Category: Costa Blanca Climbing - Mountain Journeys - Guided Walks

Introduction to outdoor climbing course - Costa Blanca

17/5/2019

#guided-climbing-costa-blanca

Sierra de Toix

We're just back from a flying visit to Costa Blanca to meet up with Michelle to show her what 'sport climbing' is all about.
With 3 days to cover the basics and more besides, we had plenty to keep us busy. As always, there was lots of climbing going on too.
Starting at the coastal crag of Sierra de Toix on the outskirts of Calpe, Michelle had her first taste of Limestone and climbing outside. By the end of the day, I think she was hooked!

The next day we moved inland to the Val de Gulabdar (Echo valley) crags below the mighty Ponoch. More fine climbing with skills attached to each route and descent, Michelle was picking things up really quickly. So far we had descended the routes via stacked abseils and by the end of the day Michelle was attaching confidently to the abseil ropes and understood the mechanics involved.
We finished off by introducing the skills required to safely lower off a sport climb - ie rethreading the anchor.

For our final day of the trip we were back at Sierra de Toix. First up was a 3 pitch climb called 'Lara' which Michelle took in her stride. There followed a 2 stage abseil descent from the top of the crag.
After lunch it was time for Michelle to take the lead. For this we headed back over to Toix far Oeste crags and started with a route we had climbed on our first day out.
Leading your first climb isn't to be taken lightly and we certainly had a good chat about this before Michelle embarked. Clipping all the bolts the correct way, confidently going through the process of threading the rope through the anchor and stripping the route on the way down, this was a very happy moment for both of us. I was certainly very chuffed.
Clearly on a roll, Michelle cruised up her second outdoor lead before we called it a day and went for celebratory ice cream by the marina in Calpe.

Wow, what a trip. Seeing the confidence and climbing independence build is a big reason why this is so rewarding for us. Fantastic effort Michelle, may you have many happy years of climbing ahead, and of course we hope to see you again.

Mark

#introductory-climbing-course-costa-blanca

Michelle enjoying the sharp limestone routes at Sierra de Toix

#how-to-set-up-an-abseil

Throwing down the abseil rope at Echo Valley

#how-to-set-up-an-abseil-costa-blanca

Abseil time

#lead-rock-climbing-course-costa-blanca

Michelle leading her first outdoor rock climb. She cruised it :-)

#learn-to-sport-climb-spain

Preparing to lower off a sport climb

#costa-blanca-climbing

View from Echo valley crags over to Ponoch, El Castellet, and the coast

Via Valencianos, Ponoch

22/2/2019

#trad-climbing-ponoch-costa-blanca

The huge south face of Ponoch. Home to some of the longest and most demanding climbing in the region

For years now we've had a big climbing route on the mighty Ponoch in our sights, on our wish list. But it kept evading us, the time just wasn't right, until this week.

After some friends climbed the route a couple of weeks back, my enthusiasm suddenly gathered momentum for the route, and for a massive adventure. Thankfully another climbing friend was also very keen on the route and had also had it on his 'to-do' list for some years. A plan was hatched and the excitement began. Whilst we have both climbed big routes before, this certainly felt (to me at least) like a step up from previous adventures on Puig Campana, in fact I'd say it almost makes the Puig Campana feel tame!!

The route we had in mind, Via Valencianos, is a 500 metre E1 / 6a trad climb. There would be some easy pitches, even some walking, but there would also be some tough climbing and route finding on such a massive piece of rock was always going to be the biggest challenge. Getting that wrong up there would be serious and we both stayed completely focused the whole time.

Setting off from the car park at around 9.15am on a sunny morning all was looking well. The first few pitches went smoothly too, all was looking rosy. Somewhere on pitch 4 things started to fall apart a little. We were uncertain of the route, things were suddenly not obvious, and the climbing was a little bit tougher than we were expecting. We both clearly had doubts about what to do next.

