The Hidden Costa Blanca

Dotted around the hills of the Costa Blanca are some remarkable relics of a time gone by. Before the age of industrial refrigeration the only way to enjoy the luxury of ice throughout the year was throught th euse of huge snow pits, Neveras dug into the ground and filled up throughout the winter. These were not "quick fixes" but major constructions that must have taken vast amounts of labour to complete. The best examples are beautifully built, often situated in natural hollows high on the mountains where snow would drift in the colder winters of the 16th to 19th centuries. The snow holes are up to 20 metres deep with amazing domed roofs (most roofs have fallen in but a few remain).

Of course even when full of snow (which would compress and turn to ice) it was a major job to dig out the frozen blocks and carry these down to the villages and towns on mules and donkeys at night. The snow was layered between straw to aid insualtion, and if you look at the floow in some snow holes you will see drainage channels to take away any melt water. The re contructed Nevera "Pou Cerde" between Torre Manzannes and Jijona has an example of the winding gear that must have been used to haul out the heavy frozen blocks. Some like the fine example at Bocairent are even built cleverly into cliff faces so that access to the bottom is possible via a tunnel. This one is also unusual in that it is built on the edge of the town. I wonder if they ever got enough snow to fill it? It's worth a visit as it has now got a staircase all the way from the floor to the top exit.

The arrival of industrial refrigeration at the end of the 19th century brought an end to this unusal industry and gradually the snow wells are falling into a sad state of decay.

More pictures here

looking throught the lower tunnel entrance of the Rentonar Snow Hole

Three days on the Costa

You can get a lot done in three days - a short trip this January to the Costa Blanca gave me the opportunity to do some classic routes on the Alpine sized crags of the Puig Campana and the Ponoch (Ponoig).

The route of Espilon Central with the direct start gives around 400 metres of great climbing up the imposing mountain of the Puig Campana. Climbing with my friend Bruce we had the mountain to ourselves. The top 6 pitches were enveloped in clouds and it was certainly very atmospheric. A serious route as well with some areas of loose rock that have to be avoided. The descent route was not too bad, with a well worn track and cables on the scrambly parts. Certainly worth doing (which I will again on a sunnier day and try the Edwards finish).


We then had a superb day climbing at Rowland and Mark Edwards' (of compasswest) new crag near Finestrat. Superb rock, great lines and amazing scenery will make this a must visit venue, probably just as good as Echo Valley but with more variety of routes.

The last day of this short trip saw us tackle the classic line of Via Valencianos on the Ponoch. at 6a and with the crux section "friggable" it seemed a pretty steady trip, especially as the first 200 metres or so were all more or less scrambling. However the top section of the route is pretty taxing. The crux pitch(s) have to be climbed, there is not enough gear to "cheat" on these. Great pitches they were too. These took a bit longer than we thought as we weren't quite sure of the way on. After the crux there are several more long pitches, and then a long traverse and decent. It took us nearly 9 hours which sounds pretty slow, but we never really ground to a complete halt! A very impressive and exciting route! Some of the other routes on this huge 500 metre clif look awesome, we will be back!

(photos - top the direct start to Espilon Central - bottom on the crux section of Via Valencianos - Ponoch)