After the Berghaus Athletes’ camp I flew back to Barcelona to rejoin Wendy on our holiday with our good friends Gill and Dennis at L’Escala.
| Their home is on the edge of L’Escala, backing on a huge area of lovely scrub and woodland. This is looking down on L’Escala across the Bay of Roses. In the summer L’Escala is packed with holiday makers but at this time of year it is lovely and quiet yet delightfully warm and sunny. | 
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| It’s great to be able to eat out in the warm Mediterranean sun in an escape from a cold, wet Cumbria, particularly as Wendy on right was recovering from a severe Ashma attack. | 
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| I took off for one day to meet my old mate of the 1975 Everest South West Face expedition, at Montserrat. Our initial plan was to climb on the West side but the guide book is in Spanish and neither of us can speak it. Here we are checking out an in situ map to work out the route to the climb. | 
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| We knew it was up the valley slightly right of centre but failed to find a path and after an hour of bush-whacking up a stream bed through ferociously sharp thorns, admitted defeat and half the day was gone!!! | 
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We drove round to the north side to the Monastery of Montserrat. The climb was at Montserrat in the Gorros sector. It was called Via Apia, 100m long and graded F4c+. Accessed in just 10 mins from the top of the Funicular de St Joan from the Monastery car park. |
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| Up the back of the second from left. | 
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| And the climbing was brilliant with the bolts far apart because it was only grade 1V!!!! Mike leading the first pitch. | 
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| Mike following me up the second pitch. | 
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| Two happy climbers at the end of the climb. | 
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After an exciting day we managed to miss the last tram back down and had a long walk back down to the car – a typical day out for the Bonington–Rhodes team! |
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