I am currently sat in the salubrious splendour of the Orange House down in the Costa Blanca, I have to confess that I’m feeling the strain of three weeks’ climbing. Having a book at the printers always seems like a good time to run away, and so I was pleased to join Lucy Creamer and Tim Glasby on a short trip to the new bouldering must-visit destination of Albarracin in northern Spain. Meeting us out there would be Helen Dudley and her partner Jason. Helen forewarned us that there was a chance of snow, so I packed by biggest down jacket I own, and was glad I did as it was pretty cold! The climbing was great but you couldn’t really stand still for very long or you froze. Tim was shooting for the forthcoming Marmot catalogue, as well as a magazine article, so I’m sure the photos will appear at some point somewhere.

After just two days, I was feeling pretty wrecked by the climbing, and took a rest while everyone else went out and had a really good day, I was hoping to be on form for the last day, but I just seemed to go into ‘rest mode’ and found myself unable to really get going – I think I would have been better just climbing each day. We live and learn.

After Albarracin, Tim and Lucy returned to the UK (Lucy is the new competitions officer at the BMC), but the rest of us drove down south to Calpe where warmer weather was waiting, and expedition down jackets just looks a bit silly. That was two weeks ago, and so far the highlights look a bit like this:

L’Ocaive: sector Cuevas: had a go at flashing the ingloriously named, but highly rated ‘Route 9’ (8a). I’d watch Steve Mac fall off this one a couple of years ago, so shied away from trying it onsight – just as well, it was far pumpier than it looked and I got as far as the wet tufa. I was probably too pumped to carry on even if it was dry, but it was a pretty good excuse…

Gandia: Had a go at onsighting Negue Gorrak (8a) but couldn’t do the crux, which felt more like Font 8a! Oh well, I settled for ticking Patatas a lo Pobre (7b+) and Botoia Sakatu (7c), both of which I’d been spat off on previous visits, which was quite satisfying.

Gandia – El Bovedon: I tried Arcadia (7c) but just wasn’t up for it (way too steep!), which felt a bit disappointing, then got to the last move on the flash of ‘Route 10’ (8a), which made me feel a lot better, even if it was only about 7c+ to that point – maybe even 7c!

Altea Col: Had a good day here, though the crag isn’t quite as good as it looks in my opinion. I got a (technical) flash of El Paso Blanca (7c+) which was good, I say technical as I had watched Helen work it, but I did do it a completely different way, so would have been no harder onsight. I onsighted Pure Obsession (7c) which was a bit sharp for my liking, and some chalk would have helped a lot. I didn’t fancy trying the 8a to the right after that.

Bernia: I finally got back on The Magic Flute (7b/7b+) after getting beaten up by it several years ago, even on the redpoint, it felt tough, and I’d give it 7b+, just. The route to the left, Tufa Groove (7b+/7c) was just as good, and I managed to hang in for the onsight. It felt pretty tough for 7b+, and only today did I hear that many consider it 7c (I’d agree) and some consider it 7c+.

So, nothing too amazing so far. The best route I’ve done is probably Esto Escampa (7a+), a four pitch outing up Pared de Rosalia at Sella, though the last pitch was shorter than some of the boulder problems at Albarracin!

Coming to the end of the trip now, I’ve got some coaching work to do before Christmas, then it’s off to France!