Flailing, I held the fall with the left hand, replaced my foot and attempted again only to feel my foot slip. Dedicatedly, the foot was returned against the quickly receding opportunity and pushing hard my fingers crept over the edge of the pocket. Exuberant, I shook out on the next hold, the pump quickly receding in the face of the wild terrain above. And as suddenly, the euphoria was gone as the route disappeared, the fantastic view fading to the realization that this wasn’t over yet, there wasn’t a hold or bolt in sight. I tried advancing up a wall topped by a roof on small, sharp crimps only to retreat, it had to go left, blindly.

Resolute in my decision I edged left crossing over to gaston a crimp with my right hand allowing my left to reach around the bulge. The sidepull wasn’t good, but at least I’d found it. Working my feet left under tension I would need a foot to stick to be able to release the gaston. I could glimpse easy looking ground above when suddenly I was barn-dooring off into space 300 m above the Mediterranean. Without hesitation and certain of what needed to be done I swung back into the cliff and climbed back to the rest, forgetting in my moment of frustration to take in the magnificent hanging view. Only slightly higher, the sidepull proved considerably better and in no time we were at the top celebrating with a Scotch and wondering which route the sunbathing blonds had taken. And as so often happens, that evening, the next dream, the Puig Campana would rise out of the swirling lights of the drunken celebration at the Orange House.

Staying at the Orange House, overrun with Brits, costs upwards of 10 € a night and while the view of the Puig Campana is fantastic, watching the sun rise out of the Mediterranean from the balcony of our villa at Cumbre del Sol, for slightly less, wasn’t all that bad either. Besides, the plan for this trip was to get a closer view via the direct version of the “Espolón Central”. On landing in Alicante we drove north in the rain eager to check out the villa, fortunately we’d encounter rain on only one other day during the course of our 10 day trip.