Recently, we were very glad to welcome a group of three friends who were visiting us in order to spend a few days rock climbing some of the famous crags to be found along the Costa Blanca. John, Jan and Marek arrived last Saturday for a week’s stay, and had done a fair amount of research before their arrival about which crags they wanted to scale.

They had undertaken several similar rock climbing trips together as a group in the past, but this was the first time they had visited our part of the country. After arriving early Saturday afternoon, they went to Gandia Crag – known locally as Penya Roja – since it is literally within walking distance of our villa and provided the opportunity to get a little bit of climbing in on their first day, without spending any more travelling time. The weather was warm and sunny, and was a very welcome change for them compared to what they had left behind in England, and indeed this was to be the pattern for their week with us.

Each day they would make a well planned excursion to one of the crags they had researched before they left England, the exact selection on each day depending on how they felt at the time. They would make their own packed lunches to take with them, and in the evenings they would either make use of our evening meal service, or explore Gandia or Playa de Gandia to find a restaurant that suited their requirements that day. They were fortunate in that the timing of their visit coincided with the build-up to the fiesta of Fallas in Gandia, which culminates on March 19th, so whenever they went into town in the evening there was always plenty to see and do.

Their week passed quickly and very enjoyably, with a good range of crags climbed and they were left with the thought that maybe a return visit would be called for sometime in the foreseeable future, as there were many other climbing challenges in the area they felt they wanted to take on. They were a very convivial group of guests, and we certainly hope they will come back and visit us again and complete the list of climbs that they want to conquer.

Below are some picture taken on their days out,…..Click on thumbnails to see large images.
Marchuquera

Avantador

Bellus

Ponoch

Alcalali

Bernia Ridge

Font d’Axia

All of these climbing sites are within easy reach of the Penya Roja Climbing Lodge.

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Costa Blanca

5th-12th Feb 2011

All pictures by MP except those marked JH (John) or CP (Chris).

Base Camp

Having established base camp, we went for a short acclimatisation climb (well OK, walk) up the Penon.

As ever, the Youth shot to the front, but then had to wait for the “slow and steady” team.

With determination, pluck and a total disregard for bar opening times, the top was conquered.

But sanity prevailed and we raced the sun back down to the cold beer, free wifi and ludicrously cheap seafood.

Although The Local Guide did take the opportunity to demonstrate some of his technical ability on the rocks.

An Alpine Start

The next day, we decided to beat the locals at their own game and get to the head of the queue for routes on the nearby crag. This was a total success. We also succeeded in getting there while the rock was still cold and damp. For some reason the locals only arrived when the sun had reached the crag and it was warm and pleasant. Amateurs.

The Youth on some easy warm-up route.

And The Slow and Steady Crowd…

JH

The Youth the spied a more worth challenge…

… and the game was on.

Having learned the lesson of the perils of not getting to the bar in good time, the Slow and Steadys finished off on a short, delicate but amiably bolted last route of the day.

Not the Bernia Ridge

The Bernia Ridge. Costa’s answer to the Cuillins. Never too old to learn from the locals, we had a leisurely start once it was warm enough. With confidence in our experience and a sketchy route description and some even sketchier memories, we headed inland.

JH

The route description mentioned a “hole right through the ridge”, so of course we had to get through it. With the wisdom of years on our side, we decided to send The Youth through first.

JH

After an hour or so of leg-shredding bush-wacking, scree-stumbling and cliff-oggling we had another look at the route description – this time with spectacles fitted – and came to the conclusion that although it mentioned the hole, it didn’t actually say “go though it”. So back we went, through the hole and up and easy path to the top of the ridge.

We traversed the ridge for a while till the first irreversible abseil and concluded we didn’t have enough time to complete the ridge. Benightment was not an option. We retreated, one more time through the hole and opted for a circumnavigation of the ridge.

Day 4

A cragging day best forgotten. An “educational” day.

The Gorge of Hell

Barranco di Inferno.

Never too old to learn, we set off well before dawn this time, up the long windy road to the top of the gorge.

The first abseil.

The gorge narrows.

The first awkward bit.

CP

The point of no return.

From now on, the only way is down.

The Youth is sent ahead to figure out a way round the Exit Pools.

He falls in, so the Slow and Steady mob look for a more technical solutions.

The final obstacle…

… and we’re out!

Only 1000ft to climb back up to the start.

Marin

A good easy grade crag inland from Alicante.

