Climbing In Mallorca (Matt Box)

As a (new) member of the MKMC I have been asked to write a report regarding my recent trip to Mallorca, where my climbing partner (a friend from Leeds called Alex) and I visited for it’s abundance of bolted limestone crags.

I am a relative new comer to climbing having starting about 3 years ago, through which time I have solely focused on the ‘traditional method’ (ah-hem). Only in 2010 have I had the pleasure of sports climbing with any frequency: so Mallorca was to prove interesting.

Mallorca is the largest Balearic Island and has a mountainous northern section where the majority of crags are to be found. These are supplemented by a number of coastal cliffs that delineate the outer margins of the island and provide an alternative beach-side environment in which one might climb. It doesn’t rain a lot in Mallorca and the spring time is meant to be the best time of year to visit as it doesn’t get too hot – although all things are relative.

I left MK at an un-Godly 2.30 am in time to catch the bus to Luton airport where, thanks to a recent change in the weather and position of the Icelandic ash cloud, I was able to check-in and catch my plane to Palma de Mallorca. After some pointless delays (there was a slight mist in Mallorca!?) the plane full of stag and hen parties and one climber (me) were off. Yes, flying at last! I turned to talk to the chap sitting next to me about our successful ascent into the atmosphere but, ‘Turk’, as his t-shirt claimed he was called, was too busy drinking from a can of Carlsberg to care, so I looked out of the window instead.

Landing in Palma de Mallorca at 10.30 am, I was promptly picked up by Alex and we drove to our first destination, Puig de Garrafa, where the climbs have some of the friendliest grades: a good place to start, we thought. We arrived at the foot of the crag by lunch time and busied ourselves getting ready to climb. Rather unfortunately, the easiest sector at Puig de Garrafa is called Sector Solarium, and for good reason: this south-facing crag is unrelentingly blasted by the Mediterranean sun throughout the day. Consequently, any pale, anaemic British climber caught beneath Apollo’s withering gaze is instantly transformed into a sweaty, gibbering heap. Still, despite my sudorous nature I enjoyed the climbing at Sector Solarium and was encouraged by the bolt spacing which was very friendly. We eased ourselves into the swing of things that afternoon by each climbing Orange Corner (F4), The Rib (F4+), The Slab (F4+),The Wall (F5+) and Mafalda (F5). The top route was Mafalda which justifiably gets it’s two star rating and is a great deal of fun.

Returning to our hotel at Palmanova, called ‘Aparthotel’ because one hired a small, self-contained apartment rather than a room – and not because the place was falling apart – we were greeted with the vista of groups of hens and stag busily smoking and drinking in the hotel bar in preparation for that evening’s indulgence: a warm up to the main event. Huddled in groups like lekking grouse, peroxide blondes with deep-tanned faces and crows-feet gurgled in Estuary cheek-to-jowl with beefy, tattooed blokes in vests: twisted, modern embodiments of ‘John Bull’. To it’s credit the hotel quietens down activity after 11 pm so sleep is not interrupted by any slurred wailings of Bonnie Tyler’s ‘I need a Hero’.

The next day saw an increase in the intensity of light and heat radiating from the sun (clearly Apollo and Helios were in cahoots and conspiring against us), a daunting prospect after the pervious day’s ‘sweat-fest’. After packing the car with our gear we drove to Calvia, a crag with slightly stiffer grades located in a gorge, and accessed by a parched but vegetated stream bed. Mercifully, the trees and tall shrubs clogging the stream bed provided much needed shade and the walk in was relatively pleasant. Calvia presents a series of routes on pocked limestone slabs which are the foundation of the eastern wall of the gorge.
We arrived at the crag relatively early whilst the sun was still below the eastern rim of the gorge and temperatures were pleasant. The Germans already there eyed us with suspicion at first, probably fearing we’d break into song, bellowing out ‘I need a Hero’, but their fears were soon allayed when we started climbing. At Calvia the grades increase in difficulty in moving from right to left, upstream. For our first climb we started as far right as you can with Primera Experienca (F4+) which was duly ‘crushed’ by us both. We moved onto the neighbouring climbs: Calentura Invernal (F5+), Weird Tree (F5+) and Pinchito Moruno (F5+). Racing up Calentura Invernal we thought ourselves on fine form and moved across to Weird Tree. This climb offers something in the way of a precarious run-out for the top bolt but is exhilarating. Both climbs felt tougher than F5+ though. A break for lunch and the resting of sore feet before moving on to try and climb Pinchito Moruno. This climb is on great holds until about three-quarters of the way up when they disappear and one is forced to thrutch over a bulge on small pinches and crimps. Needless to say, with a full belly and the blazing afternoon sun I found this to be rather difficult and, after a few falls and lots of grumbling I backed off to let Alex have a go. In the end neither of us managed to get up the damn thing and our crushing momentum was gone. We returned back to Palmanova a little dispirited but resolved to eat less and take shorter breaks for lunch (clearly it was the long lunch and extra weight of food that caused failure and not our climbing ability!)

The next day saw a change in the weather with lots of cloud and a little rain. We had read that the coastal crags offer something in the way of steep (or overhanging) routes that were generally protected from showers. We drove to a crag on the other side of the island called Cala Magraner which dominates the northern side of a beach that is accessed by another dry river bed. Whilst most of the bolts here are shiny and new, the odd route is studded with rusty brown bolts that do not imbue trust. At Cala Magraner we climbed more routes graded between F4+ and F5+ and even managed to crush a F6a! Although, later on when checking out the routes on UKC I noted, a little to my disappointment, that the F6a (Crack) had been voted ‘easy’.

On our last day of climbing, before the deluge of the final day on Mallorca destroyed any chance of getting on the rock, we drove to Sa Gubia. This crag was one of the first places to be ‘opened up’ during the initial popularisation of Mallorcan sports climbing and consists of a series of connected mountainous limestone peaks and ridges that dominate the surrounding countryside. This crag offers a chance to multi-pitch sports routes at various grades, with quite a number between F4+ to F6a. We chose a route called Quan es sa fosc (or Quan se sa Jose on UKC; F5) which takes a direct line up the left side of the northern ridge of Sa Gubia. The climbing was superb and thoroughly enjoyable and, for me, this route was the highlight of the trip (I’m a fan of multi-pitching). The grading seemed about right on Quan es sa fosc and we shot up it and then abseiled down with out a hitch. Seconding with a rucksack was a bit tough at times but the moves and situation of the climb were so pleasant that one’s mind was soon focused upon just how enjoyable the route was rather than how annoying the rucksack was.

And that is about it! The next the day the heavens opened and rain poured out of the sky and flooded much of Palmanova causing the drains to burst and a horrid smell to waft across the sodden streets. The day after that it was back to drab Britannia.

By Matt Box