My first outdoor climbing trips were around 7 years ago to the costa blanca mainly around the Benidorm area. I was so excited to finally have a trip back given that the last time here I was barely climbing 6b. This time I travelled further North from Alicante to the Xalo valley area staying in a villa around Parcent. As expected with any trip to Spain we managed to get 6 routes in at Alcalali on the first day- a great almost roadside crag just 10 minutes away from base camp.
I've been told on numerous occasions that I must head to costa blanca and climb at L'Oclaive- probably because of my reputation for big overhangs. So I made sure we headed there day 2. The crag is pretty impressive but I was disappointed to find the main cave area full of wasps. Fortunately here was a couple of routes in the lower cave section to give a go; basket case (left hand finish) 7b+ and Ostia spanskie 7b. The last route was particularly interesting given he huge cemented block and glued holds!
Basket case, 7b+
Basket case, 7b+
Ostia spanskie 7b
Ostia spanskie 7b
Ostia spanskie 7bThe following two days were really windy- to the point it was hard to sleep so finding sheltered crags was essential. Alcalali and Murla fit the bill. A notably worthwhile section of Murla was the crazy horse sector with routes crazy crazy 6c, Spanish holiday 6c+ and atchata 7b+. These routes were great with the hardest sections at the start moving over a lip. Red October 6c was also a memorable route along a diagonal crack and because as Chris started it a piece of rock fell on his head!
On day 5 we travelled to Pego which was a bit further out- and although most routes were instantly forgettable there were a handful of gems-cobra loca felt stiff at 6b and included another couple of glue on holds, Teto 7a+ and muca muca 7a.
Coll on cobra loca 6b
Day 6 We travelled to Gandia which may be the best crag I've visited in costa blanca because of that overhanging terrain full of jugs. I was pleased with consecutive on sites of joc de manos 7a and L'os a top 50 7a which may be the best route I've climbed in the costa blanca. I was disappointed to mess up the on site of dia a borratera 7b. We of course had to get Coll on the route through the cave at sector hydraulics and I ticked off another great top 50 route el sol finishing the route directly graded at 6c+.
Coll the other end of the cave!
Day 7 and we visited font axia, the most disappointing crag of the trip. Rock quality was poor and the windy conditions didn't help. That said there were a couple of worth while very boulders routes gracias frank Marci 7a and loopy Lou 6b which Coll was particularly pleased to clean.
Day 8 we crossed the final crag in Xalo valley off the list- Pena Roja. This was a great crag and the section to the right felt very intimidating. We warmed up on a great top 50 climb-la libertine 6a+. After this I just got on the routes that looked fun and didn't look in the guide. Pan y circo 7b+, sin tarfeta de persentacian 6c+ and maragna 7c were all challenging routes with sustained technical sections. Post lunch the fingers were sore but I managed to get up de la mispa muted 6c.
Maragna, 6c
The last day of our trip involved a bit of rain dodging so we travelled to Sierra de toix far oeste and got some numbers in. I was pleased to climb the whole creation 6c given years ago I just looked at that route in awe. The friendly slab by climbs meant that Coll could get a number of leads under her belt and I managed to end he trip on a tally of 77 routes over 9 days!
