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Lucy Creamer on Barbossa 7a, Gaz Parry on Bo¨sun 7b and Steve McClure on Tortuga Island 7c all on sight
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Introduction: The Toix area will be know to most people who have climbed on the Costa Blanca, as a friendly venue for mostly easier routes, predominately a mixture of single and multi pitch slabby climbs high above the sea. The sea cliffs have an all together different feel! South facing, running West to East for almost 3km and ranging in height from 60m to100m. Daring fisherman were the first to explore these cliffs with death defying ladders and cables, several ladders are still usable today but be very careful, they are in a very poor condition. Only 19 routes have been recorded in the most recent rock fax this area is well over due some attention!
The mega classic arete of "Missing Link" (6b) and steep wall of "El Dorado" (6a+) are perhaps the most popular routes above the sea, first climbed by Agustin Gomez and friends in the late eighties. Both have been fully retro bolted within the last two years, unfortunately only with painted galvanized steel bolts. About 1 km east the aging area Candelabra del Sol offers some great routes by Mark and Rowland Edwards, but the in situ equipment is in a dangerous state, a miss-match of home made and old steel bolts showing lots of corrosion. Nylon tat which is only good for one summer, beware, this old tat snaps! Some new bolts have appeared on this crag but they are galvanized steel so only have a very short life span in the sea air.
The Pirates of the Caribbean area was first pointed out to me by Agustin from the sea and later we explored the top of these cliffs. It was felt that such a fantastically atmospheric area should not be littered with poor or inappropriate protection. After consultation with local climbers it was decided to fully bolt these potential new routes with stainless steel expansion or glue in bolts, ensuring the longevity of the protection. The protection is well spaced ensuring the adventurous feel is not lost! These new routes, although safe, are not bolt ladders. Don´t forget your brave pills.
Directions: Park at Toix Oeste. Walk beneath Toix Oeste along the well marked path for 1km until the abseil point into Candelabra del Sol. Continue along the path for a further 250m until two holes in a flat area on the cliff top are found. The first hole provides the access via a 60m abseil. Caution the rock here is very sharp! Attach the rope to the double bolt chain ab station, descend to the lip where a second ring bolt is found and reattach the rope to this to stop it rubbing. 50m free abseil to the large ledge just above the sea. Might be best to leave your ab rope in place just in case.
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