• With more sustained climbing following - as the first raindrops fell. Retreat seemed uninviting but feasible, so we carried on.

  • Rain is now falling and Terry tries to work out this benign looking chimney with wicked looking exit.

  • Andrew took this shot looking back from high on the traverse to our abseil ledge.

  • Here you see Andrew on the absurdly exposed abseil

  • ...and continues through the first crux.

  • Andrew comes up the steep pitch.

  • After a scramble that seemed like graded climbing, Terry stands at the bottom of the diedre proper.

Diedro UBSA

Sunday, 30th September 2012

The Penon de Ifac dominates Calpe, Costa Blanca, and Diedro UBSA is the classic route on the vast south face.

Terry had been after it for years and, now that he was here with Andrew, this seemed the ideal opportunity. After all, what’s the point of having kids if you can’t point them up the hardest pitches?

After a scramble that seemed like graded climbing, Terry stands at the bottom of the diedre proper.
Andrew comes up the steep pitch.
…and continues through the first crux.
With more sustained climbing following – as the first raindrops fell. Retreat seemed uninviting but feasible, so we carried on.

The route is remarkable because it involves a diagonal abseil high on the face to reach a natural traverse line lower down.

Here you see Andrew on the absurdly exposed abseil
Andrew took this shot looking back from high on the traverse to our abseil ledge.
Rain is now falling and Terry tries to work out this benign looking chimney with wicked looking exit.

Well, obviously, we made it up and finished the easy rocks to the top in heavy rain. We couldn’t have known it then but we had finished the climb by the skin of our teeth – the rains for which these were prodromal were to devastate Spain over next few days.

One thought on “Diedro UBSA”

  1. Yeah, this is why I take my kids to all those nice climbing locations … someone must climb the hard bits so I can follow! 😆
    That picture of Andrew hanging above the sea is just fantastic! :star:
    Well done the two of you! :clap:

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *