MARTÍNEZ-SOMOANO AND ESPEJISMO DE VERANO. NARANJO DE BULNES EAST FACE

The Martinez Somoano in the Picu Urriellu (Naranjo de Bulnes) was once a visionary and innovative itinerary. The first climbing route to venture into the great central slab of this mountain in search for its weakest point. As Ángel Bengoechea quotes in his guidebook Rock Climbing in the Picos de Europa "It marked the beginning of free climbing in the Picos".

Unfortunately, other routes such as La Luna haven't been able to respect this itinerary, which can be considered as the Rabadá-Navarro of the East Face, and cross it or get very close to it with numerous expansion bolts.

The most difficult pitch (the 4^th) is one of the most aesthetic on the East Face. The route is obvious up to the large central cave in the wall, here begins an easy, beautiful and elegant ascending traverse where you shouldn't dismiss opportunities to place protection.

The belay stations are set up using pitons, some burils and rock tunnels except the first one which shares bolts with Amistad con el Diablo.

To sum up, the Martínez Somoano in the Picu Urriellu is a great route, probably among the most beautiful in terms of difficulty in the Picos de Europa. Highly recommended.

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As for the Espejismo de Verano in the Picu Urriellu (Naranjo de Bulnes), its characteristics are similar to the rest of the routes on the East Face, i.e., very good rock quality, the itinerary must be very well interpreted, not very difficult but permanent anchors only in the key moves and difficult to protect the rest. Don't get confused in the first pitch, start along the groove wall at the left of the Cepeda in search of the easiest way. Try spotting the first belay station in order to get your bearings.

In our opinion, the second and third pitches are easier than what the topo states, at least in comparison with other similar pitches in these mountains. It's a good test before attempting other more difficult routes. All of its belay stations are equipped to abseil down to its junction with the Cepeda. This is the rappel line if you don't want to climb up to the summit via the last pitches of the Cepada, when climbing other routes such as Amistad con el Diablo, Marínez-Somoano, etc. Nice route, highly recommended.

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If not getting back down via the Espejismo de Verano but climbing up to the summit of the Picu Urriellu, you'll need to use the rappel lines installed in the South Face. Traditionally, people used to rappel down the Directa de los Martínez, but two parallel lines have recently been installed to avoid gatherings as well as disturbing people climbing the Directa de los Martínez (see descent description).