When Ella suggested a sport climbing trip somewhere in southern Europe for the Christmas holidays, I was on the brink of something new again. Of course, I readily agreed.
There is no sunlight available for several months for those studying in the Finnish mountains, so stable and sunny conditions were the main focus when choosing the site. Of course, the same weather also happens to favor rock climbing. We ended up in the Costa Blanca region, which is perhaps not the most peaceful and scenic place in the world, but you can find climbing and cheap living there.
We flew to Alicante, where we rented a car for ten days, because otherwise it would have been quite impossible to move between the rocks. An apartment hotel on Calpe's beach boulevard was suitable as accommodation. So Calpe is the little brother of Benidorm, located 60 kilometers north of Alicante, with its tall concrete houses. Not the most idyllic, but we would go to the hotla only to sleep, and not to run after beaches or mojitos. In addition, the resort opened up its emptiness outside the tourist season, which suited us very well.
The first days we jumped on low rocks, feeling the limestone. The nearby Sierra de Toix, with a two-minute approach, was only pecked by Guadales, where he would have been able to secure the legendary car if he wanted to. The Olta mountain served up clever routes with beautiful views.
The weather was downright hot on the rocks, and climbing without a shirt didn't give either of us chills. The climbing was really great too. Bolting was somewhat questionable, especially in Sierra de Toix, where on some of the routes I got the feeling that these bolt-like bumps should not be dropped too much. I read somewhere that some are really homemade. Olta and Guadalest were well bolted again!
Ella is sneaking around on the Olta mountain. Next to it is the British rope tangle.
Juho chases Lyenga. Maybe the most discontinuous 7a in the world, but still great.
Guadalest's vitos were steep enough.
Also weaves sometimes…
Ella, Calpe and Penon de Ifach.
Same same…
Calpe's most famous landmark is the Penon de Ifach. The three-hundred-meter cliff is made for climbing. There are ten routes of rope length, from easy mixed safety all the way to tough sports.
We chose the route called Same, which goes along the pillar that stands on the left side of the south wall. It was a perfect fit in terms of challenge. The choice was also influenced by the low risk of falling rocks, which exists on the other paths of the substructure in the middle part of the wall, where the lines cross like in an elementary school match-it-right task.
The morning was leisurely when we put on our harnesses and climbing shoes at the hotel and walked to the beginning of the route along the boulevard as the sun rose. The seagulls cackled and the waves roared. Holiday feeling!
The line was supposed to be 6a and mainly sport, but the climbing turned out to be worth 6b(+). From the position of the bolts, pieces of string were clipped, which were strung through the rock cavities. There were some drill bits too, but not terribly. An adventure route that was surprisingly physical.
The treat of the route was a tube-like cave in the middle of the line. Impossibly cool, especially exiting the pipe back to the wall. It was also cool to get away from crimping log cake for a while.
We topped off directly on the tourist trail, from which it was a short walk to the top of Ifach. It was easy to get down along the path on the greener side of the mountain. Penon de Ifach is worth visiting during your trip to the Costa Blanca!
The rope climbing was great.
Ella coming out of the tube. Exposure tickled the pit of my stomach.
The final sections of the route are easy, but spectacular.
At the top of Penon de Ifach. Puig Campana center left (behind).
The magic line
When googling climbing in the Costa Blanca region, the first thing that caught my eye was Puig Campana, i.e. the pillar-like ridge line running along the wall in the middle of the highest peak in the area, which ended in a large-looking upper wall. "Let's climb" I thought. Further search yielded results. The route was aptly named: Linea magica – the magic line. It combines the Aristoteles, Arista Pepsi, Espolon Saint Jaume and Herrera routes and continues all the way to the 1320m peak of Pic Prim. Pic Prim is therefore one of the three clear peaks of Puig Campana. Most of the climbing routes are on Primi's slopes.
We routed approximately on Pic Prim. The beginning is behind the hill. There should be 900 meters of climbing, but who knows.
Like the famous Espolon Central route on the mountain – it ends with a big sand line on top of a hill on the ridge, from where the marked descent route starts. After all, the climbing would continue with ridges and a few short rope lengths up to the peaks. We wanted to go there! An alpine climber's ears and especially his sense of sight hurt if the lines end at an unclear point on the mountain. In this case, especially a lot.
Since it was Ella's first such big climbing day, we were prepared to have a good time. According to the topo, there was 900 meters of climbing, which I doubt was the case in hindsight. Perhaps traverses etc. were included in it. Half a sleeping pad, a light mat, a light rack, two single ropes, one of which I ended up carrying in my backpack the entire route, as the 55-meter descent never appeared. Pizza, nuts and candy bars for lunch, and 4 liters of water for the whole team.
After an early 02:00 wake-up call, we drove an hour to the Puig Campana parking lot above the idyllic village of Finstrat. The approach shark took half an hour, heating up the eyes shining in the darkness. This time there was no need to be afraid of polar bears, but it had to be a cunning mountain cougar.
We started climbing at 05:00. We drifted off the route after only 40 meters, but it didn't hurt, it seemed to correct it. We climbed 70-meter pitches to the beginning of several more difficult climbs. There was a lot of loose stone and large loose blocks, which continued throughout the route. Old-school style rock climbing at its best.
The sun came up when we were just at the windiest point of the route near Arista Pepsi. After that section, there was supposed to be a long rappel to the Barranc de Infernon gorge, where the route would continue, but we got to the bottom of the gorge on foot. The feeling of the extra four kilos in the backpack grew infernally. We took a snack and sleep break of about an hour in the gorge, because we had to get something to use for the bunk beds as the pace was too fast for a bivouac.
From the ravine, we followed the easiest-looking line, and did not follow the brisk detour to the left of the top. The fun ramp line brought us into the sun and together with the Espolo SO-route, where we found the day's hottest vitos.
The morning sunbirds in the gorge work!
The climbing was mainly like this.
The final route included a leisurely scramble with sneakers, three short rope lengths on a top wall, mountain goats and a cheeky British couple. We topped Pic Prim about 11 hours after we started climbing. We were on vacation, so naps, pizza picnics and sunbathing were naturally part of the climbing time. You can certainly climb the route in 7-8 hours, but this way the experience was relaxed. The views were amazing! The climbing wasn't anything special, but we got the nice hike we were looking for. And a little alpine-style training for Ella.
Pic Prim's top photo.
Ella lands on the descent route.
The easiest part of La Carrera. Otherwise, the bulkhead was absolutely terrible.
There was a clear path from the top and one rappel to the unpleasant La Carrera loose rock, which put a strain on Ella's flat-soled slippers in particular. We didn't have exact information about the descent route, but it was easy to find and apparently can be found on the internet under the name "Ruta Portel".
Walking between the mountain pines, with the sun setting behind the Sierra, the mood was happy and peaceful. Mountains, climbing, nature and life.
