Our last day on Mallorca: Calvia

Today we all went to a crag just south west of Palma. There are 23 people in our group so we were pleased to find that there were very few other climbers at the crag. I was really pleased to see so much climbing going on today. We had eight or nine ropes up and kept putting up new routes to keep giving everyone something new to try. At times there were 4 or 5 people leading at once. Some of the group had only started rock climbing on Sunday and by Thursday they were confidently leading. Those who have been climbing up to three times a week over the last year were leading technically hard routes on sharp rock and some took impressive lead falls.

What a fantastic week.

La Creveta

The team head up a windy road, passing a LOT of people peddling up the the steep hill: from matching lycra clad gangs to single gear, around town creaky bikes. Stunning views back across the bay and over to Pollensa. We head for La Creveta, while Tim B. takes Douglas and Ally for some exposed climbs on a different crag.

Douglas and Ally get lowered in to their route. Climbing routes are usually accessed by walking to the base of the crag. Climbs on sea cliffs and gorges however, are often reached by abseiling in, which certainly adds a different level of commitment to the route; for example, you want to be sure that you have abseiled in to the right area and that you can climb out. Douglas and Ally were a little wide-eyed as Tim pulled the ropes. They had an amazing day and joined the others at La Creveta later. Nice helmet too Ally!

 The girls take the lead on some rather ground.

Princess looking as admirably colour coordinated as ever.

Hannah sports the snood.

 Tamsin sports Mallorcan, seafront coffee.

And shows us about twenty different ways to wear it. No blog is large enough. Please see Hannah for further information and support!

Sa Gubia, the multi-pitchers

Cala Magraner: a day at the beach

We woke up to a perfect day and had decided on a two group plan for the day: 4 pupils went off to the brilliant multi-pitch venue, Sa Gubia with Al Halewood and Tim Blakemore, while the rest of us headed for the idyllic beach crag at Cala Magraner.

The soggy day gets dry

After the morning dip and planking (torrential rain and lightning) we found some dry rock to climb on. It was surprisingly satisfying and a good little intro to the Mallorcan rock.

Planking

               

Above: Alex goes solo for a morning dip.

Left: And does a bit of freestyle yogaing.

 Alex gets company.

And then there were three (Douglas drops in).

 Learning to dive.

Buggy-eyed.

 Planking in the rain.

Bugs do planking.

The second half of the first day, Mallorca

Everyone votes for 'deep water soloing'. Translation: climbing over water without ropes (which would be a bad mixture with water). TGA translation: hours and hours of dinghy, rubber ring, diving, jumping, scuffling with rocks, swimming and a bit of climbing.