El Chorro 2025 Trip Report

The club organised our third trip to El Chorro (Spain). In this edition, 14 members organised in 4 cars embarked on a few days of sport climbing, tapas, and red wine. A lot of fun was had and I have tried my best to break each day down:

Friday

Early morning flight from Bradford required us to either drive or taxi to the airport as public transport wasn’t yet available. All climbing gear was checked in on 20kg luggage and the airport security experience was smooth, lessons were learned from 2023!

However, we were unlucky in Malaga airport, as passport control seemed to have IT issues and the border control had reverted to manual. It took us over three hours to get through and get the hire cars. Albeit annoying, this did not affect any plans as the first day is normally a write off between travel, shopping for the trip, and driving to El Chorro from Malaga. The town of Cártama is well placed for a meal on the way, whereas Alora is the closest town to El Chorro with large supermarkets and decently priced bars.

The Olive Brach was our accommodation of choice for the trip, and this was the first year they had a second bunkhouse available, hence the increased capacity of the trip. Despite some bumps on the way, we all made it there for 7pm. The weather forecast for the following days looked ideal, with dry weather at just over 20 degrees during the day and 9 degrees in the evenings.

Saturday

After a slow day of travel on Friday, we were very excited to get out on the rock!

On this day though, there was a climbing marathon/competition on the crags. Elite climbers were clocking in as many pitches/metres of climbing as possible in 24 hours, hence staying off the long (multi pitch) routes was advised. It was also our first day on the rock and most of us were looking to get a sense of how we measured against grades. Elise, Charley, Martin, Max, Derek, Neil, Alex and Dan walked up to the Arab Steps crags for some sport climbing. There are several crags in the region that offer climbing for all levels, most of us started on the Suiza area and moved to different places as the day progressed. Matthew and Dave tackled 360 – a delightful low grade multi pitch climb on the Corral East crag. Stefan and Will decided to try the via ferrata in Frontales, followed by climbing across the road from Olive Branch in the afternoon (Cocina Caliente).

In addition to a great day outdoors, it turned out there was a beer festival in El Chorro village during the weekend too! It provided an evening entertainment option that some members were keen to seize.

Sunday

Having warmed up on Saturday, Sunday was the ‘Big Day’ of choice for Derek, Neil, Matthew and Dave. Derek and Neil tackled ‘Lluvia de Asteroides’ a multi pitch in Frontales (sector Mundo).

Dave, Matthew, Stefan and Dan decided to go for the Blue Line in the Arab Steps (Suiza). A 12 pitch climb that starts with steady climbing and gets more intense after pitch number 6. We all had a great time, albeit the slab on pitch 10 gave us something to talk about on the way down!

Following the recommendations from Matthew and Dave from the day before; Elise, Charley, John and Gavin went for 360 and had a wonderful climb. The book reports a 30 metres abseil at the end of the climb, but it was possible with a 60 metres rope.  

Will and Alex had a day cragging at Rocabella, where you get a chance to escape direct sunlight on the North side. Their walk back was a bit challenging as they bumped into a pack of feral farmer dogs, watch out for them on the paths…

In the evening, time was spent talking about the big days out, and in a thorough discussion about Spanish red wines, accompanied by a few bottles of ‘Spanish red wine’.

Monday

Last full day in El Chorro, eight of us decided to go to Rocabella for climbing with the potential to be in the shade.

Will and Alex jumped on the car and drove 20 min to Valle de Abdalajis, in which they climbed ‘el olvido del osillo’ an interesting chimney graded 5c.

Neil and Gavin were still hungry for harder climbs and headed to the Serena Crag, where Gavin sent his first ground up 6a.

In the evening, we all gathered in one of the bunkhouses to have a tapas night. After the food, Dave hosted a ‘pub quiz’ (well done on bringing the cards!) 

Tuesday

Neil, Alex, and Gav got up early and squeezed in a couple of climbs in Cocina Caliente across the road from Olive Branch. The rest of us packed and got ready for the trip home.

Conclusion and considerations

We were blessed by near perfect weather and everyone had a great time. El Chorro presents options for sport climbing of all levels and the routes are well looked after and well bolted. A lot of crags in the region can be walked to and from the Olive Branch, but there are further options to drive to if you wish to explore crags further afield.

We all stopped for a ‘big food shopping’ on the Friday on the way to El Chorro.  In doing so, there was no need for further top up shops during the trip, and it felt like the right choice. The Olive Branch gives us flexibility in terms of catering, as they offer affordable evening meals, breakfasts and packed lunches. Additionally, they also run an honesty tab system for drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic).

To give some idea of the cost for the trip, the all-in cost was about £420 per person. This includes, accommodation, flights, food, beer, wine, tapas communal meal, car hire, fuel, parking and insurance – a reet bargin!!