Serra da Estrela - Our Backyard

Serra da Estrela - Our Backyard

By Daniela and Paulo

Serra da Estrela: Trekking adventures in Portugal's highest mountains.

Star Mountain

“Serra da Estrela”literally translatesto “Star Mountain”, and is the highest mountain of continental Portugal. This beautifulgranite massiflocated in the eastern-center of the country, is the only place with established winter climbing routes, both mixed and ice.

We consider Serra da Estrela as our backyard! This privilege means that we can leave our front door already equipped with mountain boots, and the harness on!

Yet, this “Winter” has been one of the worst winters ever! Up until recently, just a few cold days with snowallowed some climbable conditions. and we took the chance!

With a very shy presence of ice (to say the least) we managed to climb a few ice routes, always protecting (like we are used in Serra da Estrela) with a few short ice-screws – the rock is always a few inches from the surface of the ice. Good fun anyway!

Living in Serra da Estrelameans we can have all the climbing spectrum in a short period of time. On the day after that good ice climbing day, we were roped at the base of arock project just half an hourfrom the ice cascades.and half an hour from our front door! This time we opened a new four pitches aid route and, in the end, the rock project became just another. project! A free climbing one! We left the place feeling we needed to work out a little bit more on our pull-ups before dreaming of freeing this brand-new route.

Once more, we went home with that amazing thought: “Where in the world can we do some good ice climbing and, in the very next day, just a few kilometres away, rock climb, wearing light clothes?” We are pretty convinced the answer is: “Very few places!”

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New trad route in Oeschinensee, Kandersteg

New trad route in Oeschinensee, Kandersteg

On Monday we went up to have another look at the unclimbed line we spotted after our retreat from “Buch Dich”. The good thing about the line is tha...
February 08, 2011
Troll Wall - A (very) short story

Troll Wall - A (very) short story

My hope by finally writing this up is there is a little catharsis for me once it’s finished. Never have I been more disappointed in my life than b...
March 17, 2011
Training with Shauna Coxsey and James Garden

Training with Shauna Coxsey and James Garden

In the last two weeks we have been honoured to have been coached by two inspiringly strong people: James Garden and Shauna Coxsey. I unfortunately ...
May 16, 2012
Sport climbing in Ceuse

Sport climbing in Ceuse

A camp above the white cliffs, mayhem through Paris, a night in the hammock and we are finally settled in with the Rig 7 tarpaulin set up with the ...
July 08, 2011
Team Sky Ropes

Team Sky Ropes

A crack team from Alpkit GHQ headed to Thornbridge Outdoors in order to see what they could throw at them. The Big Shakeout weekend is all set to ...
August 30, 2011

Push the Button

Two weeks playing on rock, warmed by the Spanish sunshine, was the reset button I needed to start getting motivated again for the rock season. In t...
March 11, 2014
BRYCS round 3

BRYCS round 3

A few months ago, the parent representative for the British climbing team, John Ellison, was diagnosed with prostate cancer. It was a shock to all ...
April 30, 2012
Classic week on the Ben

Classic week on the Ben

I am just parked up in the Lidl car park in Fort William in the camper having just cooked up a nice wee chilli and even had a shower! I have a bit ...
February 19, 2013

Deep s*** soloing and a windy whip

The last month or so has been a bit sensitive in our house. We mused at the beginning of the year that we were all going to get really strong or re...
December 11, 2012
Fairhead and more

Fairhead and more

Well, where do I start! It has been a busy month. It started with Mountaineering Ireland’s Fair Head Climbing meet. I started organising this 3 yea...
July 05, 2012

Altai Expedition

"Do you want to come climbing in Russia? There's this range called the Altai, it's near the border in the South somewhere. I think it’s a bit like ...
January 08, 2013
MIC training at the Brenin

MIC training at the Brenin

It has been a pretty unsuccessful winter for many, but lucky for me mine has been very productive! I managed to get my Winter Mountain Leader finis...
March 20, 2012

Three 8's

My plan is to climb all three in one year. Back in April I spent two weeks in Kalymnos knowing this would be a good time to kick start the challeng...
June 07, 2013

0Hiro vs Scottish Winter

After more than his fair share of faffing with his sandwiches, jackets, gloves and ice axes, the fourth member of our party, the driver, finally ca...
February 25, 2015
CWIF 2012

CWIF 2012

The Climbing Works International Festival, CWIF has a big reputation for a UK competition, world class route setters at one of the biggest boulderi...
March 19, 2012

Italy- Dolomites

Back in September Dan and I headed to the Dolomites. The plan was to do some alpine classic rock, enjoy the mountains, look for new lines, maybe ...
November 06, 2013

