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Costa Blanca Walks: West v. 1 (Cicerone Guide) (Paperback)

by Bob Stansfield (Author)
2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Costa Blanca Walks: West v. 1 (Cicerone Guide) + Costa Blanca Walks: East v. 2 (Cicerone International Walking) + Costa Blanca - Denia, Calpe, Benidorm, Alcoy, Alicante, Torrevieja. 50 Walks. Rother Walking Guide
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Product details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Cicerone Press; 2nd Revised edition edition (1 Oct 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1852843306
  • ISBN-13: 978-1852843304
  • Product Dimensions: 16.8 x 11.6 x 2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 323,122 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Product Description

The rugged mountains of the Costa Blanca offer wonderful walking in a landscape of pinnacled ridges, enormous crags and shady pines. Orange and almond groves enhance the valleys, whilst attractive mountain villages provide hospitality, offering a taste of the real Spain, far removed in character from the developed coastal strip. The walks are described in two books, which split roughly into west (book 1) and east (book 2). Book one covers the area north and west of Benidorm and includes walks in: Sierra Aitana, Monte Ponoch, Puig Campana; The Val de Arc; Benidorm Area - Sierra Helada, Sierra Cortina; Sierra Serrella / Aixorta; Val de Algar; Val de Galinera/Forada; North-west Sierras; Outlying areas. Two multi-day walks are also included - the Gallinera Way and Costa Blanca Mountain Way.


About the Author

After wartime service in the navy, Bob Stansfield had a career in the police force, becoming superintendent, then lecturing in law in East Anglia. Bob is a lifelong mountain lover, and has walked, climbed and skied in most of the high places of Britain and in many parts of the Alps. He was a part-time instructor with Outward Bound and a voluntary warden in the Lake District, and founded the first police climbing club. Bob and his wife, Kathy, retired to the Costa Blanca in 1986. There they helped to found the Costa Blanca Mountain Walkers, a group which went on to thoroughly explore the walking possibilities of the region. Bob has written walking articles in local newspapers and published a series of walking guides locally. A selection was published by Cicerone in 1995 as Mountain Walks on the Costa Blanca. In this new edition, in two volumes, Bob has updated and expanded the scope of the first edition to give unrivalled comprehensive coverage of the area.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Adequate Guide of Excellent Walks, 1 April 2007
By Mike Swain (Cambridge) - See all my reviews

I bought both of volumes of the Stansfield Guide as soon as they were published and have done about a third of the walks, more from Volume 2 (East) than Volume 1 (West). My comments apply to both books. I used them in conjunction with the IGN 1:25000 maps, mainly series 2 (revised in 2000), where these were available. The maps are poor but still better than relying on the books alone. Unfortunately, quite a lot of sheets are necessary and many were not available.

I have used many walking guides and whilst these were not the best, they were certainly not the worst. There were a few occasions where the route description was thin or ambiguous but I was never in any real doubt about where I was. The earlier (and unnecessarily sarcastic) review does not represent my experience. It seemed to me that the more difficult walks and scrambles were better described. The same is true of the Barranco del Infierno (Volume 2), which is more a climb than a scramble and has the most potential for going wrong. The detailed description of the difficult section is fine and the warnings are good. In that case, finding the Barranco was the most difficult thing because someone had built a fence across the path. Our detour took us down heavily overgrown terraces infested with processional caterpillar nests as well as skin shredding roses and other spiky plants. The nests are a real hazard in spring and you need to keep your eyes open; there is a warning in the books.

If you have a certain amount of experience I would recommend the books. But don't expect them to spoon-feed you. Get the maps if possible but they are not essential and need to be used with care. The walking in this area is fantastic and there are some very good scrambles. The choice of routes is good and you would be hard pressed to find many of them without a guide. Many of the walks are outstanding. The Bernia and Ferrer and Montgo ridges (all Vol 2), Puig Campana and Forada (Vol 1) would be my highlights. Incidentally, there is a lot of useful local knowledge in the local ex-pat walking groups (which are mentioned) but they do tend to attract quite a crowd.
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3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars I hope this review is a little more clear than his walks, his book gets an "obvious" one star., 21 Jan 2007
By Joshua Allen (Trento, Italy) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Well first off, Bravo Bob! you have really written a corker here, turning what should be pleastant walks around the lovely sun-drenched Costa Blanca into : a game of guessing which way we go now, before the sun goes down and we get stuck. Oh, and more importantly before the chocolate runs out.

