We're always in search of fun places and new adventures, both in the UK and abroad. Today we found a gem of a canyon  on the lower slopes of Sierra de Bernia, Costa Blanca.

There are around 5 abseils, with the longest being approximately 17 metres. There is plenty of scrambling too.

How to get there: Shortly after passing through Pinos village, look out for the 19km marker post and Virgin Mary cross, turn left here and follow the lower branch of this small lane, continue along here all the way to the valley bottom and park here in one of the small lay-bys.

Time (car to car): Allow 3 hours

Equipment: The abseil stations are all bolted (2015). Harness; helmet; 40m rope; abseil device; prussik

Dangers: Helmet advised due to rock fall potential. Also, check the weather history as flooded pools would prove difficult to exit!

From the parking area you will see a large gash in the side of the mountain, this is the canyon.
Follow the small track along the riverbed, passing some impressive caves along the way. After around 15 minutes the first abseil will be reached.
A short diagonal abseil leads to a tiny ledge and another abseil station, here it's possible to just clip the ropes through and continue your abseil (although some may prefer to rig another abseil from here). Continue diagonally left, keeping out of the deep marmite.

More abseils follow, mostly shorter, and there's plenty of down-climbing too. You will soon reach a very deep marmite, abseil into this (around 17m). There may be a fixed rope in place to aid the climb back out of here, if not be prepared to use 'combined tactics'!! Thankfully the difficulties here are short lived and soon things ease back to scrambling in an amazing place.

The canyon soon opens up and a wide, easy angled slab can be descended (very rough rock) to reach the stoney riverbed once more. Don't be tempted to follow the red paint to the left, instead continue along the riverbed until just beyond a sharp bend, look out for a small path exiting to the left, take this and follow it passing a small ruin along the way.

The return route is straightforward and on an excellent path, although much of this is uphill! Views of Olta and to the coast are splendid.
Keep on the path as it zig-zags up to the broad ridge, then descend (following the occasional red dot) to reach a wide track / minor road, turn left here and go downhill. After a few minutes look out for more red paint and follow this to the left (near a house to your right), this track will take you to the road you drove in on, follow this downhill to the car.



For more information about this or other canyons, ridges, and climbs in the area or in the Lake District, please do get in touch. We're happy to help.

We also offer guiding services for all places and activities mentioned in this blog.

Mark
 
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Two years ago we welcomed Edd to Spain for a fairly last minute introductory rock climbing holiday. Each day we climbed a lot and generally had loads of fun. Last December Edd was back, this time with his sisters and friends. Needless to say we were delighted by this and much fun was had. The theme was still rock climbing, but canyoning and scrambling were enjoyed too.
This December the team were back for more. All now climbing really well and leading trad routes back in the UK, I knew the itinerary was going to need to be pretty special so got to work on making plans for great mountain adventures.

Day 1: Arriving around lunchtime, there wasn't much time for climbing, but we did squeeze in a visit to the local Toix crags and this proved to be a perfect warm up for the holiday.

Day 2: We visited Font d'Axia crags in the Jalon valley area. A lovely quiet crag with loads of great routes from 4 - 7a, so a good range. Everyone climbed loads despite the heat of the sun wilting us at times. And even the 7a saw an attempt!
During the day we looked at multi-pitch climbing skills too, in preparation for a sea cliff adventure tomorrow. Everyone led climbs today and much improvement seen by all. Awesome day!

Day 3: A serious undertaking today, we were heading to the Morro Falqui sea cliffs near Teulada. Our sights set on the 6 pitch 'Sonjannika' which climbs the full length of this impressive cliff. A canyon descent starts the day, then a short scramble to reach the base of the route. With 6 of us on the route, careful time management was crucial for safety and success, thankfully everyone worked hard to keep the day flowing smoothly. I climbed with Jules who was fab company all day. We all met up on the big ledge above pitch 4, here we enjoyed lunch overlooking the sea :-)
As with many brilliant routes, the best is saved until last, and pitch 6 doesn't disappoint. Long and with several tricky sections and a traverse to finish the pitch off, this is excellent in every way. There were a fair few tentative moments on that final traverse, but everyone kept their cool and climbed it well, often finishing to applause from those already at the top. A big and awesome day.

Day 4: An easier day today, with a visit to Jalon market during the morning to buy some Christmas gifts to take back home. During the afternoon we headed for the beach at Les Rotes. Here we swam in the warm sea and enjoyed some beach bouldering. A nice restful day.

