Alvão, just like a little Serra da Estrela

The Natural Park of Alvão is located NW of Vila Real and extends through 70 km² of mountainous land, covered with granite and quartzite formations of great beauty. In a certain way the landscape resembles Serra da Estrela in a much smaller scale!

We had the luck to have João “Animado”, an enthusiastic local developer, to show us the area and after a couple of days we couldn’t get enough of it! 🙂

I was blown away by the amazing scenery, the nice and fresh micro-climate and above all, the superior rock quality!

Have a look what Alvão has to offer!

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Arriving Alvão by the South rim.

 

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Just us and no one around! This place seems to be off the beaten track…

 

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Last rays of light seeping through the trees.

 

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Cuca having a first glance of the quartzite walls.

 

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Overview of the impressive “Catedral do Medo” wall.

 

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The power of nature as Rio Ôlo plunges into the steep canyon.

 

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Upstream ponds and waterfalls perfect for a nice swim at Fisgas do Ermelo!

 

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Wild goats always playing around and spying on us.

 

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Local climber João Animado on the route “Coñan o Homem Rã”.

 

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Cuca starting “Marretas Marginais”, with a sea of green/yellow lichen around him.

 

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Animado leading the way on “Resgate Caprino”.

 

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Now that’s what I call a jug! 😀

 

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Vertiginous point of view of the cliff.

 

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The wildlife and it’s habitats! Better not mess with them… 😛

 

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“A Cabana” or “A Palhota” as locals call it, was our providential morning cafe.

 

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A rustic cafe that keeps it’s roots alive.

 

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The helmet shaped dome of Arnal is another landmark of the area.

 

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The hillsides host hundreds of unexplored granite boulders.

 

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Cuca looking at a possibly futuristic project!

 

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A little cliff where we saw good potential for handful of bolted lines.

 

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One of the best lines we opened was “Posta Mirandesa”! Ricardo Alves aka Macau dealing with the hard crux (photo taken by Vasco Ferreira).

 

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Cuca on the same boulder and looking forward better temperatures to solve this masterpiece!

 

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Cuca on a highball jam session!

 

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A sneak peek into Escarpas do Corgo, a small crag located on Corgo gorges, a river that crosses the center of Vila Real.

 

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There’s around 40 sports and some trad routes and I can say the place is quite peculiar…

 

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Artistic installations or just weird stuff, choose yourself! 😀

 

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