Before precise maps, measured schedules and carrying the medicine cabinet as if it were a treasure, there was a rawer, freer, but also more authentic stage. This is one of those memories that we throw away when we are asked how it all began. Because if there’s a starting point, it was probably here.

It was in Bocairent, in the province of Valencia, where we took some of our first steps in the mountains. We were finishing the training course, with our heads full of topography, knots and protocols, and we began to intuit that this thing of walking the mountain was not going to remain a hobby. Although much of the course was done in Alicante, it was among the ravines, forests and rocks of Bocairent where our paths crossed and the spark was ignited.

Here Héctor and Miguel met. Héctor came with a well-loaded mountaineering record: years working in Asia in mountain and adventure companies, and an easy verb that made him, unintentionally, a spokesman for the group. He was also, and is, the real climber, one of those who enjoy hanging from a meeting 20 meters above the ground while arguing about whether that ribbon is “more or less” placed.

Miguel, on the other hand, brought another energy: always cheerful, more of ferratas, long kicks, “costereos”, of taking good jumps into the water and going down ravines with that ease that only comes from having enjoyed them a thousand times. He climbed, yes, but his comfort zone had more to do with the water, the enclosed vegetation and the mud on his boots.

And as often happens, something came out of that very different mix that worked. One spoke while the other tuned the rhythm of the group. One opened the way, the other looked for the freshest passage. And between laughter, techniques, and some slight twists that were solved with duct tape, the idea of forming a team, of working together, and later, of starting to collaborate with EasyTours to share those routes with other people was born.

Since then, Pan, Miguel’s dog, has been part of the team. It goes in all of them, has a better sense of smell than many GPS and appears in more photos than either of them. He doesn’t bark much, but if he could, he sure would have his own section on the blog.

These images that accompany the text are loose fragments of that beginning. There are no big productions or filters, but there are stories behind them. They are routes that were not yet routes. Moments where what mattered was to be there, test ourselves, learn, and see if all this made sense.

And he did. Boy did he have it.