Our warmup route on the Western Butress. Quite stiff for the grade (4+) we thought.

JH JH

JH

The stiff gradeS continued on the not-so-warmup routes. The Ps only managed to get up to the 3rd bolt and them we called in the heavy guns – JohnH.

We all finished off on the classic 2 pitch Jhonny – probably the best route so far and a fine end to the week.

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Eva and Jeff come from Canada and rock climbing in Spain was part of a longer European trip for them – their honeymoon in fact – which had started out in Poland. Eva’s family originated from there and, although she had been born in Canada, she wanted to visit her relatives and introduce them to Jeff before the two of them travelled on to Spain for some rock climbing in the autumn sunshine. Although the fine weather they had hoped for turned out to elusive when they first arrived in the country, they were rewarded with plenty of warm sunshine during their stay with us here in Gandia.

They spent every day climbing on Gandia Crag – known locally as Penya Roja – and were delighted with the variety and scope of the climbs available there. Although many other crags are within easy reach of us here at Villa Florencia, they felt no need to explore further afield as there was no prospect of them getting bored, and they were even joined by some friends at one point who were climbing in the area as well. The weather was even so good that late one afternoon – accompanied by their friends – they returned from their climbing and had a quick swim in our pool! On Sunday they all took some time off from climbing to have a traditional paella lunch at one of the local restaurants, which they enjoyed very much indeed, but then sadly it was all too soon time for them to leave.

Their five days here had been a totally unplanned part of their European itinerary, but one that they had enjoyed very much indeed. It was a pleasure to meet them and their friends and we are only glad that they turned out to be yet another set of guests to be pleasantly surprised by what our part of the La Safor region has to offer in the cooler months of the year.

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Certainly,  the Costa Blanca tends to bathe in the luxury of over 300 clear days a year and this is a boon whether you are a walker, golfer, cyclist, sailor or, like myself, a rock climber. All of a sudden you can find that the frustrations of living in Northern Europe and battling the weather largely disappear. In fact, the endurance element (with regard to the weather) of your particular sport can be left, thankfully, well behind.

Rock climbing, of course, is a very weather dependent sport (you can only climb when rock is dry!) and it is therefore an excellent gauge of what you can do in Spain if you are keen on outdoor sports. To that end, I tend to climb every weekend and, during the summer, one evening a week. Amazingly, I doubt that my climbing is disrupted by adverse weather more than 7 or eight times a year.

Of course, the pleasure of climbing on the Costa Blanca Spain is enhanced by the fact that Spain (in the Mediterranean areas) tends to be warm the moment the sun is out. By this I mean that a clear sky and sun equals warmth almost irrespective of the time of year. This is unlike Northern Europe where a sunny day in the winter can still be bitterly cold.

As to climbing in Spain, there are almost unlimited crags to climb. Better still, the majority of these are bolted and extremely well cared for thus making the sport just about as safe as it can be. This is a pleasure for the serious climber and beginner alike.

I tend to climb around the Valencia and Alicante area which is notable for its superb quality of climbing. Indeed, it has everything to offer from long pitches, traditional routes, short, tough crags and areas ideal for beginners. There are even sea cliffs to climb – enabling you to spend part of the day on the beach before taking on some challenging routes!

Fortunately, the Spanish are active climbers with many towns having a climbing club. These invariably publish details of crags and their routes on their web sites thus making it easy to access information regarding where and what to climb. Meanwhile, Rockfax have guides on climbing in Spain that are well worth obtaining.

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Refugio Monduver is a spacious yet rustic style home appealing to those looking for a comfortable and relaxed “home from home”. Located in the mountain village of La Drova at over 375 metres above sea level, yet only 15km from the coast, it makes the perfect base for walkers, cyclists, mountain bikers, climbers, bird watchers and nature lovers.

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The Gandia area is known as La Safor and is a gorgeous area located on the mid-eastern seaboard of Spain, almost adjacent to the Balearic Islands and just below Valencia (Spain’s third largest city).  La Safor is on the cusp of the northern Costa Blanca and the southern part of the Costa del Azahar.  The capital of the area is Gandia (pop. 80,000) a busy and cosmopolitan town surrounded by a number of delightful smaller towns, villages and estates that extend inland and along a stunning coast of golden, Blue Flagged beaches.

GANDIA HAS SOME OF THE FINEST BEACHES IN SPAIN – FANTASTIC!

