2nd Climbing holiday with Alhambra Rambler
Twelve months on and my feet were beginning to itch! The urge to get away was once again getting the better of me, more to the point I had unfinished business in Spain, the thought of fresh Tapa’s, cold beer and awesome climbing was getting too overwhelming so it was once again time to rally the troops. First off I contacted Alhamra Rambler to give Terry a heads up so he could begin making the necessary arrangements, from then on the wheels were well and truly in motion.
With the Sutcliffe seal of approval and the promise of great climbing it only took a couple of text messages to get everyone on board, eight in total including Adam ‘Jee Unit’ Jeewooth, a member of the British Bouldering team and up and coming sport climbing wad, Nick ‘mighty mouse’ Moulden and of course all the usual suspects! Such is the diversity of the area we also took out a couple of mountain bikers in the form of Shaun and Warren, the later a ex member of the Great British triathlon team was later responsible for flogging the local guide in to submission in true Brit fashion.
We were greeted at the airport and chauffeured to our accommodation, this was set to be the theme of the week as all transport to and from crags and bars was organised by Terry, a welcomed break meaning everyone could have a beer without having to nominate a driver. The accommodation was fantastic as was the food and the view!
The first two days of climbing was at Los Cohorras and it quickly became apparent that Jee Unit and Nick meant business climbing many of the harder classics in super quick time Venga! Venga! Echoed around the canyon, as Jee impressed the locals with his on-sight efforts! Nick also impressed when he managed to stack two of his weasel fingers in a mono and make a 7c look piss! The rest of the crew concentrated on pushing their redpoint grade and with successful ascents for everyone it was set to be a great trip.
When you get eight blokes all buzzing after a successful day, mix it with fine weather and even finer beer a certain amount of chaos is to be expected! So the following day’s drive out to Loja was a quiet one. Everyone hidden behind sunglasses stomachs churning on the windy road out to the crag all except Jee who seemed unfazed by the previous nights exploits! The fuzz faded as we started climbing and it seemed that the success of the previous days was to continue in fine fashion. Jee put the clips in the classic 8a of the crag and I got psyched! With two falls already under my belt and everyone waiting I had one last go! I wobbled across the last few moves and with ‘nothing left’ clipping the chain was a proper fight! But it was well worth it for the cold beer that was waiting for me in the van.
The following day everyone took turns climbing an awesome line through a steep roof I was filming on a rope as I watched Nick cruise it for the second time showboating for the crowd! He was in his comfort zone chilling out! that was until I kicked him off as he passed me! Much to the delight of everyone watching, the high-pitched shrill of his scream however seemed to upset the local wasps! Clearly not happy they swarmed a little bit to close for comfort so we had to make a hasty retreat back to the van and the safety of the cool box.
The next day Shaun and Warren had the pleasure of a local mountain bike guide and decided that despite the glaring sun they were going to make the most of the opportunity. Six hours later the boys turned up musing how they had just brought the poor bloke to his knees! As they re- hydrated on beer I began to wonder if these guy’s were actually human, as they never looked tired, always got pissed and were the first out of bed every day. This seemed to put our mediocre efforts on the rock into some kind of perspective, that night I vowed I would start biking when I got home!
The trip coincided with the birthday of one of our hosts Lisa and a big birthday bash had been organised that would take place on what would be our last night in Spain. We received our invite and with promise of local beer and talent we duly accepted. The party was a huge success as friends had travelled from England for the occasion, everyone was in good spirit as they hit the dance floor we might not speak Spanish but Big Fish Little Fish Cardboard Box proves universal on any dance floor! Thanks again to Alhambra Rambler for making it all run so smoothly and thanks to Spain for having such wicked climbing.
Dave Sutcliffe
