Vacations are really nice and if you are anything like me, you love it when a vacation involves climbing.  My dad is retired and lives in Seville, Spain so once a year, my sister and I get on a plane and head over the Atlantic to visit.  I was able to convince my family that Mallorca was the best spot to spend some time and escape the heat of mainland Spain.

Everyone seemed to be headed to Mallorca at the same time and my goal was to meet up with Ben Spannuth and Mateo Cardenas, do some deep water soloing and get a tan.  Vacation!!!

The pebble beach at Sa Calobra

Mallorca is beautiful and the island is literally covered in Limestone.  It takes roughly an hour to cross the rugged island by car and we beach hopped our way up and down the coast.  The best time of year to deep water solo in Mallorca is September and it’s a good thing I was on vacation because the majority of Psicobloc was varying degrees of wet.  In fact, I did not climb on dry holds the entire time I was there.  There is too much humidity in August and not enough wind for the rock to dry out until the sun hangs low enough to heat up the wall.

Ben Spannuth getting ready for a burn on Loskot and Two Smoking Barrels

There is a serious adjustment period that nearly everyone needs to get comfortable falling from high on a wall into the ocean.  For me it was three days and only at the end of my time in Mallorca was I getting comfortable falling from 40 feet up.  At the Diablo wall nearly all of the cruxes are at the 30-40 foot mark.  The famous “Loskot and Two Smoking Barrels” is the ultimate Psicobloc route with an all points off dyno on an overhanging wall at 40 feet.  The majority of climbers get to the dyno, set up, look at the move, laugh, and drop into the ocean.  If the move were right off the water you wouldn’t think twice and you would throw yourself at the move over and over but it’s not, it’s high.

Mateo and Sebas packing up at Metrosexual

I met up with Mateo and Ben at Es Pontas the first day and we got to work flailing on the legendary route.  That problem is really hard, especially on soaking wet grips.  V10 bouldering to set up for “the move” followed by a long V12 on total choss.  Needless to say, we got spanked, maybe next year the holds wont be wet?

The gate keeper at Metrosexual wall

The majority of our time was spent at the Diablo Wall building confidence and hanging out with friends.  Psicobloc is a process and it takes a while to get it dialed.  At Diablo you have to downclimb a 60 foot 5.6 just to get to the water.  From there you take all your gear in a dry bag to a ledge by swimming across the bay and climbing a rope.  Once on the ledge the process of drying off and chalking up begins.  Nearly all the good routes are accessed off the ledge and a group of 8 of us were often huddled up preparing for our attempts.  You try, you fall, you swim, you get back on the ledge, you dry off, and repeat.  We all joked about being on “Vacation”… It was a lot of work…  “Vacation a muerte”

Ben was really close on Loskot so we watched him fall off the dyno over and over again with no success.  A few people sent other lines on the wall and generally we all enjoyed the process despite all the wet holds.  I can’t wait to get back to Mallorca during the dry season and try these routes again with some endurance and a little more confidence!

Topless hotties at the pebble beach!

I only got to deep water solo three days out of the six I was there.  The rest of the time I was a tourist, which is very different for me, traveling around the island looking for good beaches and eating amazing food.  It did not suck let me assure you.  Almost every beach we visited was littered with naked people.  Mateo said it best when he described the scene, “like going to a playboy photo shoot and if you were lucky, a penthouse shoot.”  In reality it is a lot of older men and women putting it out there…

Amazing features on Limestone boulders.

Huge ribs like tufas on boulders.  I could barely get my hand around these…

Unique and untouched boulders.  Thousands of them…

I spent a day touring a small area in the northwest corner of the island called Sa Calobra, just west of where we were staying in Port de Pollenca.  The drive took us past a giant boulder field of limestone blocks, thousands of them, stacked along the hillside among waist deep grass.  I went and looked at a few boulders and was shocked by the quality.  Giant boulders with rib features that run vertically and round out near the topout, essentially huge tufas but not as pronounced.  Of the handful of boulders I checked out there were lines everywhere and all on bullet hard stone.  There is potential for thousands of FA’s here in a completely undeveloped and unique limestone boulder field.

Giant Limestone caves that need bolts.  Solid stone…

Down by the pebble beach near Sa Calobra are dozens of giant limestone caves with tufas, stalactites, and other wild features.  Not a drop of chalk on any of the stone, not in the guide and undeveloped.  There is potential for a lifetime of limestone sport climbing in the caves here.  I only walked half a mile into the canyon behind the beach and counted over 10 caves that ranged in height from 80ft to 200ft tall.  I was VERY impressed by the potential here and would love to come back with good conditions and develop bouldering in that zone.  Someone needs to bolt some lines in those caves as well! Just sayin’…

Six days is not nearly enough time to fully enjoy the climbing in Mallorca.  The thrill factor of deep water soloing is out of this world and you feel like a total bad ass when you send something tall over the ocean.  I see psicobloc as a novelty and expecting to go here and climb at your limit or redpoint something hard is unlikely.  Two weeks, a nice dry bag, and 3 boxes of chalk should assure a good time and don’t forget the SPF 30!

My sister at Sa Calobra

I find myself back in Boulder, missing the salt build up on my skin, the terrifying falls, and the good times deep water soloing… next year… A muerte.

Pebbles!!!

The view from our porch at Port de Pollenca