I’ve been Rock Climbing in Spain!
A few weeks ago my friend Dave asked if I wanted to go to the south of Spain (near Alicante) for a weeks rocks climbing holiday, starting the 28th March with 7 other people. Being the adventurous person that I am I said yes. The only snag was that I was doing a 6 hour Adventure Race on the 28th, but he said it would be okay if I flew down on the 29th.
On the 28th I looked at the weather forecast which ranged from Saturday to Thursday – and it showed rain for every day!
On the 29th (Sunday) I landed in Spain (Alicante airport) and it was dry when Dave and Peter picked me up in the hire car, but as we drove to the climbing site in Orihuela where the others were, the skies blackened and we drove into a big downpour, so we didn’t do any climbing that day (which I was actually glad about as I was still sore from the race the day before).
On the Monday the weather was still a bit iffy (although dry at our apartment). We decided to drive out to some rocks near the coast at Toix (Lower) at Calpe, as the weather is usually better there. Just as we arrived there it started to rain! So we sat in the 2 hire cars for 10 minutes and all of a sudden the rain stopped so we walked out to the rocks. The sun came out, the rocks dried really quickly and we got around 4 hours climbing in before it started to rain again! Also while we were there, some other climbers (English) turned up. Once it started to rain, we drove into Calpe and sheltered in a restaurant with a glass of hot chocolate. After which, Dave and I wandered around the town for a while, took a few photos and I popped into a pharmacy for some medicine for my sore throat (which plagued me the whole holiday – grr!!). That night we ate out at a local restaurant owned by an Englishman – the food was okay but not fantastic.
Rock Climbing in Calpe, Spain
On Calpe Beach
From then on we didn’t get any more rain (at least not during the day) for the whole holiday.
On the Tuesday we went to Marin where we did more single pitch climbing. Then I went with 3 other people to 2 supermarkets, where we picked up food for that nights dinner.
That night we ate in the apartment.
The Apartment
On Wednesday we went to Mercia. Once we found the rocks, we spent all day there. The only other person we met was a Spanish man (also a climber) who was walking his dog (which was panting a lot in the heat). On the way back to the card we passed from one side of the rock face (which was hot and sunny – I got sunburnt) to the other side of the rock face, via a small opening. It was like going from day to night as the other side was dark, cold, windy and a forest area. That night we ate out at a local restaurant (run by a Spanish family). The food was pretty good – I had a large steak with Rockford sauce.
Ready to Climb!
On Thursday we went to Toix (TV) in Calpe where we did some 2 pitch climbing, which I really enjoyed. I found it to be more ‘realistic’ than single pitch climbing and it felt like we were actually doing something.
2 Pitch Climb
On Friday we went to a small town called Guadalest. It took about 1.5 hours to get there, along very twisty roads. By the time we got there I was feeling a bit car-sick (it’s always worse in the back of a car!). The rocks didn’t look very inviting as the area was cold, damp and gloomy so I decided to sit it out on this day and just belayed people (supported them as they climbed) instead. Actually after 2 hours the sun came out and it was quite pleasant, but I was glad to have a rest day. Once everyone had finished climbing, we looked around the town for 30 minutes before heading back to the villa along the long twisty road (and I felt very car sick!). That night we returned to the local restaurant where I had a fish and vegetable paella (which wasn’t very nice – too gloopy and they only used fish stock – there was no fish parts in the paella).
Cold and Horrid in the Morning, but nice in the Afternoon
View from the Top
Saturday was our last day, so we went to Sella which was just 20 minutes away. It was a nice area – lots of forest and some locals climbers and walkers there too. The rock was quite ‘polished’ – meaning that because it was such a popular climbing area, the holds had been worn away or smoothed, making it harder to climb. The highlight of the day (for me) was when I managed to climb one stage higher than Dave and Peter 
Then it was off to the apartment to pack, followed by a drive to the airport, drop off the hire cars and fly home. Dave then drove me home in his Mazda RX-8 (sounds very nice when accelerating)!
Overall, despite climbing/belaying for 4-5 hours every day, it was actually a very relaxing holiday