11 - Mirador dels Rasos de Peguera, Castellar del Riu

The wool of the monks of Poblet

 If every sheep that arrived in Rasos to spend the summer had carried a stone for the small shrine of Sant Llorenç dels Porxos, today, on the cliff there would be a cathedral (of course, the angels would have had to help them hold the stones because there is really not much room). The broken and craggy mountains of Alt Berguedà have not given much joy to the farmers. However, at the highest points, where the slopes are a little less steep, the winter snow feeds fresh and succulent grass pastures, to the delight of the most demanding sheep. This was already known by the monks of Poblet, who in the 12th century acquired the rights over the pastures around the castle of Peguera. The large flocks of the Cistercian monastery followed the road connecting the lands of Camp de Tarragona and the Conca de Barberà with the pastures of Berguedà and Andorra, one of the oldest roads in the country.

 The power of enthusiasm

 In the Christmas festivities of 1908,  a group of members of the Centre Excursionista de Catalunya (the oldest mountaineering club in Catalonia) arrived at the sanctuary of Corbera, near the Rasos de Peguera. A carrier and his mule helped them transport some very strange utensils. They had arrived a few days ago from the Staub house in Zurich. As well as some piolets, sleds and snow rackets, the load included several pairs of skis. It was the first time that anyone in Catalonia dared to wear those diabolical artefacts and tried to slide down the mountain on the snow. Without any teachers, manuals or anyone who had a clue; it is easy to imagine - crossed skis, bottoms on the ground and lots of crashes. However, it was a historic day, in that corner of the mountains of Berguedà, Catalan alpine skiing was born.