My life has been quite different these past few months. Work-wise things have been brilliant and busy. Lots of instructing, route setting and shifts at the shop. My home life however, has changed quite significantly as a result of my long term relationship ending. It obviously wasn’t a brilliant period, and as I imagine most people do at similar times, I threw myself into work and keeping myself busy. Two of my friends must have felt sorry for me and invited me on their climbing trip to Spain. They’d had it planned for a while but were happy for me to tag along – and they didn’t have to bend my arm too much!

My personal climbing had yet again taken a bit of a hit in the recent weeks. For the first time ever, finding motivation to go out and climb even on days off and with plenty of rest, was a bit of a struggle. So, I was very pleased with how excited and keen for rock I was getting in the days building up to the holiday. Even the forecast wasn’t putting me off. It was slowly getting worse each time we checked. So much so that Ian made a last-minute decision not to go. A real shame as I was looking forward to catching up with them both. We’ve hardly seen each other for the past couple of years. Mark was still up for going and so was I – the trip was still on. We just packed slightly differently than originally planned. The shorts went back under the bed and the hardshell and waterproofs came out.

We had a plan. According to the forecast, the first day was going to be the nicest day. So we thought that would be our best chance to climb the multi-pitch route Mark had picked out.

El Chorro is extremely easy to get to. We flew into Malaga, picked up the hire car and were there in less than an hour. Popped into the train station café to grab some water and snacks and then headed straight to the climb. Mark had been in the area before so luckily we could get there without messing around trying to find our bearings.

We got to the crag, got changed, sorted out our gear and started the very short approach to the climb. The sky was blue, the sun was shining bright and for the first time in a while I was smiling like a madman and couldn’t wait to get climbing.

We picked “Valentines Day” a 3-star, 4-pitch 130m 6a. It was absolutely amazing to be climbing on Spanish rock again. I quickly realised this was exactly what I needed. How, just holding on to a bit of rock can make someone so happy is ridiculous. It shouldn’t still amaze me but it does – I freaking love climbing!

We managed to pick a perfect route for the afternoon. It was easy to get to and find, the climbing was fun and interesting but not taxing, so we both moved pretty quickly and were able to relax and enjoy it even more. I ended up leading what was suppose to be the crux pitch and Mark got the last one, which in my opinion was the best one. It was so enjoyable and we didn’t think it was much easier than the ‘6a’ pitch.

It was starting to get dark and the backdrop of El Chorro looked stunning. Ruined ever so slightly by the two smiling morons (yes – us) taking selfies. Just the matter of abseiling back down. Halfway down it got properly dark – no problem with a head torch, I had mine, but Mark however, managed to leave his in the car, even after me reminding him. So it took a bit longer to get down but we got back to the car without any drama.

It had been a long day since leaving Worthing that morning but we had managed to get to Spain and get a long route in and had a proper mini-adventure.

We woke up the next morning, expecting rain but were pleasantly surprised to see blue sky. We quickly headed to Frontales after breakfast. The skies were rapidly changing and the temperature quickly dropped. I jumped on “Un monton de chatarra” a Top 50 6a, and it started spitting soon afterwards. It had really set in after ¾ the way up. Even with the rain and numb fingertips and toes, I was still smiling and giving a running commentary down to Mark below who was belaying in the now, full-on fine rain (wets you through). Luckily the holds are positive and I managed to get to the top without slipping off. The rain had just about stopped by the time I got back down but we could see more coming in, so decided to retreat back to the station café. Thinking that was the end of the climbing for the day (and probably the trip as well).

However, the sky gave hope and we were optimistic to get something else in. After all Mark didn’t manage to get a climb in earlier. So after looking through the guidebook, we ended up at Las Encantadas. We were lucky enough to get a couple of hours there, dodging showers but got a few more routes in. It felt like a real bonus as we didn’t expect to get any more climbing in at all.

The rain then set in and the forecast looked extremely bleak for the rest of our trip. Rather than hang around a wet El Chorro, we decided to take the hit and get some earlier flights home for the next day.

Although cut short by a couple of days, our flying visit to Spain had been a success and completely worth it. I had a brilliant time. The trip reminded me of how important climbing is to me. It was nice to catch up with Mark the and we even got to see some old friends who now live near El Chorro.

A very fun, much-needed trip! More of the same please..