Do we continue or retreat whilst we still can?
Whilst it was Neil leading this pitch, this was a discussion we were both totally involved in, we were in this together and had lots to consider, including our safety. What I took away from the discussions we had at that time, is the importance to support each other and to remain flexible regarding outcomes and objectives. Getting to the top is optional, returning to base is mandatory. We were both on this wavelength and that is a good feeling.

It was decided to continue and thankfully things soon improved and we were back on track, phew! The first of the crux pitches lay straight ahead of us and looked formidable. A huge traverse across a smooth shield of limestone, this was going to be amazing and I couldn't wait, I think Neil felt the same.
Neil led this pitch, cruising across with seemingly little effort. I thoroughly enjoyed the pitch too and led through up the next pitch, which was easier but less well protected and with plenty of loose rock, so felt scary. More good climbing and amazing positions followed as well as a couple of walking pitches, these linked the good bits of rock.

Neil also led the upper crux pitch, this was the hardest technical climbing on the route and even though it had some fixed protection, it felt like E1 to us. I had the pleasure of leading the final pitch up to the summit plateau. Whilst this pitch had some loose rock again, it was enjoyable and full of interest. Topping out was a very fine feeling indeed and we were both elated.

We had a pretty good idea where to aim for to find the initial abseil station to start our descent and indeed found this within just a few minutes. A 40m abseil took to to scree above the top of the via ferrata and we quickly descended to the next abseil station to take us down to the base of the mountain.

Just under 9 hours from start to finish. That was without rushing the route, but being efficient and keeping breaks and change-overs to a minimum. This felt a pretty good time for such a long and intricate route.

A couple of beers in our local bar that evening tasted ever so good :-)

Big thanks to Neil for climbing this with me, good company and climbing the whole way.

Mark

#guided-climbing-costa-blanca

High up on the climb

#costa-blanca-climbing-course

On our way to the abseil station and our return to base

Short stay multi-activity - Costa Blanca

15/2/2019

#rock-climbing-course-costa-blanca

Andi making light work of a 6a route at Toix near Calpe

We've had the pleasure of welcoming back the Patchwork team this week. Looking for a break from the grey skies of Northern England but wanting so much more than relaxing by a pool, we had the perfect solution.

Multi-activity Costa Blanca style - this of course involves plenty of blue sky and sunshine, but also plenty of time out in the mountains, on the crags, and exploring new places.

Over the 3 days we enjoyed a walk to the dramatic 'Cova del Dalt' a beautiful cave with very easy access. This was part of a walk to the summit of El Crestall which lies just under the 1000m marker. For the afternoon we descended a nearby canyon, the Barranco del Pas de Calvo, so a rather full day. Plenty of happy faces at the end of that one.

Day 2 was a little more chilled out. We visited the seaside, well sort of! A day of rock climbing on the Toix crags near Calpe. These offer splendid views along the coastline. Most enjoyed 7 climbs before finger strength final got the better of us. A lovely warm day at the crag.

Day 3 was a bigger, more intense day. The dramatic Barranco del Pas de Tancat near the little village of Bolulla. This is an amazing trip with beautiful scenery to start and this gets better and better with every abseil. The biggest abseil in here is almost 40 metres and whilst everyone did really well, it's a real hats off to those with a fear of heights. That's cured now I think!

6 refreshed and happy people winged their way back to Newcastle this morning. It's been an absolute pleasure, hope to see you all again before too long.

Mark

#guided-walking-costa-blanca

Lunch stop during one of our mountain walks this week

#canyoning-costa-blanca

The team in the dramatic 'Barranco del Pas de Tancat'

Parle - a total classic

2/2/2019

#guided-climbing-costa-blanca

Neil going for the bridge on pitch 1

Earlier this week we had a trip to the seaside. Not just any bit of seaside, but the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' sea cliff area of Sierra de Toix. This is a seriously impressive piece of cliff and when looking down through the hole it seems most improbable for a 6a+ route to venture through such terrain, but it does!!

