On the initial pinnacle - Forada Ridge Costa Blanca
Forada Ridge Costa Blanca
Having recently arrived back in Spain for the winter season, it has been glorious to be out in the warm sunshine and climb on warm, dry rock. We enjoyed a few single pitch sport climbs at the nearby Alcalali crag on Monday and whilst this was very pleasant, it’s not what excites me. So yesterday we headed out into the mountains for a proper adventure.
The Forada ridge (IV):
This is described (route 8) in my guidebook ‘Mountain Adventures Costa Blanca’ published by Cicerone and available in time for Christmas delivery and adventures to last a lifetime 🙂
It has been quite some time since I was on this ridge, so it did genuinely feel like new terrain and the 3 friends I was with had never been on it before.
The approach walk is really straightforward and on very good, almost ‘groomed’ tracks and this took us about 35 minutes, we were walking pretty quick. The approach is from the north side and as we crossed to the south side of the ridge and so into the sun, the heat suddenly hit us and was a delight to feel on our skin. Well it has been a damp year back in the Lakes.
The initial scramble to gain the ridge is via an easy ramp leading rightwards to an obvious notch in the ridge. This is barely grade 1 scrambling, so gives a nice warm up before the real fun begins.
At the notch we uncoiled the ropes and set up a belay. It’s possible to climb directly out of the notch but this is steep and tricky, so not really in-keeping with the rest of the ridge. For those wanting to keep it easier, stay to the left of the notch. From here the scrambling and climbing is continuously interesting and offers good quality rock and exciting levels of exposure - definitely more exposed than I'd remembered.
The crux is probably the initial down-climb from a large pinnacle and this needs treating with caution however it is approached. It is possible to abseil this pitch, applying the same caution as if climbing it. We set things up here so we both were able to benefit from a 'top-rope'.
Down climbing to the first col - Forada Ridge Costa Blanca (Image courtesy of Sam Marsland)
Delightful climbing follows and soon the ridge widens at an easy section which leads to the finale of fun. This comes in the form of about a 50m length of very narrow ridge scrambling leading to the single bolt abseil anchor. I'd forgotten this was the abseil descent and continued along the ridge for a short way to reach a col. From this col it looks feasible to scramble down the south side with care. We didn't try this so cannot confirm it as a good route option.
Abseil down the south side of the ridge and for those with some energy left, you are now at the base of a fine single pitch sport climbing crag with loads of brilliant climbs.
We walked under the south side of the ridge to then retrace our outward route back to the parking spot.
The ridge is semi-equipped with bolts, but it is well worth have a small amount of trad climbing gear to fill the gaps. We carried a few medium cams and 120cm slings and used them. A 50m rope is also required.
We traversed the ridge in our trainers and this felt fine. There are a few short sections where some may prefer rock shoes, but these are certainly not essential.
In summary, the Forada Ridge Costa Blanca is a fabulous day out up in the mountains and can be done in an afternoon rather than needing a full day. Some might say it's a 'rest day' route!
We offer guided climbing, walking, and climbing throughout the region, see more here
For loads of great routes please check out my book Mountain Adventures Costa Blanca.
And just one more thing before signing off. I'd like to give a shout out to Jennifer who keeps an up-to-date blog about her adventures in the Costa Blanca. Jennifer has a truly adventurous spirit and she knows some real gems of places throughout the region. Please do check out her website here and maybe even sign up to her newsletter.
Thanks for reading
Mark
Easy approach walk on big tracks - Forada Ridge Costa Blanca