First off i will admit your book does offer a diverse collection of walks which seem to be comprehensive in covering most of the wonderful mountains in the area. This is where the complements stop. First the phrase which seems to have haunted me even to this day; "head towards the obvious tree". Bob, do you realise what this lapse in your effort to give directions has caused?
No?
Well lets start off with examining it to see if we can help you.
Obvious Tree.
Hummm... bit vague no? Now, even on the most barren mountains, there tend to be many trees placed here and there fighting to survive. The "obvious" word there Bob, was many. Therefore when you refer to a singular tree, you are leaving us to guess that you refer perhaps to; the one over there, or is it the one up there, ...oh, or maybe that one.

I am not stupid Bob I can ascertain an obvious way-marker like most. But if you are going to call this a guide-book, it needs to do what it does on the label. Guide. Leaving things to guesswork isn't very professional now is it Bob? It definitely is no help to man nor beast if they are left to guess which tree you might be reffering to. Secondly i might add, trees generally are not that permenant, why could you not choose a large rock with a spray painted arrow, or dot on it to refer to? Does it give you kicks sending walkers all over these mountains in search of this Holy Grail that is "the obvious tree". I looked it up Bob in; "Peterson First Guide to Trees" and guess what Obvious Tree does not feature, stange no?

With that off my chest, lets move on to the manner in which you go into great detail in describing some of the most blatantly marked paths. Then when it comes to an ascent up an overgrown rock face, the beautiful prose that were before, now descend into something so lacking it it as helpful as a recipe for polenta in innuit.

You see this is where the detail of the path would be very usefull, i'm sure you can grasp the idea that : Hard to follow path = the need for a detailed and thorough set of directions. Or could you simply not be botherd to actually go up the rock face in the first place?

Next there was one particular walk which on its returning leg skirts along the top of a cliff face for about 3 and a half km or so, as i seem to recall your book generally goes along the lines of "make you way back to the car keeping at said altitude following the obvious sheep tracks". Uh-oh, there's that ominous word there again Bob, obvious. Now i don't know what it was like when you did it, for that matter, if you did at all, but when I did it (twice might i add) on both occasions finding this obvious sheep track was difficult as there were, surprise, surprise, many sheep tracks! Now as these weaved in and out of the many hanging valleys they didn't leave much chance to stay at a steady height. Oh and just incase you were wondering Bob no, generally people going out for walks in the Costa Blanca do not carry altimeters. Now this inability to know which sheep track was the correct one, initially may not sound to bad, but we must not forget the fact that there was that "big ol' drop" down there to our left (several hundred feet of sheer cliff), oh and whats that beneath our feet? look Bob, it's very unstable looking scree, and humm it seems to run right down to the cliff edge. This is where your love of all things obvious, sundenly becomes a little more grave doesn't it? Sheep i believe do not sense virtigo (don't hold me to that), and neither it seems do they have the capacity to think that unstable rocks and large cliff face results in; a very flat not living version of themselves. I however did have the mental capacity for it to have me a little worried, to say the least. So the need for an indication of which of these blessed paths you were actually reffering to and which one resulted in lamb burgers at the bottom of the cliff.

One final thing. Your maps. If I were to call them comprehensive I would be a liar.

So in synopsis: if you are looking for a book which will guide you comfortably around some of the more less trodden paths in the area of Costa Blanca then please look elsewhere. If however you are looking at not only pitting yourself against nature but also against Bob's poorly written, misleading and very often abiguous guide then by jove! this is for sure the book for you!
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