Costa Blanca 2013

Costa Blanca is another climbing destination that has a proper holiday feel. February was a good time to go and although there was a bit of rain it didn’t matter at all if you liked steep routes. The off-season rates made a sea-view apartment an option too which definitely made up for the occasional rain shower. There is a large variety of grades and styles, perfect for a group of climbers of mixed abilities but we were drawn to the steep routes and spent a lot of time in ‘hidden valley’ sector of Sella. We also spent a frustrating amount of time driving up precarious dirt tracks searching for crags. Although the little hire car coped, a 4x4 would have made the journeys a lot more relaxing!

Winter Sun

 

I spent a lot of time trying a route called ‘Celia’. A long, steep 7c+. With limited fitness this was probably not very sensible but it was a great route and once I had tried it I just kept going back!  I was pretty gutted to leave without ticking this route but in some ways I feel like failing on it has probably done more for my climbing than succeeding. My main two lessons were pretty obvious:

1)    I need to practice climbing at my limit

2)    I can’t expect to do harder routes without putting the hours in

 

Keeping warm in between attempts

Climbing at your limit is totally different mentally to climbing well within your limits. I found Dave Macleod’s comment on maintaining good technique at the crux useful. The day I left disappointed from the crag was not actually the last day of the holiday when I knew I hadn’t done the route but the previous day when I had given up mid-move on the crux. The crux move for me was a lunge up to a side-pull crimp which I have to hold at almost full stretch while I sort my feet out. That day, for some reason something clicked in my brain mid-move and I knew I had given up before I even touched that crimp. For me, the most devastating thing about climbing is when you don’t succeed because you know you didn’t try hard enough (and you always know). But…trying hard doesn’t always come naturally and like every aspect of climbing of course it is a skill that can be practiced and developed. So this has made me realise that I really need to practice trying hard and practice climbing out of my comfort zone. 

This trip has also motivated me to start a training plan and set some specific goals again, something that I haven’t done since leaving the British Bouldering team. The plan is realistic and very flexible and therefore I believe is the first training plan I have actually ever stuck to! With a trip to Kalymnos on the horizon it isn’t hard to find the motivation to stick to it either. 

photo: Ryan Beggs