Wirksworth Winter Bouldering Aggregate

The winter bouldering season is drawing to a close and one hopes that all those hard earned points were worth it. If not for the scraps between poi...
February 27, 2014
Juniors at Font

Juniors at Font

A couple of weeks ago a few members of the junior climbing team made it out to Font. The team experienced sun, snow, rain and sub zero temperatures...
March 03, 2010

First time to Hueco limbing in the US

The climbing in Hueco seemed to suite me quite well and the endless dry weather out there means you can formulate a plan of what you want to do in ...
March 03, 2014

Wake up, Rack up, Man up

As if I needed reminding, that's what I read on Justin's van, written on the plywood panel, whilst sipping my cup of tea. Wake up. Rack up. Man up....
July 01, 2014
Bouldering in the Tropics

Bouldering in the Tropics

The idea of bouldering on sun kissed beaches surrounded by a tropical paradise might be every climbers dream but give me a grit crag any day. My fi...
November 13, 2012
Kelsey Kerridge Reunited

Kelsey Kerridge Reunited

We were a pretty close bunch of climbers and we liked to get our climbing fix on a regular basis. The Kelsey Kerridge wall in Cambridge was our hom...
January 30, 2011
Leeds!

Leeds!

Wow hit in the face by University, international competition seems a doddle in comparison! I have begun a new challenging period; with a base in Le...
January 03, 2012

A Tangent Tale from Tested Tips in October

It is Grit stone and board sessions that are leaving me bruised at the moment, it is the tips that are taking the biggest battering. After a fun we...
December 24, 2012

Competition Time!

For me, the beginning of a new academic year always feels like an extra January 1st, halfway through the year, where I can make a whole new set of ...
October 20, 2014
The Nuts and Bolts

The Nuts and Bolts

The sport has kicked off surprisingly well, still running on arms of capacity. No training; just been climbing recently and had some pretty good da...
April 30, 2012

Ice World Cup

Indoor dry tooling is really quite a strange sport when you think about it! Any time I've attempted to explain it to a friend, I have stumbled over...
February 13, 2014

A Peruvian Adventure

'Hi Alpkit, My self and two of my friends have just returned from a successful trip from Peru where we managed to summit the mountain of Alpamayo. ...
July 27, 2017

Ice climbing, head spanners, chamois and Cogne

Ice Fest 2019 Every year a friend of mine, Dave Pegler, organises Ice Fest - a non-guided trip that includes accommodation, excellent food, wine an...
February 25, 2019

Bouldering at Fairhead

When it comes to climbing over in Northern Ireland, chances are you'll have Fairhead on your 'wish list'. At 5km in length and over 100m of vertica...
February 19, 2019

Sensory Overload

Travelling the UK for about six weeks sampling the wide range of trad climbing and enjoying it all from the comfort of a van. Only a days drive fro...
June 17, 2015

The Ascent of Nanda Devi

Posted for Vertebrate Publishing - to mark the re-release of H.W. Tilman titles H. W. ‘Bill’ Tilman was one of the greatest adventurers of his time...
December 07, 2016

Driving and bouldering

A hell of a lot of driving and climbing. Up to Rieff on the North West Coast of Scotland, then back to near Fort William and a second ascent of a D...
May 21, 2014

Eden

A little over three years ago I finished a film (or a trilogy of short films) about climbing in the Lake District. Although not my first climbing f...
September 29, 2015

Muzkol: Tajikistan 2015 Expedition

Muzkol 2015 Expedition – Tajikistan In 1940, a Soviet military officer visited the Muzkol range’s AkBaikal valley, gazed up at the five peaks of th...
October 12, 2015

So summer, so good

So I went over and led the thing, no big fuss. I moved efficiently despite being a tad nervous. I took my time, no need to rush, I savoured the gor...
August 20, 2014

Five thousand metres of vertical joy

At some point during each of my trips to the alps I have always found myself drawn to the Saastal valley. In contrast to the hussel and bussel of C...
August 22, 2018
M12 Mixed climbing

M12 Mixed climbing

Virtually no low level snow has made a couple of trips up to the Breitwangflu easier than normal partly because no skis are needed and partly becau...
February 17, 2011

Scottish Winter and a bit of tooling!

