RockAroundTheWorld is back on the road! After a mildly harrowing journey (engine warning light on the way to the ferry, and Force 9 in the Bay of Biscay) we were pleased to arrive on time and in one piece in Santander.
With no fixed itinerary, we trawled the usual weather apps, and the outlook for the whole of the North West of Spain was looking more like NW England – cold, windy and wet. Using our favourite “Where2Go” feature on Meteoblue and cranking up the search radius to max, we “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun” (to borrow a Pink Floyd lyric).
Valencia, here we come! Not much more than 48hrs from leaving home we were checking into the campsite in Navajas (recommended – open all year and only €18 a night if you stay a week).
As well as Meteoblue, we’d also got a real time report from Justin and Chris, a bit further down the coast. With temperatures struggling to get into double figures and winds gusting to 50mph for a few days, they were planning to enjoy the bright blue skies in some non-climbing activities, but…
“Obviously you’ll be rock hungry and used to UK weather so a bit of a breeze will be no problem for you!“
… They know us all too well! However the prevailing wind would definitely need to be offset by a suitably sheltered crag, so we made the short (10mins) trip to Jerica. We’d visited around the same time of year 6 years ago so knew Sector Huajolotes would fit the bill.
We warmed up on Diedro Aitana, a great, traddy 6a, and I couldn’t resist the temptation to press on for the 6c+ (7a on the rock!) extension. The extension pitches are far less travelled and give brilliant plonk-on vertical wall climbing on interesting crimpy rock.
Lost on You takes the equally attractive orange groove to the right – 6b with a stiff move to the intermediate lower off. The extension again gets you a 7a tick, and I was riding my luck!
The left end of the crag had lost the sun by now but there were still a few rays catching some routes in the middle, so we picked a reasonable looking line for a warm-down, without checking the guide (and risk missing the sun). The first chunk was 6a+/6bish, to where the angle steepened, but there was no intermediate chain, so I just had to press on. Steep moves on surprising holds saw we top out by the skin of my teeth, and after later research I was chuffed to find I’d done La Bea, 7a. Not a bad first day back at the office (and wildly beyond my expectations)!
Whilst we were now shivering in the shade, Pared de la Torre, just across the river, was bathed in sun…
… and Helen still had the enthusiasm for another route – a repeat of a memorable one she’d done on her 50th Birthday!
Another breezy bluebird day, and another south-facing suntrap crag. We’d visited Altura a couple of years ago and left ourselves a reminder to head back to sample the upper left end of the crag, but the prospect of the schlep up from the road had deterred us.
Happily, a bit more research had identified an upper parking accessed via a reasonable dirt road, which brings sectors Kan Pikola and Sargantana to within a two minutes walk! N39.828333 W0.572682 (only a couple of spaces so best avoided at the weekend!)
Kan Pikola starts with a cracking (and cracky) wall of 6a/+s and we enjoyed three including Trio de Mikeles
Further right Helen led Niu de la Sargantana, 6a, and I did a couple of fun 6bs: Anonymous and AMI. The climbing was great, the outlook stunning, but the highlight of the day was bumping into a lovely young couple from Castellón: fairly new to the game, but pretty handy, and climbing with an infectious joy and enthusiasm.
Another blustery day and another crag revisit, back to Sector Mazmorres on the Montan side of Montanejos. We ended up doing most of the same routes as our last visit…
… including getting shutdown (again!) on the excellent Resistire, 6b+
… and vulture encounters on Julia, 6a…
Finally, breaking new ground, we visited Teresa, a small but spectacular crag on the side of a winding canyon. We’d reccied on our first day but it’s westerly aspect was catching the wind not yet in the sun (shady until noon).
There’s a good path, marked by a cairn, from below and left of the crag (5mins walk over a low shoulder which obscures the crag at that point). There’s space for a single vehicle here, or more parking 200m up the road (which turns to gravel at this point) from where you can see the crag.
Only a couple of dozen routes, but every one we did was a belter.
Most of the routes are 6s, with just one 7a (and a few trickier things)…
… which was brilliant if a bit cruxy. At least you get a good rest before pulling over the roof…
Pa To Os, 6a, takes a diagonal through steep ground
Desplome (overhanging!), 6c, lives up to its name, but with sustained rather than desperate moves – early candidate for route of the trip.
RockAroundTheWorld 