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The Guadalest Valley - Costa Blanca's Paradise!

© Tom Phillips

The Guadalest Valley is rapidly becoming a popular winter destination for many sports such as road cycling (pro cycling teams ride throught the valley), mountain biking, hiking and of course climbing as it has some of Spain's best adventure and sports climbing.

The climbing at Abdet  © Tom Phillips
The climbing at Abdet

Guadalest is also consistently ranked amongst the top tourist attractions in all Spain and it's easy to see why with its spectacular castle and ancient houses perched on rocky pinacles, commanding spectacular views over the pictureque valley and lake.

The Guadalest crags have seen steady development over the past decade and are now reaching maturity, some of the first routes were developed by Rowland Edwards - based at his nearby climbing school. Many of these early routes are superb yet reasonable graded trad lines. Now there are over 200 routes of all grades, but mainly bolted and in the popular 6a/6b band. And after you have tired out your arms and fingers you can wander up to the old village and relax with a coffee, beer or paella.

Other venues in the valley include the ever popular Echo Valley, the huge routes on the Ponoche (try the classic E1 of Via Valencianos if you want a long day out!), many epic routes around Penya Roc and the crags at Abdet and Serella further up the valley.

View over the Guadalest Valley at sunrise  © Tom Phillips
View over the Guadalest Valley at sunrise

If you want to stay in the valley the accommdation in the nearby village of Abdet (from just £10 per person per night) is a great base as it is just a few minutes walk from the houses to the recently developed El Flare crags with around 95 sport and trad routes. Also close to Abdet are the new and spectacular routes at Serella and Abdet Pinacle. The two houses are well equiped, have superb views of the valley and have free wifi.

Be sure to check out the free PDF topos at www.abdet.com.

Many people think that climbing in the summer is impossible in the Spanish heat, but actually it is surprisingly amenable with daytime temperatures typically 25c and low humidity. Find one of the many shady faces and you will have a great time, and you can spend the hotest part of the day in one of the great pools or canyons nearby (you will be amazed how quiet it is in summer just a short way from the heaving masses of Benidorm). Besides climbing you can pursue other activities here such as mountain biking, road cycling, walking, scrambling, via ferrata, swimming and canyoning.

The Accommodation at Abdet  © Tom Phillips
The Accommodation at Abdet

For more information Abdet Climbers Accommodation



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