Penon de Ifach

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Diedro UBSA

Diedro UBSA.

Our backup plan for Picos de Europa was actually Montserrat and not Riglos. However, the former too had some capricious weather forecasts as confirmed on the ground by Ferran. And so from Riglos we drove south towards the town of Calpe on the Mediterranean coast and its iconic beachside mountain called Peñón de Ifach. We expected that the place would be a tourist zoo and were not disappointed. An alpine start the following morning was to ensure that we could find a parking spot – such are the trials of urban climbing. Our route of choice, Diedro UBSA (9 pitches, 5+), was very polished and the hot and humid conditions were not helping. In fact, somebody slipped off the starting moves and ended up with a bloody ankle. The route also featured a pretty sandbagged face climbing pitch midway up. On the upside, the views of the blue Mediterranean were fantastic and we enjoyed the company of another climbing party of locals (many thanks for the photos Hugo). We topped out and hiked off the backside grabbing some seafood lunch and beers on the descent. The upsides of urban climbing cannot be denied.

Photos

Calpe

A place where we overnighted in Benissa (few kilometers from Calpe).

Calpe

Not a bad place for crash out for the night (Sept. 2017).

Calpe

Making climbing plans for the following morning (Sept. 2017).

Calpe

Long range shot of Penon de Ifach and the town of Cape from our hotel room (Sept. 2017).

Calpe

Penon de Ifach (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

Sights on the short approach to the Penon de Ifach (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

Fishermen in the morning during our short (but alpine!) approach (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

A couple small yapper dogs and a gang of local street cats…shit was about to get real so we quickly extricated ourselves from the situation (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

Starting up pitch 2 of Diedro UBSA. Those first 3 or 4 pitches were really polished and super slick esp. in the hot and humid conditions (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

Shirley following the slick pitch 2 of Diedro UBSA (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

Shirley topping out on pitch 2 (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

Pitch 3 of Diedro UBSA (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

Morning time views from low on Diedro UBSA (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

Shirley on pitch 3 of Diedro UBSA with a team of local climbers behind us (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

Pitch 3 action (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

More of similar views but with the sun higher in the sky (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

Shirley topping out on pitch 4 (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

Leading the 6th and crux pitch of Diedro UBSA. Here’s the key beta: aim for that lower/smaller (dark) roof, clip a bolt there, move down a foot or two and make an exit move to the right. Pretty hard climbing we thought (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

Shirley following the crux pitch 6 (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

Topping out on pitch 6 (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

Shirley on the pitch 7 pendulum (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

A cute toy ship below us (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

…and the belay (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

The 15 meter penji on pitch 7 of Diedro UBSA (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

And the reverse view thanks to our companions (Photo by Hugo).

Diedro UBSA

Views of Calpe from high on the route (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

Leading pitch 8 (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

Hugo – the leader from the party that passed us (and the person who’s replaced the HW on this route) – is leading the last technical bit of Diedro UBSA (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

Shirley starting the traverse of pitch 8 (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

Shirley topping out on pitch 8 (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

Leading pitch 9 (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

Shirley topping out on pitch 9 of Diedro UBSA – only a short scramble remains (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

A happy camper. Dip in the Mediterranean or beer?

Diedro UBSA

Progressively more expansive views from Diedro UBSA (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

Top of the route just below the summit (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

Hiking off the summit of Penon de Ifach via a (busy!) tourist trail (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

Views of Calpe from the hike down (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

On the hike down (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

The summit trail passes through this impressive tunnel (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

Calpe (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

Urban hike to get back to our car (Sept. 2017).

Diedro UBSA

Bit of ice cream, a quick packing session and off we go – Montserrat-bound (Sept. 2017).

Spain

Driving through the town of Benissa just outside of Calpe (Sept. 2017).

Spain

Road trip continues (Sept. 2017).

Spain

Somewhere along the Mediterranean coast (Sept. 2017).

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