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Costa Blanca

The Costa Blanca has been long known as one of the best destinations anywhere in the world for winter sun rock and nowadays it attracts visitors from all over the world. Although the area is most popular as a 'sun and chips' venue, the summer's here are HOT, crowded and expensive and only mad dogs and Englishmen would try to climb in the peak holiday season. At other times of the year though the area has the almost ideal combination of a mild climate, well established infrastructure, cheap flights from most of Europe and of course masses of high quality limestone - the real white gold. The thrill of stepping on a plane on a grey English morning and emerging two and a half hours later in bright Spanish sunshine still takes some beating. More and more climbers make the regular exodus and head south for a mid-winter tonic.

The benign climate would be naught without quality climbing to go at and in that department the area really excels. Cliffs available here vary from tiny roadside offerings up through multi-pitch cragging; to extensive sea cliffs and on to some massive mountain crags. The earliest developments took place back in the 1960s and the subsequent 40 years have seen a steady growth in the climbing available right up to the present day with both locals and visitors adding new climbs on a regular basis. It will be some years yet before this area is exhausted.

Initially the climbing here was seen as practise for bigger things and routes were done on an 'anything goes' basis. Later, with the development of sport climbing, many of the shorter cliffs were bolted up and later still the locals took on the massive task of bolting some of the major lines on the biggest cliffs, giving long classics, the equal of climbs anywhere.

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ASSOCIATED PUBLICATIONS

Costa Blanca   by Chris Craggs and Alan James Published - January 2005 Price - £19.95 - - This much-anticipated book to the Costa Blanca is the most extensive and colourful production ever produced to the area. It contains over 42 major venues including 11 which have never appeared in a Rockfax before. The book is in full colour throughout with a complete set of new photo-topos for every crag. -

Costa Blanca X-tra   by Chris Craggs Published - May 2010 (version 1.10) Price - FREE - Three new crags on the Costa Blanca; two new ones, and an older one that has had a lot of development. Bollula is a fine wall of great rock with a good set of routes from 4+ to 7b. Morro Falqui is the imposing headland to the north of the beaches to the north of Moraira. Alcalali has had a lot of new routes added. All are covered in this MiniGuide. Minor updates added in May 2010. -

Costa Blanca Ridges   by Mark Glaister Published - February 2010 (version 1.02) Price - £5.00 - A MiniGUIDE to some of the best ridge scrambles on the Costa Blanca in Spain. The guide provides detailed logistical and climbing information to five of the area’s most impressive and better-known ridge traverses. -

Guadalest   by Chris Craggs and Alan James Published - November 2006 (version 1.00) Price - FREE - An extensive crag on the Costa Blanca which is not in the Costa Blanca Rockfax. It has many routes in the Orange spot grades and is within easy-reach of the coastal accommodation hot spots. Available in booklet format. -

Bellús   by Alan James and Chris Craggs Published - January 2005 (version 2.00) Price - FREE - A FREE sample chapter from the Costa Blanca Rockfax to this excellent little crag near Xàtiva. Fine sheltered wall climbing is a beautiful setting with a choice of sun or shade routes on separate buttresses. This MiniGUIDE has been updated to version 2 with minor amendments and more routes on Cueva Pechina, to bring it in-line with the guidebook. -