Day 5: Another 'full-on' day. We began with a long Via Ferrata on Ponoch. This brought many smiles and much laughter all round. The weather wasn't being so kind today though, with cloud swirling around us for much of the ascent, although this did add to the atmosphere. The clouds cleared briefly when we were at the top and this provided us with big views of the mountain and surroundings. A multi-stage abseil took us easily back to the base.
During the afternoon we went cragging in the nearby Echo valley. With everyone going so well, we almost climbed the whole crag out during our fairly short visit, top effort.

Day 6: Bernia ridge traverse - big day out! An early-ish start for this one saw us walking in before the sun had warmed the air, this allowed a speedy start. We geared up at the 'Forat' then began our ascent to the ridge. A few nerves amongst the team today, especially so once the scale and location start to register! Once on the ridge we were in the sun and pleasantly warm. Movement along the crest soon came naturally to all, and the exposure soon a normal part of the day. Still, concentration levels stayed very high throughout for everyone, big space below the feet tends to have that effect!
We cruised the ridge, the abseils, the climbing section, and then to the descent. Scree run fun, why not? This is a super rapid way to loose height on the northern side of the ridge. Within only about 50m everyone was looking comfortable with the terrain and much laughter could be heard, for this is brilliant fun.
We made it back to base in time for coffees, cake, and beer at the Bernia restaurant. Another awesome day.

Day 7: Yesterday had been a long mountaineering day, and muscles ached a little this morning. So our plan to go cragging to Gandia fit the bill perfectly. The sun was out again, the rock warm, the routes fantastic. Everyone climbed the worm hole route of 'Pequeno Saltemontes' which is so much fun, and made even more so if your name is Lauren or Edd ;-)
This very much became a day of consolidating leading skills for most, with both Jules & Nicola really excelling and ticking loads of routes on the lead. We almost had to drag ourselves away at the end of the day, still so much to do here.

Day 8: Last day for the team and a trip to Aventador crag. This is home to a short and very steep Via Ferrata and that's what we started with. The weather was overcast and cold when we arrived, but thankfully this soon changed to blue skies and sunshine :-)
Jules enjoyed the Via Ferrata so much she went up it again, taking Kate with her. Nice one.
A fine selection of routes were climbed on the main crag, a little multi-pitch action too, and a quality 6a lead for Lauren. Nicola & Edd spent time placing trad gear to help plug the gaps between the bolts. This is a good way to become proficient at this and carries less risk, win win.

Where did the time go, why do you have to go, we'll miss you all so much

Big thanks to: Edd, Lauren, Jules, Nicola, and Richard - an absolute pleasure

More busy times here on the Costa Blanca and more clear blues skies to enjoy.

Back on Monday 7th December Kim was guiding Joe & Sang on the amazing Magical Mystery Tour on the Toix sea cliffs. This all starts with a dramatic 40m abseil into the crag and follows with 5 pitches of increasing brilliant climbing. Joe & Sang enjoyed this so much, they have already requested to do it again in February, great news.

On the same day we welcomed Dave from Fresh Air Learning. Dave was here to sample the fine scrambling on offer nearby. We began with a short barranco ascent in the Echo valley. This initially follows a dry river bed and finishes on a nearby summit with amazing views all the way out to sea.
The following day me & Dave traversed the Toix ridge. After an initial climb, this becomes a knife edged arete that requires a steady approach. Dave breezed across this and soon we were once more on a summit offering fine sea & mountain views.
By Wednesday the weather was a little more uncertain and we changed plans to fit with this. Going to the nearby Olta mountain we found a fine scrambling route towards the plateau, from where we could join the path over to the summit. As we descended a little rain also descended!!! Thankfully not very much and we all stayed pretty dry, phew!
Home time for Dave on Thursday, hope to see you out here again soon.

On Saturday we met up with a local climber, Miguel. We went North to a Via Ferrata near Gandia, Las Marujes. This turned out to be brilliant and we discovered a nicely bolted crag on our return walk, bonus.
The Via Ferrata begins with a Tibetan bridge over a ravine, then a long and steep climb to the top of the main crag, followed by a shorter climb to the summit. A well maintained track leads back to the parking area in Tavernes.

