Nope, we haven’t been out on the lash in Benidorm – we’ve been enjoying the company of the Rucksack Club on the Costa Blanca!
For about a dozen years, Helen and I organised an annual sunrock meet for the Rucksack Club. This meandered around the usual hot-spots of winter Euro-cragging, taking in El Chorro, Sicily, Leonidio and the Prades, but at least half of these gatherings were somewhere on the Costa Blanca. The meets fizzled out as Covid struck, with Day 1 of the 2020 meet coinciding with the day Spain went into lock down:
2021 was a non-starter for foreign travel, though we did actually manage to enjoy a mini-weather window in the Peak District whilst complying with the “stay local” ethos.
… and that kind of knocked the stuffing out of the SunRock meet…
… until this year, when (after a 5 year hiatus) Amer took the initiative and recruited a posse of fellow sun-chasers. Where else to head but Back to the Blanca, and we managed to juggle our van-based Spain excursion to coincide.
Much of the week was spent on previously well-travelled RockAroundTheWorld territory so just a few pics and a focus on a seacliff adventure on new ground…
Toix West
We caught up with the crew at Toix West – the perfect first-day crag for getting your eye in after a long winter confined to plastic.
Here’s Gareth storming his way up Lobo, 6a, for an early February calendar contender.
Vall de Guadar
The following day we headed inland to Vall de Guadar (the area formerly know as Echo Valley).
After a warmup on the lower wall of Echo 1.5 we headed up left for the longer lines of Phalanges, 5c, Central, 6b, and Marian Jones, 6a…
Dropping down the road to the Castellet sector I did Anarkia y birra fría, 6c, made a passable attempt at Lagartija Sai, 6c (or 7a on the sign), and got absolutely nowhere on 5th Marcha Directa, 6c
Toix Seacliffs
By now, the team was up to a dozen, as Mark and Steve (two more Rucksackers) were in the vicinity. Helen fancied a rest day so I gatecrashed to make a three-hander and we headed down to the Toix Seacliffs for some speleological adventures.
There’s a few new routes between Magical Mystery Tour and Pirates of the Caribbean, and I’d been recommended Erikindia, 6a+, for three pitches of seaside fun.
About 100m beyond MMT you’ll spot a fragile-looking rock bridge (which is where the route tops out) and then just beyond a single bolt on the clifftop tied off with a bit of cord to a double ring abseil point just out of sight below. It’s a 45m free-hanging rap to a large sloping ledge some way above the sea.
It’s worth 3* for the abseil alone!
Safely assembled at the base, Steve led off up the first 5c pitch which zigs then zags to overcome a steep bulge on some hero holds…
Pitch 2 starts with a traverse leftwards at which point a helpful scratched arrow beckons you into the depths and you head into a cave / chimney. This is actually pretty straightforward until a steepening up a rib brings a few urgent moves – just about warranting the 6a+ grade, but with three very nicely spaced bolts in case you need an extra handhold. Not much point in stopping at the P2 stance (I didn’t even spot it) as the top is in sight.
The day was still young so we wandered the further 100m and Steve and I headed down the extraordinary holes that mark the top of the Pirates sector, whilst Mark took up photography duty.
As I spiralled down another free-hanging ab (just short of 60m this time) I got a couple of atmospheric pics of Britt on the second pitch:
… and then Steve making his descent.
I took the first pitch, easy but a bit smeggy from the sea spray that occasionally blasted up from the depths.
Steve got the crux 6a+ pitch
… leaving me with the more traversing and slightly fluttery finale (you’d be hard pressed to say it was easier than P2)
Stupendous – as good an adventure as you’ll find anywhere in the area, which will live long in the memory after most sports routes have long faded.
Guadalest
After a few days near the coast, our base on the Font d’Aguar campsite had become overrun by a large contingent of Dutch in huge motorhomes, so we opted for a change of scene. The rifugio in Guadalest is a much more chilled scene, and crag access doesn’t come much handier.
Mark and Steve came over to join us and we did a couple of routes on Penya L’Alcala including the excellent Coses de Tubo, 6a+, and a “close but no cigar” effort on Electricas, 6c, which I completely fluffed by trying to grab the bolt (muppet! I haven’t made that schoolboy error for at least 20 years 😳)
We then headed down to Penya Maura, on the Cara Sur, where Helen did Iron Bells, 5b
… and Fences, 6a
… and I did Trincando de chapa, 6b+/c.
The following day the rest of the crew came over for some Guadalest action, making straight for the shady wind tunnel of Sector Pyramid before being dragged out into the sunshine of Sector Penya L’Alcala.
I managed Llums i Sombre, a sandbag 6a (think more like 6b/+) with a 6c/+ extension for the 45m full height of the crag.
That was adios to the rest of the crew, who’d had a great week also including some canyoning and a traverse of the Bernia Ridge and an ascent of the Penyon. Looking forward to the Rucksack Club SunRock Meet being firmly re-established in the calendar – where to for 2027?
RockAroundTheWorld 