The Costa Blanca has been long known as one of the best destinations anywhere in the world for winter sun rock and nowadays it attracts visitors from all over the world. Although the area is most popular as a 'sun and chips' venue, the summer's here are HOT, crowded and expensive and only mad dogs and Englishmen would try to climb in the peak holiday season. At other times of the year though the area has the almost ideal combination of a mild climate, well established infrastructure, cheap flights from most of Europe and of course masses of high quality limestone - the real white gold. The thrill of stepping on a plane on a grey English morning and emerging two and a half hours later in bright Spanish sunshine still takes some beating. More and more climbers make the regular exodus and head south for a mid-winter tonic.

The benign climate would be nothing without quality climbing to challenge you; in that department the area really excels. Cliffs available here vary from tiny roadside offerings up through multi-pitch cragging; to extensive sea cliffs and on to some massive mountain crags. The earliest developments took place back in the 1960s and the subsequent 40 years have seen a steady growth in the climbing available right up to the present day with both locals and visitors adding new climbs on a regular basis. It will be some years yet before this area is exhausted.

Initially the climbing here was seen as practise for bigger things and routes were done on an 'anything goes' basis. Later, with the development of sport climbing, many of the shorter cliffs were bolted up and later still the locals took on the massive task of bolting some of the major lines on the biggest cliffs, giving long classics, the equal of climbs anywhere.

Below are the closest "famous" documented climbs to Jazmines and there are many more within easy driving distance that you will find reviewed at Rockfax. In addition to these, there are a number of more simpler climbs within ten minutes walk of Jazmines and teams of climbers can be seen throughout the year testing their skills and strength.

Dalle d'Ola

A compact face of good rock, equipped with chain-link bolts, and only seconds from the car. The locals call the cliff Canyelles, though its usual name comes from the German climber who placed the bolts and named it after his dog! The cliff is basically a broad flat wall with a small subsidiary buttress to the left. We have continued to use the coloured names though much of the paint as faded away. There are three new lower-offs, care is needed on the routes on the right unless you have a 70m rope.