Sella

First visit to Costa Blanca to supplement the knowledge of the area and climb some more went on last w-end. It is the most hilly province in Spain, and for a reason! The popularity of climbing around Alicante, in the Valencia region, is partly due to the Costa Blanca guidebook published by Rockfax, a good resource for the English-speakers, something rather rare in the Spanish climbing world, or at least in my home Cataluna. This might be to the best on the other hand, given the plethora of Englishmen getting all these nice routes polished to death in Costa Blanca - i'd rather they kept far, far away from our hidden treasures...


For our first visit, we went to Sella, one of the most popular sport climbing spots. The limestone is polished on lower grades, however the setting is beautiful and makes you quickly forget the buildings and ugly cemented coast of the close-by urbanistic disaster, Benidorm. The first day we spent working Kashba, a very good line, although pretty sustained for the grade.

The second day, with more confidence, we went to the Rosalia wall, where the real things happen. The limestone is totally unpolished due to higher grades and 5-minute longer approach. We did a 3-pitch Tanit (view below from the belay on the 2nd pitch), and a couple of first pitches. I was impressed by the 1st pitch 6c of La estacion de la bruia, and especially the El endemoniado that can be toproped from the same anchor - a very sustained line, worth by itself coming back to the crag - not mentionning all the other multipitches we ignored this time...


And below is el Divino, on the other side of the valley, one of the many many objectives, like Puig Campana or Penon de Ifach, that remain out there. Thanks to all the friends who made this another very nice w-end!


There is a relaxing, Mexican-style refuge almost at the base of the cliff, with climbers as guardians, and 6 eur per night, hard to beat! Definitely a place to come back for further exploring!