A walk on the wild side (groan)

Ok, this looks bad. Don't you think I know that? No blog for ages and then the minute I tick something - Oh look! It's worse than face bragging. I don't care, I'm doing it anyway.

So, the Costa Blanca. My perception is that it's something of a faded glory, somewhere old-hat that no-one really goes to any more. Turns out, of course, that my perception is totally wrong. It's still just as busy and popular as ever - and justifiably so, since it offers more high-quality low-grade climbing than almost every other Spanish venue. I'd spent a while here back at the turn of the century, but never really got to climb at the area show-piece, sector Wild Side, since it was banned at the time. Jules and I booked a fortnight's holiday, staying at the Orange House. A fortnight! I can't remember the last time I had two whole weeks just to go climbing...

The Orange House was a great base. At first, I was a bit miffed to be surrounded by English speakers; english at the crag, english at the house. In the end though, the friendliness of the 'oranges' who run the house and the other guests more than made up for it, and I'm glad we chose it. The view was pretty nice too.

Finestrat, from the Orange House

Wild Side did not disappoint either. Its a great crag. People had described it as 'British', so I was expecting something crimpy, but really it's got a very slopey right-hand-side and a left hand side that offers tufa-style climbing. It's British only in the sense that many of the routes are not that long (think left-hand side of Malham) and are quite punchy, with distinct cruxes. Oh, and of course it's British in the sense that it's packed with Brits. We had a lot of familiar faces to climb with, and the days Seb was at the crag were particular highlights. The spanish love his dog impressions.

Seb, showing the rest of us how to warm-up

This was the first climbing trip I'd had since recovering from my injury at the end of 2013. Before we came out I'd had a fitness assessment at Coach Randall's, and I'd been surprised to see that despite a relative lack of training my level was pretty solid. Since then I'd managed to get a month of serious hard work in, so I was really keen to push it this trip and not coast along on low-grade 8's like I usually do. With that in mind I set out to try some of the harder routes at the crag.

On the upper crux of Pintoreta

Much to Jules' disgust this resulted in a fair amount of ticking. This is how it would usually go. I try a route, and spend a day moaning about how it was impossible; the moves were too hard, the climbing didn't suit, I wasn't recovering enough. Jules of course would try to be encouraging and reassure me I'd be OK. This made me angry. Jules and I have a brief barney and then make up. Good nights sleep. Route ticked next day.

In the end it turned out to be my most productive climbing trip by a country mile. I did a couple of 8c's quite quick - Espacio Tiempo and Pintoreta. Both were excellent, if a little manufactured. Oddly I thought I'd walk up Pintoreta, but despite getting through the bottom 'crux' first go, I had immense trouble with the '8a' upper section, which featured massive spans between invisible wide pinches. By contrast I thought I wouldn't get up Espacio at all, as I was getting shut down by a hard move at the very top, but I surprised myself by doing the route on my second day, crushing the "impossible" move the first time I reached it.

As well as a bit of easier climbing and some 8a and 8a+ onsights, the highlight/low-point of the trip occurred on an 8b+ called Septiembre. Interestingly, Rockfax have this in their guide as 8b+ and a "Top 50" route, despite the fact that it's very soft at the grade, and the upper wall is climbed entirely on holds which are both grim, and artificial.

A local chap pretending he's Steve Mac on Septiembre

Anyway, after doing Pintoreta I was keen for another project, but didn't fancy something quite as hard so I thought I'd put the draws in Septiembre. I bimbled up until I got to a hard move, grabbed the draw and sat down. Then I looked at the climbing above and realised that the hard move was basically the last on the route. Pulling immediately back on, I climbed to the top. I felt a bit in shock. I think it was 50/50 whether I'd have done the move on the onsight, but I'm pretty sure I would have, and sure I'd have got to the top after that. To be honest, I tried to be angry at myself for blowing the onsight, but it was a level of performance so far above what I expect of myself that I was just really pleased it was even a possibility. It was a bit of an eye-opener, and I'm certainly not going to make the same mistake again. I even had an onsight go on Espacio as a result. It went terribly, but it seems you never know...

In the meantime, Jules was having one of those unfortunate trips where everything seems to go wrong. I think her level has shot up massively, and had things gone just a little differently she would have come home with quick ticks of at least three 8th grade routes. Sadly, though she'll have to wait for the next trip to see all her hard work bear fruit.

Now it's a break from climbing for a little while, as a work trip beckons. After that it's the return of top-flight competition to the Foundry, with the mighty F-BO. It should be an exciting comp - after all the title of King of the Wave is up for grabs...

Hasta La Vista, Sella