Category: Ambolo

Short break winter sun climbing

29/12/2018

Enjoying warm rock in stunning locations

Over the last few days we've been joined by Andzelika and Eugeniusz, on their 3rd climbing trip to the area, great to see you both :-)
Looking for a relaxing yet active holiday, they opted for 3 half day climbing sessions with us. So still plenty time to explore and relax away from the crags.
We got plenty of climbing done still, with visits to Alcalali crag in the Jalon valley, to Ambolo crag on the coast near Javea, and yesterday at L'Ocaive crag which is our local venue. The sun joined us for much of the time, but yesterday it stayed at home and we even had some rain!! Thankfully L'Ocaive offers some 'dry in the rain' climbs, so we were able to finish the afternoon enjoying one of these and staying completely dry, yeah! I lost count of the total number of routes we climbed over the 3 days, but it certainly seemed like quite a lot, I think muscles were pleasantly tired by the end of each session, always a good sign.

Thanks both and lovely to see you. Hopefully catch up soon back in the Lakes.

Mark

Big blue skies over Ambolo crag, Javea

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Rock, glorious rock......and run!

5/2/2018

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In the cave belay on Sonjannika

For the last few days we've been out rather a lot and enjoying different venues each time. On Wednesday, Joe joined us again and it's been all action since.
A few hours after alighting the aeroplane at Alicante airport we had Joe on the big sea cliffs of Morro Falqui, here we enjoyed the classic 'Sonjannika' under bright blue skies. Just the tonic Joe needed after a winter in a grey middle England.

Thursday was spent at the secluded Viudes crag near Tarbena. This is high in the mountains yet feels and is sheltered, making it a good choice on chilly days too so long as the sun is shining, which it was. We climbed a number of very long single pitch routes here, until the sharp rock talked to our fingers and mentioned it was time to stop!

Friday brought a spell of inclement weather, so we had a recharge day, managed some climbing based retail therapy and squeezed in a Via Ferrata. Not bad hey.

On Saturday we welcomed the return of sunshine and spent the day at the nearby Pena Roja (Lliber) crag. Also joined by more friends we became a team of 5. I think the highlight for Joe & Miguel was the wonderful 6a+ route of La Llibertine. This is glorious jug pulling through steep terrain the whole way, magnificent.

For most of us Sunday was a rest day. For Kate things were somewhat different. 21km of mountain & trail running in the local 'fell race'. This race is part of the Pedreguer festivities weekend (one of numerous such weekends) and there were hundreds of competitors. As is normal here, the race is a big deal and well catered, with great organisation and a friendly / party atmosphere to it. Loads of families and folk of all ages out supporting competitors.
After quite a late night and not a great deal of sleep, Kate felt nervous about the race, but the nerves were unfounded, she won her age category and came in 8th lady overall. A sterling effort indeed, well done Kate :-)

Today (Monday) Joe was climbing with Ann whilst I showed Andzelika & Eugene the fine crags of Ambolo. Situated near to Javea and perched above a tiny cove with wonderful views out over the sea, this place is worth visiting for the non-climber. But if you do climb, well there's even more reason to come check it out. The rock is wonderfully sharp, pocketed Limestone. All the routes are single pitch and well bolted, starting at about 10m and the longest being around 30m. Best enjoyed during sunny afternoons and stay long enough to watch the sunset, well worth it.

It's a busy week ahead here so there'll no doubt be another blog on it's way before too long.

Thanks for reading. If there's anything we can help with, information about routes etc please feel free to get in touch anytime. We also still have some availability for guided days here in Costa Blanca between now and the end of March. From early April we will once again be back in the beautiful Lake District with all our usual offerings. We hope to see you here, or there.

Mark & Kate

Joe cruising through steep ground on the magnificent 'La Libertine' at Pena Roja

Blossom is out in the Jalon valley and surrounding areas

Kate taking 1st place in the female vets category - awesome stuff!

Spot the climber - Ambolo crag, Javea

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Lead rock climbing course - Hot rock!

