Climbing Quinto Imperio on Naranjo de Bulnes, Spain

Photos courtesy of Leopoldo Faria - At the end of August 2009, Leopoldo Faria and Pedro Nogueira established the first repeat of Quinto Imperio (V 5.13d or 8b) on the West Face of Spain's most famous big wall, Naranjo de Bulnes (also known as Picu Urriellu). Quinto Império is a 500 meter long route that was opened in 1996 by the Portuguese climbers Francisco Ataide and Sergio Martins and first free climbed by the Pou brothers in June 2009. The Naranjo de Bulnes is one of the most impressive limestone walls in Europe with orange and gray colors on solid rock that offers super technical climbing with not so easy protection. Read more.