Parle is a climb I've done a few times now, including fairly recently. Neil too has climbed the route, although it was a bit longer ago. I think for both of us the excitement factor was plenty high enough, such is the drama of the abseil approach.

Once established at the base of the route we were well sheltered from any wind and in full sun, rather hot it was too. I led off up the first pitch, soon remembering what fun it was, Neil quickly followed and led through, cruising the 2nd pitch to the hanging belay. I led through for the final pitch which is slightly longer and pops back out through the entrance hole. Belaying right on the edge is best to enjoy the view down onto the route. Neil despatched the pitch rapidly and with style. Both back at the top so time for sandwiches and sea views. Whilst enjoying lunch we spotted a very large bird of prey, probably an Eagle, but couldn't get a good enough look to be sure.

For those interested to know more about this route - 'Parle' - it is a 3 pitch sport climb graded 5+ / 6a+ / 6a. Belays are well bolted but the bolts on pitches are spaced, personally I think this is a good thing as it definitely adds to the adventure. There is an abseil approach, this is approximately 55m and all free-hanging. There are no bolts or belay at the base of the route, so attaching to the abseil rope is to be recommended. With the only way out being to climb, a few self-rescue skills are worth knowing before attempting this route (or any others like it).

For more information on this and similar routes, or for more about self-rescue for climbers please don't hesitate to get in touch, we're more than happy to help.

Mark

#parle-costa-blanca

Me lapping up the wonderful positions on pitch 2 - photo credit to Neil

#parle-toix-costa-blanca

Neil cruising up the final moves

5 days of 'hot rock' climbing holiday

30/1/2019

#climbing-holiday-costa-blanca

Enjoying the great scrambling offered on the 'Cresta del Migdia'

A very busy week and the sun shone almost constantly for all our climbing and scrambling antics.

We've been joined by Lizzie, for a week of easy rock climbing and ridge scrambling. Lizzie first visited us last year and quickly warmed to the idea of climbing on sun drenched limestone, peaceful crags, and beautiful views. Well, who can blame her!

For day one our plan was to ease in gently. After the 9th route at local crag Font d'axia we decided this wasn't quite the gentle warm-up that was planned! But still, a grand day was had and a great start to the week.
On day two we ventured inland to the 'Cresta del Castellar' which lies on the outskirts of the small city of Alcoy. A strange place to go climbing, but the views are surprisingly wonderful. As this is a fairly short ridge, we finished the day with a walk along the Barranco del Cint. The purpose of this was to see the resident Griffon Vultures. And wow did we see Vultures, loads of them!

Sunday came along and day three for us. The church bells played as we arrived in the small village of Tormos. Another ridge for us today, the 'Cresta del Migdia'. This provides 100's of metres of mid-grade scrambling along an arete. There are a few moves that are up to about 'moderate' climbing and these can easily be protected if needs be. The ridge provides plenty of entertainment and adventure, but then comes the descent! With no proper path and plenty of vegetation, this can (and usually does) provide the crux of the day. We navigated this pretty well this time.

Day four took us to the ever popular Toix crags. We enjoyed a selection of single and multi-pitch routes, all on beautifully sharp limestone and all giving us amazing sea views. Tired muscles saw us finish a little earlier today, but we still packed in plenty of climbing mileage.

The last day always seems to arrive much too soon!! We spent the day at Olta crags. These are set back above the seaside resort of Calpe and command excellent views of El Peñon d'Ifach. We rattled through 8 pitches of climbing and had the whole crag to ourselves, again.
A happily tired Lizzie flies home to the UK today. Hopefully see you again soon, for some Lake District rock.