Sunday was a big mountain day. Aristotle on the mighty Puig Campana. 10 pitches of traditional climbing followed by 3 abseils to descend, so quite a day.
The climb is split into 2 distinct sections (lower & upper) and it's possible to escape at the top of pitch 5. The lower section is quite difficult to route find, but does contain some fine climbing. But it's the upper section where the main fun lies. Pitch 6 is about VS4b and above this the whole route follows an ever narrowing arete, culminating in pinnacles at the top. With a few hundred metres of fresh air below, this is a mighty fine place to be, mega exposure!
The descend is initially by abseil, about 10m into a notch, then about 35-40m from new looking bolts (2015) towards the barranco, and finally about another 30m from old pegs (these are now looking pretty knackered)! Once in the barranco a lot of down-scrambling brings you to the base of the mountain just next to where Epsilon Central starts.

Monday saw us enjoy another big multi-pitch route. This time on the nearby and iconic El Penon de Ifach. There are many climbs on the huge rock, and most are very hard. We choose one of the easier lines, a VS / 5+ known as Via Valencianos. 8 pitches including the notorious 'slippery corner'. After the initial couple of pitches we arrived at the slippery corner, this requires basic aid climbing due to the intense polish the rock now has, but this is fairly straightforward to do. Above here the route really starts to shine, the upper slab is around 70m high and contains brilliant climbing in an increasingly exposed setting, the top belay is right on the edge of an arete giving fines views back down to Calpe. 3 more pitches complete the route and end very near the summit.

All of these routes and many more can be included into a climbing / scrambling / multi-activity package. Please get in touch and we'll make the arrangements.

Big thanks to Kate, Kim, Miguel, Dave, Joe, and Sang for making this last couple of weeks so great.

A few photos below showing some of the places we got to. 

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It's been an active and fun packed few weeks here on the Costa Blanca, with much rock climbing, scrambling, and via ferrata done with lots of lovely people.

Yesterday 3 of us ventured into the Mascarat gorge near Calpe. We have visited this gorge only once previously and didn't much care for it, but thought we should at least try one climb here, so picked a 3 star route called 'Llobet/Bertomeu. A HVS climb of 8 pitches and almost 300 metres.

Not only were we pleasantly surprised by the quality of the climbing, but we were all totally wowed by the incredible atmosphere of the place. Even though the climbs start at a roadside location, almost immediately the atmosphere is one of a high mountain environment with exposure to match. Route route is traditional, with just a few bolts at belays and that occasionally mark the route, but a full rack of climbing gear is required.

Each pitch had its merits and each was a challenge, if only to find the correct route through the sea of rock. But for me the 2 outstanding pitches were numbers 5 & 7.

Pitch 5: The crux pitch with quite a reputation! As I stepped around the corner to below the groove, I looked up in horror at how slippery it all looked! This was going to be quite a challenge and some 'flight time' was a real possibility. Taking it slowly, ensuring each foot placement was as good as possible, i'd search for the next hand placement, position my body as best as possible and move up in search of the next foot placement, all the time looking for cracks to place protection to supplement the spaced and old bolts! Before I knew it, I was standing above the groove and moving onto easier slabs, with the belay in sight, phew! Really pleased to have led such a difficult pitch of climbing without any dramas.
Kate and Kim soon joined me and we were all happy to have the crux pitch behind us.

Pitch 7: This provided us with route finding dilemmas, but thankfully between us we came to the right decision. Once on the traverse we enjoyed a massive drop below us, directly down to the base of the gorge, probably 250 metres below us. The moves were easy and well protected by old bolts and threads. The belay came as quite a surprise though as I was expecting this would take us to the top of the climb, but no chance. I set up a hanging belay above the huge drop and got the camera ready for when Kate & Kim emerged onto the traverse. I don't think either were enamoured with the belay stance, well at least I though it was brilliant! The remainder of the route was straightforward, with the top about 30 metres higher.

Knowing in advance the problems experienced by some climbers who visit these walls, we were all apprehensive about the climb. This of course adds a level of stress and gives an edge. Keeping a steady head is crucial in such situations, especially so on the harder sections of climbing. Personally I find this very therapeutic, and strangely calming internally, although this doesn't always show externally. The thrill of being right on the edge, at the limit is fantastic, but even at the top of the climb we don't let our guard down, there's a long way to go yet. So a quick bite to eat and off we go to start the descent and back to safety. It's only afterwards that the full impact of the day hits home, and a mental (and physical) crash follows with extreme exhaustion. What an amazing feeling, we love it.

The terrace descent was quite straightforward to find and follow, although great care is needed as the small track is very close to a huge drop! Once over a rock step we followed a cairned path back to the road.

Yes for all there's a bit of noise from the road when climbing in Mascarat, but it's an epic place to climb and the route is most definitely worthy of its 3 stars.

Thanks to Kate & Kim for agreeing to join me on this one and for climbing it so well, good times.

Mark