6/1/2018

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Rachel leading at Murla crag in the Jalon valley

During the autumn Asti contacted us to book a rock climbing course for herself and two friends Rachel and Sylvia. None had climbed in this part of Spain before and for Sylvia it was to be her first time climbing outdoors, exciting times.

We had 2 and a half days to fit lots into, and we did.
Meeting at Sierra de Toix on Wednesday afternoon, everyone seconded a few routes up to 6a. We stayed until dark, taking time to watch the amazing sunset over Sierra Helada and Benidorm.

For Thursday we stayed local to our base in Llosa, choosing Alcalali crag for the morning.With a good mix of leading and seconding, and time spent on technical instruction, this was a very productive morning. By lunchtime, the crag had become busy, and hot! So we retreated to the coast and a little known venue near Javea. Overlooking a small bay by the sea, and with a good selection of quality climbs this proved to be the perfect afternoon crag for the girls. Everyone climbed 3 routes, including more lead climbing too. Then it was time for some exploration of the nearby cove and seashore, it's a holiday after all :-)
Again we stayed for sunset and a darkish walk back to the roadside, fully making use of all the day.

For the final climbing day we stayed local again, this time Murla crag. The aim was to get plenty more leading done, so Murla works well for this, being a short crag, with easy access and friendly bolting. Lead climbs were achieved up to 6a, awesome!
The hot sun began to take its toll and with the arrival of a couple of friends, we retreated to a cafe. But no ordinary cafe. The amazing cake is only topped by the incredible sunsets from Coll de Rates. This was a fitting way to conclude the course, in a relaxed style but with a great sense of achievement felt by all.

Big thanks to Asti, Rachel, and Sylvia. A pleasure to meet you and we hope to see you all for more crag adventures soon.

Mark

Asti leading on the wonderful rock of Ambolo crag

Rachel at the top of a 6a -- check out the blue sky :-)

Sunset from Coll de Rates after another brilliant day of Rock climbing

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Ambolo - the climbing gem of Javea

29/12/2017

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Kate making a 1st lead ascent of 'Angel' at Ambolo

Over the last few days we've been really busy at the small, but impressive Ambolo crags of Javea.
I was there initially with an experienced 'route developer' Andy. He kindly gave me instruction on how to prepare and equip a route ready for climbing. This is a time consuming and expensive activity (top quality bolts don't come cheap). In the process, we cleaned and bolted a brand new rock climb which I later named 'So long Alan' in memory of my uncle.

A couple of days later I returned to Ambolo with Kate and our friend Miguel. By now we had a bag of marine grade bolts & hangers and all the tools needed to equip more routes.
There were 2 short routes I had in mind for starters. These would be straightforward, so a good place for us to 'cut our teeth' with bolting.
I installed the lower off (this bit is tricky) and from this was easily able to equip the rest of the route. I named this one 'Gwen' who had been with us on our previous visit and spotted the route.

Now for Miguel to have a go! He had spotted a nice looking rising traverse and very efficiently had this equipped in no time at all. His route is named 'Angel'.

All 3 routes are on the Sector Voodoo left hand crag and graded about f5 - but please let us know what you think if you go and climb any of them.

Today me & Kate returned to Ambolo to climb these new routes and a few others too.
We managed 8 routes in total and enjoyed all of them. The rock is super sharp, positive Limestone and excellent quality. The climbs are up to about 20m high and most have good / excellent protection.
In case this isn't enough, the approach walk is all of about 2 minutes and views out over the sea are spectacular. There is a small cove below the crags, so climbing can easily be combined with swimming or sunbathing.

There is at least one more line we'd like to develop at Ambolo, possibly more. But what's on offer at the moment makes a visit well worthwhile.

If you'd like more information about this great crag or would like rock climbing guidance / instruction, please don't hesitate to get in touch with us anytime. We're more than happy to help.

Thanks for reading.

Happy New Year everyone!

Mark

Miguel feeling at home with the drill!!

Sunset from Ambolo crag

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Short break winter sun climbing

Rock, glorious rock......and run!

Lead rock climbing course - Hot rock!

Ambolo - the climbing gem of Javea

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