Climbing Not Banned at Oliana, Officials Clarify

Last Friday, four climbers—Chris Sharma, Patxi Usobiaga, Nicolas Durand, and Victor Fernandez—met at the Peramola Town Hall with local officials and representatives from the Catalonian Department of Culture to resolve confusion on the new access restrictions at Oliana.

The new restrictions, published on December 18 by the Department of Culture, outlined a protective zone around rock art at the Roc de Rumbau cliff, which hosts dozens of historic sport routes, including Sharma’s La Dura Dura (5.15c). “Sporting activities involving climbing, camping, and lighting fires are prohibited in the archeological zone,” read the text of the decree.

A few days later, climbers reacted with shock and grief at the sudden ban, then collectively relaxed when local officials—who were not consulted about the new rule—declined to enforce it. At the time, Durand pointed out that the exact boundaries of the “archeological zone” versus the “protection zone” were unclear, and that more clarity was needed from the Department of Culture. The mayor of Peramola, Joan Puig, also spoke out against the decree on January 11, telling Diari Catalunya that “the delimitation of the protection zone applied to Roc de Rombau is very restrictive, to the point that it could affect some climbing routes considered important.”

Durand, who runs a climbing guide service in Catalonia, characterized Friday’s meeting as productive and reassuring. “[The Department of Culture] clarified that there’s no ban on climbing,” he said, “and recognized that as far as they were aware, there hasn’t been any impact from climbers, which was quite reassuring. [The decree] was a bit coincidental in timing, but for them, it was a process that started in 2019.”

He added that the new rules were not, in fact, a response to damage from the 2022 fire, but merely the attempt to conform to UNESCO protections for the rock art. “Unfortunately, in the decree, they had to summarize it in half a page,” he said. In addition, the GPS coordinates in the decree that outlined the restricted zones were incorrect and need to be refreshed.

Now, Durand, Sharma, Usobiaga, and Fernandez will be a part of the upcoming inspection to get accurate coordinates. “[The Department of Culture officials] just want to make sure the paintings are not in danger—not just that people don’t climb on top of them, but also that there is no rock that could fall on them,” said Durand. He doubted that the rock art would be in danger from any currently bolted routes.

For now, Oliana’s world-class climbing will remain open and accessible. “It was a good meeting,” he concluded.

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