Mark

#ridge-scrambling-costa-blanca

Cresta del Castellar, Alcoy

#guided-climbing-costa-blanca

Sunshine and bolted limestone at Toix crag, Calpe

#griffon-vulture-costa-blanca

A Griffon Vulture soaring above Barranco del Cint, Alcoy

Espolon Central - Puig Campana

15/1/2019

#espolon-central-puig-campana

The massive Puig Campana

It's fair to say I'm feeling a bit tired today, most likely a rest day in fact.
Why? Well, yesterday I joined a couple of friends, George and Rachel, to climb a big route on Puig Campana. This is the massive and iconic mountain passed as you drive along the coast road from Alicante to Calpe and is just inland from Benidorm. It's unmissable and unmistakable. I've climbed on this crag maybe half a dozen times, so not loads, but enough to feel I know my way around reasonable well. For Rachel and George, it was a day for them to familiarise themselves with the mountain and terrain and get a feel for the place. They have even bigger projects in mind!

Our route was to be the super classic 'Espolon Central' a Hard Severe / 4+ of about 440 metres and taking the most striking line on the mountain. Espolon Central translates to 'Central Arete' and that's exactly what this is. Follow the huge arete in the centre of the South face. So you may think route finding will be easy. Not really. Just reaching the arete requires about 100m of climbing. Once on the arete you realise it is actually huge, so a line needs to be chosen, ideally the correct line. George was leading the route today and thankfully his route finding skills are first class, we didn't put a foot wrong anytime.
Me and Rachel we able to simple enjoy seconding the route, enjoying sitting around on the big belay ledges, and chatting away, all whilst George did all the hard work, thanks George. This was a huge help to me as I'm currently doing some research on the route and the mountain.

We climbed the route swiftly, about 5 hours of climbing landed us at the top of the route. So far we had enjoyed continuously interesting climbing on good rock in increasingly spectacular positions. The climbing is never hard, but it is run-out and the length of the route means it's very tiring, exhausting in fact. So not to be under-estimated.

After a nice rest and mini-explore at the top, we began our descent. Once you've done this and know the way, it's pretty straightforward, but first time, it can be daunting and confusing, especially when tired. We discussed what this would be like on a misty day, or worse, in the dark! It doesn't bear thinking about. Thankfully we had bright sunshine, t-shirt weather even at the top of the climb.
Red paint mark the way and there are occasional fixed cables to help protect the trickier sections. The exposure here is similar to that experienced during the climb, so care is required. We soon reached the edge of the huge gully and made our way down into it, from here it's a steep scree run back to base.

A couple of climbers from Madrid followed us up the climb, and we noticed at the top they continued to scramble upwards for maybe 100m. We thought maybe they are continuing all the way to the summit. But then noticed they too began to traverse leftwards as if making a descent to the big gully, only higher up. Still not sure what their plan was or if they found a good way down. But would be interesting to know. The terrain didn't look too friendly. They certainly seemed to know what they were doing though.

8 hours out on the mountain for us yesterday and almost every minute of that we are on the go (George much more so), so all pretty knackered now. Back to bed maybe!!

Thanks to Rachel and George for a fab day out.

Mark

#rock-climbing-costa-blanca

Rachel cruising up the groove on pitch 7

#guided-climbing-costa-blanca

George leading up pitch 9

#rock-climbing-costa-blanca

Big views towards the coast from high on the route

#espolon-central-descent-route

More amazing scenery during our descent. This is taken after the traverse with fixed cables, we are about to enter the big gully

Short break winter sun climbing

29/12/2018

#costablancaclimbingholiday

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

#rockclimbingwintersun

Big blue skies over Ambolo crag, Javea

Mountain walks and sport climbing on the Costa Blanca

8/11/2018

#walkholidayspain

On our way to Castell d'Axia

It’s been crazy busy here over the passed couple of weeks, so a bit slow on writing updates.

As well as enjoying some wonderful walks, we spent a day showing Kitty, David, and Megan the delights of Limestone rock climbing at Marin crag near Alicante.

For visiting climbers Marin has quite an appeal for its location is such that it is a feasible ‘airport day’ crag. It’s a popular choice with locals too, and anyone staying north or south of Alicante can get to it pretty conveniently, so good for many. Add into the mix a very easy approach walk, stunning views, and a wide range of single and multi-pitch climbs and it’s easy to see why it can occasionally become busy here.

