Camping Escalada, near Gandía, is a pretty handy stopover on the way south towards the Blanca, and perfectly situated for the string of crags which form a backdrop: Bovedon, Bovedos and Bovedin. Here’s the blog post from our last visit in 2023:

Hot and Bove’d – Back to Bovedon and Bovedin

We had a good day at Bovedin, with Helen doing La Raspa and Pensando con El Nabo, both 6a.

Meanwhile, I managed a retroflash of People from Alaska (now 6c – bonus upgrade!)

… and did its neighbour Contzal, also 6c and somewhat “enhanced” with cement. I got greedy and tried Ebola, 6c, and candidate for nastiest route of the trip – if you are going to drill a couple of holds, why make them monos? A major sulk was saved by Cristalina, 6c, absolutely stupendous and not a manufactured hold in sight. Helen’s forebearance was rewarded by getting soaked by an incoming storm, just a few minutes from the van (sorry!)

Next day we were joined by Chris and Justin and Ali and Ian for a reprise of our 2023 gathering. Chris had been doing a bit of research on The Crag and spotted a new addition to the Bove… crags: Bovesponja. (Sponge Bob in Spanish!) No topo, but the list of routes looked promising (50 routes with more than 3/4 in the 6a+ to 7a+ band, and a smattering either side). The approach instructions were a little vague: “10 minutes beyond Bovedos”, but we set off for the adventure.

Walking from the campsite and taking the “permitted” approach to Bovedos is quite a schlep anyway, but any temptation to abandon the quest at that point was easily resisted as the situ wads reminded us how steep the main event is hereabouts:

Happily, the path onwards to (we presumed) Bovesponja was reasonably obvious, traversing across the open gully to pick up a line of cairns at the foot of a crumbly rockface (no routes yet), before climbing gently towards the top of the hill. Kudos to whoever put the path in as they’ve made a big effort. Further evidence of diligent crag developers appeard in the form of a carefully crafted wooden sign, and it was a relief to know we’d found the right spot (after an hour’s traipse)!

I got chatting to a friendly couple of local lads who kindly pointed out that there’s a more direct route from the campsite, saving a couple of kilometres although still entailing 250m of ascent…

Looking back, you get a good view of the twin caves of Bovedon and Bovedos and an idea of how much of an excursion they involve.

To approach from the campsite, follow signs for the Via Ferrata and then zigzag up the hill past an improbable number of signposts. It’s pretty much six and two threes whether you zig then zag, or vice versa. We thought the route via the Cova Negra signs was perhaps better maintained. Eventually you start picking up signs for Miradores and Cima and you follow these to a final signpost at a col.

The path splits here to head down the other side of the ridge or traverse leftwards, but you ignore both of these to follow a line of cairns up leftwards to the top of the ridge (less than a hundred metres) and then traverse the broad-topped ridge to the foot of a crag opposite. Follow the cairned path that skirts beneath this for a few hundred metres until it turns into a magnificent orange wall (about 500m from the col) – you’ve arrived at the right hand end of Bovesponja (still a good 40mins or so).

Having put in the energies to get there, we were rewarded by a gradually deteriorating weather pattern and a bitter wind, but we were determined to make the most of our efforts. On the plus side, it was already apparent that this is a quality addition to the Bove set of crags. Heavily sculpted rock, generally well-cleaned and with a profusion of holds – often quite sharp!

Here’s Helen on UNE 23400, 6a

… and Justin on the exciting finale of the same route.

Chris on Todo Empezo en Albarra, 6a

I did Macaroones de Colegio and Te Rieh, both 6c, the former substantially easier than the latter, and both very good.

With dusk falling and the wind picking up even more, we explored the direct way down via the campsite, glad to finally reach the van after being severely buffetted on the descent.

A couple of days later, Helen and I made a return visit, approaching directly from the campsite (it’s so close as the crow flies that you even pick up an occasional waft of WiFi).

Helen led Los Chinos and Buclito Miao, both 5c, and La Nina Planta un Nordo, 6a+ (good recommendation from Ali).

I chanced my arm on El Ultimo Canto, 7a, one of the steep orange routes that dominate the right side of the crag, which resulted in the the first bailer-biner of the trip. Tough!

Here’s a German lad making a better fist of the adjacent Defecador extrovertido, 7a.

More success once I’d ratcheted down the ambition a little for La Penya de Migdila, 6b+ (good but no pushover).

Lunchtime huddled in a little cave, sheltered from another hoolie, had us pondering an early end to proceedings…

However, a sunny interlude and a bit of shelter at the far right side of the crag, had me rolling the dice again for another 7a, A Lo Hecho Techo. This was much closer, but not quite a cigar, with a couple of sags to work out where the next hold might be. Next time maybe? We’re sure to be back.