I thought it was time I wrote something about the climbing I have done outside, because so far I have only spoken about competitions! The past coup...
February 16, 2015

Photo perfect

Sometimes it's okay to feel not okay, I think. Photos are an easy way to make life look always perfect. Since beginning this adventure I have had s...
August 17, 2018

Slate, sunburn and snacks

There’s a lot of pressure sometimes to do epic stuff every time you get a few days off work, but you don’t have to fly or cycle or run across the w...
July 26, 2018

Serra da Estrela - Our Backyard

Star Mountain “Serra da Estrela”literally translatesto “Star Mountain”, and is the highest mountain of continental Portugal. This beautifulgranite ...
February 27, 2019

White Goods 2013

As hundreds of outdoor folk flooded to Kendal for this years film festival an especially picky bunch of climbers opted for the alternative attracti...
November 18, 2013

Scratch & Win

The parting line in my last blog was that my elbow injury seemed to be on the mend. Well, since then I acquired another elbow injury on the other a...
January 29, 2019

Visions of Climbing

Back at the Big Shakeout 2018 Scavenger had their pedal powered sewing machine, The BiSewcle’, rigged up and passing volunteers all added their eff...
December 19, 2019

A bloody long way North

A bloody long way North Driving from the South of Norway to the North of Norway is like driving from the south of Norway to Italy, it’s a bloody...
August 05, 2019

Third Time Lucky: Soloing the Aiguille de Moine

Soloing Aiguille de Moine Earlier this year I decided to solo a peak called “Aiguille de Moine” which sits at 3412m within the Mont Blanc Massif.It...
December 18, 2018

Ridges through the Sky

There is something truly magical about being up high in the mountains, following the line joining the highest points with the ground dropping away ...
March 02, 2018

Five Ben Nevis Ridges in a Day

Ben Nevis is well known as the highest point in the UK and is highly revered among climbers due to the limitless potential of winter and summer obj...
June 13, 2019

Cragweek

It's the question that all of us dread: 'so have you been getting out much?' In fact, not all climbers dread this question, just the ones who feel ...
July 13, 2017

Taking on the Three Peaks Challenge

3064m and 37km with over 10 hours sitting on a bus and a great big dose of sleep deprivation, it really is a big day out!
July 13, 2022

5 days, 5 climbs by Daniela and Paulo Teixeira

In this Covid-no expedition year, we were eager to have some days not thinking about anything else than… to climb. It is restriction time here i...
November 20, 2020

Winter climbs

If you believe that the most ephemeral things are precious, then winter snow in Serra da Estrela is one of the most valuable things on the planet! ...
December 14, 2020

Himalayan Adventures: Shan-Ri - Part 2

If you've not read part 1 yet, catch up here. Base camp at 4400m Two days resting at base camp (4400m) and: “Here we go!” Since we left a big pa...
December 13, 2018

Winter 8000 - Climbing the world’s highest mountains in the coldest season by Bernadette McDonald

Read an exclusive extract from the book 'Winter 8000, Climbing the world's highest mountains in the coldest season' by Bernadette McDonald.
August 06, 2020

10 Things To Replace A Chamonix Climbing Season: Anna Wells In Lockdown

Like so many other people around the world, the Covid-19 outbreak has had a huge impact on our lives. After a brilliant winter season in Chamoni...
April 09, 2020

Winter ridge climbing in Glenshiel

As I eagerly assembled my kit the night before our adventure, I realised that I was packing very similar things to a day of "fast and light alpinis...
January 18, 2021

The First Ascent without Supplementary Oxygen

What you are about to read is an exclusive extract from the book "Kangchenjunga" by Doug Scott, which can be purchased here from the Vertebrate Pub...
May 24, 2021

Winter climbing in Portugal - Part 1

250m of ice climbing in Portugal… “Wait a minute! Did I read Portugal?!” It’s March, I’m sitting here still hopeful winter will return. Hope is nor...
May 18, 2021

Everest the Cruel Way - Joe Tasker

What you are about to read is an exclusive extract from the book 'Everest the Cruel Way' by Victor Saunders. To see more books we love and books th...
March 09, 2021

Eagle Crag Rescue

With our celebration of Mountain Rescue Teams we highlight some of the recent incidents our local-to-store MR teams have attended recently, to get ...
May 21, 2021

Chasing Ice

Ramon's an Alpkiteer and old friend of Alpkit. He took the campervan on a trip this Christmas, and told us all about his trip. Christmas is a time ...
February 03, 2023

Scrambling to a New Summit

Alpkiteer and co-founder of Every Body Outdoors, Steph, recently summited Tryfan - her first scramble. Here's her story. Tryfan was not a challe...
November 07, 2022

The Grit List - An ode to friction

The changing of the season has me rubbing my hands together in anticipation for the return of perfect gritstone conditions (it’s not just to keep m...
October 22, 2024

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