We started with a few newly bolted short routes near Sector Cuevas, these were nice warm-ups. We then enjoyed some scrambling on our way over to Sector Classico, here we climbed more newly bolted routes, these were longer and more demanding.
With temperature near perfect, the air clear, and the rock nice and grippy it was easy to make this a very enjoyable day, and it was, very enjoyable. As well as all the climbing, we looked at a few technical skills such as belay techniques and tying in to the rope using a figure of eight knot.
By mid-afternoon the sun was making us all feel a little weary, so with some further scrambling, we made our way back to the cars.

There’s been plenty of hiking going on here too. One route that quickly comes to mind is a circuit of Castell d’Axia (Castle of the princess), which we can start from our house in Llosa de Camacho. I was joined by a couple of friends Mila and Alex, both originally from Pedreguer so know the area well.
The route provides excellent walking that is constantly varied and with some great views, even as far as to Ibiza!! The route is mostly straightforward to follow and on good paths with way-marking. The remains of the castle are barely visible, but as the castle was on the summit, it’s super impressive up there anyway. Some rain joined us for the return walk, but this simply added to the adventure and feeling of wilderness. We covered around 15km in 4 hours 30 minutes, with lots of ascent too, so were all quite pleasantly tired upon arriving back at Llosa.

A cracking few days spent with lovely people.

Mark

#rockclimbingcoursecostablanca

#rockclimbingatmarinnearalicante

Enjoying a fine outlook and great climbing at Marin

Sport climbing holiday - in Sunny Spain

3/3/2018

#rockclimbinggandiacostablanca

Fine views from El Bovedon crags, Gandia

Over the last few days we've welcomed back Rachel for her 3rd climbing trip to Costa Blanca this winter!

Each day we climbed at a different crag and over the course or her stay climbed at:

Echo valley: this area is home to a wide variety of crags, from single pitch bolted routes to multi-pitch trad adventures. We enjoyed 8 friendly routes at Echo 1.5

Bovedon (Gandia): Just north of our Llosa de Camacho base, lie these wonderful crags with a massive amount of routes. The local climbing scene around Gandia is strong and this is ever apparent when visiting the Bovedon crags, with so many newly bolted routes. Today we were also joined by Stig from Norway and Kate was climbing with us too. Can't remember how many routes we all climbed, but the highlight for us all i'm sure was a big pitch of 6b+ 'Jovenes a los 70' (young at 70)! The rock at Bovedon is super sharp, by the end of the day all our fingers were feeling battered and shredded, but still we walked away from the crag just before sunset as the magical light shone over the orange groves and onto the rocks, beautiful.

Sierra de Toix & Morro Falqui: Today the weather didn't play ball and a little rain came along!! So we delayed our climbing and instead had an explore of the Mascarat gorge prior to touching rock at Toix. This plan worked well as the rain stopped and the rock dried almost instantly :-) We were joined by Steve from the Midlands and we climbed a couple of mega long pitches before Steve took the led over on Toix Far Oeste. More rain came our way and we rain away! Me & Rachel drove north to seek the shelter of Morro Falqui and the classic 'Coming Out'. As expected, this was completely dry and sheltered from any rain and we enjoyed another fab climb before it was time for Rachel to make her way to the airport :-(

Temperatures have risen over the last few days and currently conditions here are perfect for climbing on most of the valley and mountain crags.

Thanks to Rachel, Stig, Steve, and Kate

Mark

#rockclimbingcoursespain

Cragging at Echo valley with views of Ponoch beyond

#climbingcoursecostablanca

Rachel cruising 'Coming Out' at Morro Falqui

#costablancaclimbingholiday

Kate & Don - enjoying another sunny day at the crag

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

5/2/2018

#costablancaclimbingsonjannika

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

#rockclimbingholidaycostablanca

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

#wildflowersofspainalcalaliblossom

Blossom is out in the Jalon valley and surrounding areas

#trailrunningcostablanca

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

#rockclimbingnearjaveacostablanca

Spot the climber - Ambolo crag, Javea