the closest town to the Central Massif, and probably the best bet for climbers using public transport). For climbers, though, it is just called 'Pico'. A guide explained it to me this way - 'first there was Pico, second there was Pico, third there was Pico, and then there was everything else.' Although this dismisses much awe-inspiring climbing, this is a very understandable comment. The shortest route - Sud Direct (the easiest route on the mountain, situated on the South Face) - is 150m of nearly vertical rock; the longest route (700m), and the most famous in Spain, is Rabbado-Navarro on the West Face.

The next morning we walked up to the South-East and Eastern faces for our first day on the rock. My Israeli partner, Gil, and I attacked the excellent route Cepeda on the East Face, although we were forced to abseil from near the top without finishing the route. The limestone is of excellent quality - it is solid, well protected, and completely lacks the polish that Chamonix and other limestone crags are famous for. As with all routes on El Naranjo, there is little fixed protection apart from the stances; these are generally of a high quality, especially the more popular routes. During the day I realised that, while the technical grades we climb are relatively low, young South African climbers compare favourably to the rest of the world in terms of our mountain sense - we are more of mountaineers than they are.

The next day I climbed the Togenes variation of the Via Paso de Horizontal, grades VA1, about 15A1 - another very enjoyable route, especially the 'crux' pitch. This route has some entertaining run-outs on excellent rock, and never comes close to being 'desperate'. By the third day almost everyone was tired of climbing, and had taken a rest day. Three climbers - two Spaniards and myself - were still hungry, and walked some four hours to climb the North West ridge of Torre Cerredo (V+TD) or a serious (18). The forth day was spent on one of the local classics - Nani (V+D+). As with most routes, Nani was well run-out, especially on the harder portions, but not a dangerous climb.

Climbs in the Picos are far more on-angle than what we are used to in the Magaliesberg (70-80 degrees, rather than typically 80-90 degrees). To off-set this, there are few positive grips - feet are either frictioning or jamming into the cannlizos (water-runnels cut into the limestone) and hands are generally pinching onto these highly variable features - from right-angle finger-pitchers, to huge lay-back jug-handles.

On day five, George, from Austria, and I attempted the counter-route to Nani, Espolon 'Why?' (literally the 'Why?' Buttress). We by-passed the first pitch, and George led the 'second' pitch. I set out on the poorly protected pitch (however, as I was expecting a grade 17/18 pitch, this was not serious). After pulling roof, the climbing became too hard for me, and I fell 15m, fracturing my thumb and grazing my left-side.

Therefore, the last day in the mountains was spent hiking through spectacular moonscapes, with not a single leaf of green, or even brown. We passed the mouths of several caves, promising exciting, technical caving to anyone willing to face some of the deepest cave systems in Europe. They are marked on the surface with a surveyor's serial number ('LH' plus a three-digit number) above a red cross inside a red circle. Personally, I am very keen on returning to explore these.

My eights day in Spain was primarily concerned with negotiating the steep, hard paths down to the road head. As I passed through the narrow groove we had passed through on the way in, I was stunned by the abrupt change from grey to green - a lush, vibrant green speaking of much water at all times of the year.

We returned to Oviedo, where we had a long, late lunch to celebrate the end of a great meet. Here we tasted the rough cider that Astoria is famous for, poured in the traditional way - bottle at arm's length above the head, glass below the waste at an angle of 45 degrees, and the pourer conducting a conversation at the same time - and were treated to one of the guides playing the Spanish bag-pipes - similar to the Scottish 'weapon', but with only one drone, making for a more melodious sound.

For those with substantially more mountaineering experience, the Picos offer superb winter mountaineering of a serious nature; and Astorias offers more than a handful of sport routes at all grades, mostly highly accessible. The primary problem facing the Picos today is a proposed telepherique (cable-car) from the road-head to the refuge. This would, in both my own opinion and those of the guides I spoke to, destroy the special qualities of a relatively remote place, and should be fought at every turn.

One thing I wished had been emphasised more when delegates were chosen is that a certain minimum level of MOUNTAINEERING experience would be needed - not just experience on sport routes. I faired well enough, but one climber admitted that he had never led on a multi-pitch route before, and had limited experience with natural gear. Also, the nature of the walk-in needed to be stressed before, as some delegates arrived with running-shoes instead of hiking boots.

The Picos offer superb opportunities for rock-climbing on long, high-quality at all levels. The best guide book to my knowledge is the one by Walker - 'Walks and Climbs in the Picos de Europa' - and there is an excellent Spanish-language map of the area at a 1:25000 scale, with a yellow article. Other required reading is Wills Young's article in Rock and Ice #78.

DYLAN MORGAN