Costa Blanca 8-15th March 2006
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All of our previous visits to the Costa Blanca had been to the northern end of the region, staying at Calpe or Benidorm. This trip we decided to try the southern crags in the region bordering Mercia in the RockFax guide. We stayed in a pleasant apartment in one of the urbanisations a few km south of Alicante on the way to Santa Pola, see picture 1. The weather was 18-19C with sun every day and some of the sun-trap crags became quite warm. Access to all the crags required some driving, usually 40-50 minutes though much of it was on toll-free autovia. A more central site would have been somewhere like Castalla though finding accommodation and eating out may have been a problem.
Thursday. Marin.
A pleasant 2 part crag with a 15 minute almost level walk to the steeper second part - Western Buttress, the first section - Main Face contains a lot of 4 and 5, some 2 pitch and many with stars. The weather was breezy but the crag proved to be something of a sun trap and after the cold miserable English weather it felt quite hot. Particularly recommended is Descoco Tension 6b ***, feels like a 6c but some of the jugs are huge. The finish onto the slab was a bit of a struggle. Left are Espolon gris 6a+ * and Derecha de Espolon 6a+ *, both under graded unless you have a remarkable reach. Also recommended are Pillete que 6a+ *, good warm-up for Descoco, and Paranoia 6a**.
Friday. Orihuela/Callosa
A disappointing crag. Sector 1 seemed very under graded, was polished and did horrible things to the fingers. On sector 2 Gusano 6a+ ***, (6b?) was excellent, see picture 2 but further left past the overhangs on sector 3 Jarra pellejos 6a+ * was so cruelly prickly as to be almost unjustifiable. Picture 3, Gerry was not well. Avoid the Goa Indian restaurant.
Saturday. Sax, Peñas del Rey.
An excellent crag with some good middle grade two pitch routes though the descent path became a little tiresome after a few repeats in tight rock shoes, see picture 4. Also of note, the map in the 2005 RockFax may be incorrect, try 0.8 km instead of 1.8km on the last leg.
Recommended are Directisima 6a,6a **. Pitch 1 is quite tough for its grade and at least 6a+. Watch your shin on the slippery edge to the small cave. Super Directa 6a,5+ *** has a brilliant pitch 1 once the initial grot is passed. Also, Tupungato 5,5+ if only for the superb and unlikely first pitch.
Worth several visits, picture 5 is the view from the crag.
Sunday. Peña Rubia
We probably picked the worst day of the week to visit this crag. It's close to the road, popular and behind the Boreal factory so they probably use it for testing. However, it was well worth a visit if only for Sector Claveles.
Recommended are the remarkable Vacilando con lobos 6a+ **, steep wall on excellent holds, Veras que fuerte 5+ *, more Willersley than Spain and Viviendo en una súplica 6a **, but note that the belay marked in the RockFax below the hanging crack does not exist and it's necessary to climb the crack (horrid) or traverse right along the thin undercut (scary) to a concealed lower-off above. Inomminata 5+ ** was stopping a lot of teams (including us), try 6b as a more realistic grade. Picture 6, Bill Geary having a bit of a do on Inomminata.
Monday. Reconco
An excellent crag, well worth a couple of visits for its many middle grade classics. Gerry and I had been before but there were still things to do. Almost everything can be recommended particularly the long routes to the right. Picture 7 shows Bill Wintrip on Pa en cubitos 6a+ *. On the most left hand route Chino Chano 6b * we were reduced to pulling on a droopy bolt on the steep wall described as 'better holds'. I may have to play the 'I think a holds come off' card on that one. The Bills also raved about La lagrima 6a,6b ***, with p1 being quite hard for its grade and p2 being in outrageous position. Picture 8, shade, picnic spot and watering hole on Reconco.
A cool wind is blowing from the east and the coast is shrouded in cloud. Fingers crossed we headed inland to Foradà to find that the sky was clearing and the sun was warming the crags. The north side of the crag was shrouded in gloom so we headed round to the south. Within an hour we were complaining about the heat. Foradà is an extensive crag sporting some difficult routes, particularly on the north side. However, the south side too has some classics on Sector del Forat.
All the routes on the big brown slab can be recommended, with cristina 5+** probably being the hardest, worth 6a. Further left there is lots more to go at at, try Javier Muñoz 6a+ *, pumpy arms, Sube que es gratis 6a+ * (tricky) and Chorro sin agua 6a *. Picture 9 is Bill Geary on Chorro sin agua, picture 10 Bill misbehaving at dinner, Bill Geary practicing his Wallace grin, and 11, time to go home.
Details.
Bill Geary, Bill Wintrip, Alison Wintrip, Gerry Langsley, Chris Jackson.
Flight from East Midlands to Alicante with bmiBaby at bmibaby.com We paid £42pp
Car Hire via Holiday Autos www.holidayautos.co.uk/ Ford Fiesta 4 door a/c £100 fully comp.
Accommodation: Kay and Denis Gilbert. kdgilbuk@aol.com www.casagilbert.co.uk.
We paid £250/6 people.