One of the few remaining traditionally ‘Spanish’ areas along the east coast, La Safor has managed to avoid the ‘concrete jungle’ developments of elsewhere.  In fact, at the time of writing, Gandia has only 318 British residents illustrating the ‘unknown’ nature of Gandia – despite its superb beaches, first class communications and infrastructure.

For full details on the La Safor Region of Spain, Explore La Safor

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We would like to present you another issue with some of the strongest Boreal team members. We have Nacho Sanchez, Ignasi Tarrazona, Bruno Macias and last but not least the inspirational Pedro Pons in this movie.
Minute 4 of video, Malsonandro 8c, Chikara 8b, El Bovedon Cave, minutes from the lodge.
See your self and get inspired by nothing more than No Pain No Spain!

Gaz Parry climbing Malsoñando 8c in El Bovedon spain

Another fine example of the quality of climbing to be found in the local area. A video by some local Spanish Climbers on Marxuquera Crag(Gandia).

A really warm winter day in Gandia, trying ‘Solta el mos’ 7a in la Marxuquera. In the following attempt Pulpo ascended it!

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A Perfect Holiday for Everyone!

Penya Roja Climbing Lodge provided the perfect accommodation for a group of accomplished climbers from Romania who visited us for ten days immediately after Christmas. The group consisted of five couples, accompanied also by two young children, who all stayed in the house – some of them in the main house on a bed and breakfast basis, and two of the couples in our self-catering apartment. In this way they were all able to stay at the same location within easy reach of the famous Gandia Crag (known locally as Penya Roja), but to have the level of accommodation and service that was appropriate to their individual needs and budgets.

The convenience and versatility of the accommodation really came into its own during the course of their visit. All of those staying on a bed and breakfast basis (in the main part of the house) chose to dine with us each evening, and very often the couples in the apartment did so too. However, even on those occasions when the apartment guests catered for their own dinner, they would join their friends later in the public rooms of the main house for a convivial evening and to talk about the day’s climbing. In fact, some of the group – mainly the mothers of the two children – did not climb at all, but were happy to relax in the gardens of the villa during the day and even had lunch here too whilst the others were at the rock-face. It turned out that the varying levels of accommodation and catering options could be applied to everybody’s differing requirements with ease, and everyone soon found that whatever they wanted to make their stay convenient and enjoyable was available with no problem at all.

Penya Roja Climbing Lodge turned out to be a great base not only for their climbing holiday, but also as somewhere that was well located for those rest days between climbing expeditions when a day trip to somewhere of interest was called for. Their main interest and motivation for coming to the area was obviously the exceptional climbing to be found in the immediate vicinity. Not only is Penya Roja within walking distance, but also El Bovedon is too – another crag that provides challenging climbing routes – as well as many others within reasonable driving distance. Our guests, however, chose to spend the vast majority of their climbing time on Penya Roja and were very impressed with the exceptional number of climbing routes on the crag with levels of difficulty to suit every member of the party.

Sometimes though, a break from rock-climbing was on the agenda, and it was on those occasions that the location of the villa really added to their holiday experience. It was easy for them to take day trips by car or train to Valencia city or to drive to Alicante, or alternatively just to drive the short distance to Gandía’s award-winning beach to enjoy an afternoon’s winter sunshine. They found that they were able to have not only a rock-climbing holiday, but also a beautiful winter sunshine break with their families – a perfect combination for this particular group of friends. The children particularly enjoyed visiting attractions such as the Bio Park in Valencia as well as the aquarium at the City of Arts and Sciences in the city also.

Every member of the group said at the end of their stay that it had been one of the best vacations they had ever taken, as the combination of accommodation, climbing opportunities in the immediate vicinity and excursions in the area in general meant that there really was something for everybody to enjoy, and nobody in the group had the chance to be bored or left at a loose end. They were all of the opinion that they would love to return to us in the near future, as there were still plenty of challenging climbs left for them to attempt and lots of the surrounding countryside for them to explore at other times too. It was a real pleasure to have them stay with us, and we certainly hope to see them back with us before long.

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They have been on many climbing trips in various parts of Europe, but agreed that Gandía’s own mountain rivalled any that they had climbed in the past. The weather was glorious – even possibly a little too warm – but this made for a wonderful and memorable last day of their visit, and indeed was characteristic of their entire time here with us. Beautiful weather, challenging rock-climbing and comfortable accommodation … what more could any climbing enthusiasts ask?

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