Europe, Norway, Romsdal, Mongejura (1,200m), Southwest Face, El Pinche Borrego

Publication Year: 2005.

Romsdal, Mongejura (1,200m), southwest face, El Pinche Borrego. In July David Font Ventura, Jordi Cañigueral Vilá, Jordi Servosa Roca, and I took about to open a new route in Norway. The first idea was to try to open a route on the Troll wall but the weather and the conditions this season were not good. Also, the only possible line we saw only was about 300m and then would intercept another route. So we changed the objective to the wall of Mongejura 1,200m, this has a southwest face and dries faster. We fixed four pitches and prepared two haulbags (the Pigs) and two portaledges, 40 liters of water, and food for seven days.

After four days of rain it was still raining. So the first day we could only open one pitch and put the bivy under a roof. The second day we could open two pitches in the rain. The third day we had sun and could climb two pitches on aid climbing, one of which was A3+. The next three days were mostly sunny, then the weather changed again and we decided to push the next day until we get off the wall. After the last hard pitches, we climbed 300m of third class to the only bivouac ledge, after 20 hours of activity.

El Pinche Borrego (905m, VI 5.10d A3+) has some pitches of aid and the rest is free climbing, with posibilities to free the whole route. It would be good for this to get a repetition.

Luis Carlos García Ayala, Mexico