Athlete from Altea Ángel López Amor, specializing in scaling tall structures and mountain ascents, leads the National Vertical Racing Championship with two tests remaining. The competition began with a climb to Gran Hotel Bali in Benidorm on April 22. The 2023 vertical circuit comprises six events, with Vertical de Montserrat standing out as the hardest: 2,180 steps per kilometer, a 388-meter drop, and a 60% gradient. This combination makes it the most challenging stage on the Spanish circuit.
As of now, López Amor has 415 points, while the runner-up, Ignacio Cardona Torres from Jávea, holds 252 points; third place belongs to a climber from Cuenca with 210 points. Ángel Llorens is also among Spain’s elite vertical racing specialists.
At 28 years old, López Amor represents the Altea Athletics Club and began competing in vertical racing at 17, starting with Bali hotel climbs. In the final opening test of the National Vertical Racing Championship, he descended 190 meters from the Benidorm hotel, completed 52 floors and 924 steps in 4:55, finishing just three seconds shy of his personal best. He became the first Spanish athlete to place in this event, finishing sixth overall out of 455 runners and professionals from around the world.
Athletes’ record in Vertical Ascent to Gran Hotel Bali
PHOTOS AND VIDEO: DAVID REVENGA
After Bali, Ángel López tackled the Emperor’s Tower climb in Madrid on May 13, traversing 55 floors and 1,320 steps of Spain’s fourth tallest building. He finished second overall and first in the senior category, with a time of 7:03.
A week later, on May 20, López competed in Barcelona, tackling the Montserrat massif. The ascent involved the 2,180 steps between the lower station of the Santa Cova de Montserrat Funicular and the upper station of the Sant Joan Funicular. He completed the climb in 12:37, besting his performance last year when he won in 13:05.
With three events completed, López Amor held a commanding lead in the national standings, prompting him to skip the Edificio Mediterráneo event in Marbella on June 3. The other top contenders also chose not to participate since there was no scoring point for the final round, a decision López Amor noted during this reporting period.
Now at the Bali hotel, López Amor has climbed through 28 floors and logged 547 steps beyond the original targets. The schedule includes Laguna Tower in El Ejido (Almería) on the 17th, with the final round of the championship slated for November in an as-yet-unspecified building in Alcalá de Henares.
López Amor works as a baker by trade. Besides training at the Bali Hotel and other tall structures in the Marina Baixa area, he also ascends the Sierra Bernia from Altea la Vella and runs along steep, graded slopes from the beach to the old town’s summit. He is currently the youngest athlete in Spain competing in vertical racing, tackling skyscrapers and mountain ascents with a disciplined training routine aimed at maintaining his lead in the national rankings.
Looking ahead, López Amor has not ruled out climbing iconic landmarks such as Paris’s Eiffel Tower or New York’s Empire State Building next year, though he notes that greater sponsorship from his employers would be essential to make such projects feasible.