An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir April 2018 www.dfmagazine.ie 32 | By FQMS FRAn WhElAn, no 5 SP WIng 32 | F rom 4-9 February 2018, six members of the Defence Forces Association of Mountaineers (DFAM) – Flt Sgt n Flood (CtI 2), Air Corps; FQMS F Whelan (CtI 2), Air Corps; Sgt n Shannon (CtI 3), Cadet Sch; Sgt D nordon (CtI 2), 27 Inf Bn; Sgt t Everard (CtI 2), Air Corps; and Pte J Sharkey (CtI 2), 27 Inf Bn – participated in a climb- ing meet in Costa Blanca, Spain. DFAM's base was in Calpe, Murcia, and their climbing area was the Sierra de toix mountain range. the purpose of the meet was to sample the single-pitch and multi-pitch climbs in the area and practice the skills associ- ated with such climbing. Costa Blanca is the winter capital for sport climbers from all over Europe as it offers a combination of reliable weather and a diver- sity of climbing, mainly on limestone, that covers virtually all climbers' needs, ranging from low-grade sport climbs, via ferattas, and scrambling, through to top-grade sport climbs and long, multi-pitch routes in areas adjacent to the sea and high in the coastal mountain ranges. The area offers some spectacular mountaineering ridges such as the Bernia ridge, and there are also numerous trad climbing routes, although it is sometimes neces- sary to carry a small rack on some of the multi-pitch sport routes to protect the long run-outs between bolts and dodgy tat. Sgt Shannon and FQMS Whelan did a good job of organis- ing the logistics for the trip, and as travelling to the area at this time of year is good value, costs were reasonable, with flights and accommoda- tion coming in at less than €200 per person. The itinerary included return flights Dublin/Alicante, including a 20kg baggage allowance between each pair for climbing and medical equipment, accommodation in Calpe (a 50-minute drive from Alicante and ten-minutes from the climbing areas), and the hire of two cars for transportation. Calpe's strategic location has attracted many voyagers and settlers throughout the ages and it is full of history and culture, attracting tourists throughout the year; although in February it was pleasant and not thronged with people. It has a variety of restaurants and supermarkets, and prices are relatively cheap compared to Ireland. The town is dominated by the impressive 332m-high Rock of Ifach, which juts out into the Mediterranean. The rock was estab- lished as a nature park in 1987 and provides shelter for a variety of plants, such as the rockrose, tree germander and the Ifach mushroom. It also has some nice climbing routes. Our stay in Calpe consisted of four full days to climb. On the first night we organised our gear and decided where to start the climbing. Before we travelled, we had carried out a lot of research of the climbing areas, using the Rockfax guidebook by UK climb- ers Chris Craggs and Alan James. On day one we drove to the Toix cliffs and spent the first part of the day climbing single-pitch climbs on the Far Oeste crag. This was an ideal way to start the trip as the climbs start at low grades and get progressively higher as you move along the crag. There are also some two-pitch climbs of about 25m to 30m per pitch, to practice anchors and rappelling before hitting the longer multi-pitch routes. We spent the day climbing and becoming familiar with the limestone. Our main focus was on practicing the basic sport climbing skills, such as threading the rope through the top anchors safely before being lowered off the climb; making a range of anchors suitable for multi- Ned Flood and Tom Everard climbing on Toix Este with the Rock of Ifach to the rear

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