Costa Blanca Climber photos now in the gallery
We’ve finally uploaded a selection of photos from the December ‘Costa Blanca Climber’ trips - a bit of sunny inspiration during this damp spell we’re having?!
Peak Mountaineering
The climbing blog of Paul LewisArchive for December, 2007
Great news just in…
We have just heard that the Lewis family have officially won the Christmas fancy dress salsa competition run by Santa and his team of little helpers.
We are obviously delighted to be awarded this prestigious title and must thank our costume team and dance trainers for all their hard work.
See our winning performance for yourself at….. http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1787162575
Oh yes. Thanks also to Mike for sending us the ‘official’ (!) footage - we’ll get our own back!!!!
Happy Chrimbles!
Another day in Paradiski!
I’m just back in a damp and blustery Blighty after 10 days glorious skiing in the French Alps. Now far be it from me to mention the gorgeous blue skies, the best early season snow in many a year, the empty lifts and the great company (oops - I guess I just did!), but it really was awesome.
By the time we left this morning the resort was swarming with people and things are certainly looking good for the coming season. Lets hope the Scottish ski areas get some good snow this time around too.
As I sit here now with a glass of single malt and sun blasted rosy cheeks it’s all beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. I just hope Santa got the list I emailed to him because of course the main attraction of outdoor sports is there’s always a long list of shiny must have gadgets isn’t there!
Wishing you a very happy Christmas from everyone at Peak - and best wishes for 2008. Time for another whisky I reckon!
He who likes cherries soon learns to climb! (German proverb)
Freddie and Carol on the summit of Puig Campana
Last week I was in Spain climbing the cherry of the Costa Blanca - The Puig Campana. The Epsolon Central has 13 brilliant pitches at steady hard severe…and all in gorgeous winter sunshine. Nectar.
Stephen was with me for the first part of the week and we arrived late at The Orange House (THE place to stay when you are next in the Blanca - www.theorangehouse.net), packed our sacks and got a few hours sleep before going straight onto the Puig the next day. As always the quality and consistency of the climbing is breathtaking with the added bonus that we didn’t see another person all day.
We spent the next day at Sella enjoying a mixture of fantastic multi and single pitch classics up to 6b standard - again with lovely sunshine and only a handful of cars in the car park. thanks for another great trip Stephen.
Stephen went home late on Wednesday then I met Freddie and Carol on Thursday evening. As we hadn’t climbed together before we had a warm-up day at Sella then blasted the Puig on Saturday.
It was a bit busier but a 6.30 am start from the parking ensured we stayed ahead of the pack and we made great progress with a 6 hours 30 minutes ascent. By this time I had worked out that Carol likes a quality lunch so we had a leisurely sunbathe and cheese and salami feast on the top before tackling the descent.
As always the descent needed care but we made it down in good time and strolled back to the car as dusk approached. After showers and a bit of inspiration from the new Steve Mc ‘Psyche’ DVD (which is excellent) we headed out for celebratory beers and a meal in a great local restaurant.
A final day at Toix for some leading action and a quick multi-pitcher and it was back to the airport for the flight home. Thanks to Freddie and Carol for all the fun in the second part of the week - you were great company.
Our Costa Blanca trip is becoming one of our staple trips and if you fancy some Costa adventure next year just get in touch - you won’t regret it!
A day in the Froggatt fridge and a Buxton blast!
Yesterday I spent a day with Michelle and Keith at Froggatt in very cold and windy conditions. They are keen wall climbers but now doing more outdoor trad climbing (and preparing for a Christmas trip to Sella) so they wanted to work on belay building and gear placements. Later in the day we also did some leading (with a top rope backup) to put some of their gear placing skills to the test and discussed some sport climbing issues they would face in Spain. Despite the cold wind I really enjoyed the day and hope it was useful for you M&K. Have a brilliant trip to Spain and don’t forget to let us know how you got on.
Today I’ve been preparing for the Costa Blanca trips we are running next week. It rained all day here but cleared up around 5pm just as I was weighing my bags to make sure I’d sneak through Ryan Air check in without a problem. As usual it all came to over 15 kgs but I’ll try my smile and sweet talk stragegy (which never works) and failing that I will do my usual trick of wearing more clothing and filling my pockets!
So, packing finished, rain stopped and still only 5pm….. time for a quick ride in the Goyt Valley then. Night riding is great fun and I had a brilliant couple of hours in the mud before my lights were looking a bit dim and I reluctantly decided to head home. If you’ve never tried night riding it’s well worth it but ease off on the technical bits - obstacles rear up remarkably quickly because you are only looking a relatively short distance ahead! Here’s a good youtube of the descent in Glentress Woods to give you a taste of what’s it all about…..
No snow last night though!
Cheers,
Paul