Ferrer Ridge - a mix of easy scrambling and exposed walking (photo credit Carly Davies)
Ferrer Ridge
Today our plan was to traverse the magnificent Bernia Ridge with Carly and Nigel.
However, although the day had started out promising, cloud soon shrouded the ridge and the weather was noticeably turning for the worse. Rather than traverse the main ridge that has all the technical difficulties, we decided to wait a while and aim to do the easier section up to the main summit. This is max grade 1 scrambling.
After some waiting it was clear that even this would be pointless as the cloud had descended even more and we could no longer see any of the ridge. It would be a no view day.
The Ferrer ridge is close by, lower in the valley, and technically easy. So we drove the short distance to the starting point for this. Looking up at the Ferrer ridge it appeared more promising, but still cloudy. Nigel wasn’t so keen and had work he could be getting on with, so he headed back to Cycling in the Sun, Benissa. Leaving me and Carly to the Ferrer ridge.
An easy approach walk saw us reach the rocky crest within about 30 minutes. By now the views had opened up and we stopped a while to take it all in. It being a first time on this ridge for Carly I pointed out a few areas of interest.
The rocky ridge provided wonderfully airy scrambling with great positions all the way. We took occasional stops to soak up the atmosphere, such an amazing place. If this was in the Lake District it would be incredibly busy, but here in Costa Blanca it’s empty, no people. We did spot a herd of Ibex just below the ridgeline though.
All too soon we reached the end of the fun scrambling and joined a wide track leading down hill back to the roadside. The temperature was probably around 17’C and the sky now bright. Hard to believe it’s almost Christmas. This is why we return to Costa Blanca every winter.
We peeked over towards the Bernia Ridge and it was still smothered in thick cloud. Both very glad of the decision not to do that one today as damp limestone can be so slippery. Instead we have an open plan for a Bernia rematch on Wednesday.
For more about what we can offer in Spain check out our website here
This and many other ridge scrambles are detailed in our new Cicerone guidebook to Costa Blanca.
Thanks for reading
Mark
Ferrer Ridge
Stunning positions on the Ferrer Ridge (photo credit Carly Davies)