Montserrat: Sachi Amma and Ferran Guerrero free La reina de Escocia

The drive to free climb old aid routes in Montserrat, Spain, continues. After the recent first free ascent of La Tarragó by Iker Pou and his brother Eneko, the latest to be freed is La reina de Escocia, an old aid route put up in 1984 by Gabriel Reina. The "Queen of Scotland" takes a direct line up the West Face of El Bisbe and at the time Reina resorted to aid on six of the seven pitches. Of late the route had fallen into disuse as it had a reputation for being dangerous and in October 2013 Reina, helped by José Subi and Antonio García, rebolted the line. 220m of superb conglomerate, just waiting for the first free ascent...

A call too strong for local climber Ferran Guerrero and Japanese hotshot Sachi Amma who had a few days to spare before his return home and after a long, unfortunately unsuccessful battle, on the 9b Fight or Flight at Oliana. On 29 March the two checked out all the moves and on 1 April they freed the route with difficulties up to 8b+. Amma led all the pitches and what renders this ascent interesting is the fact that the Japanese is know above all for his hard single pitch sports climbs (up to 9a+, such as La Rambla at Siurana) and his superb competition performances (he won the Lead World Cup in both 2012 and 2013). La reina de Escocia is only Amma's second multi-pitch...

La reina de Escocia
El Bisbe West Face, Montserrat
First ascent: Gabriel Reina solo 1984
First free ascent: Sachi Amma and Ferran Guerrero 1 April 2014
P1: 4+ (50m)
P2: 6c+ (25m)
P3: 8a (35m)
P4: 8a (25m)
P5: 8b+ (35m)
P6: 7b+ (25m)
P7: 7a/a+ (15m)