Starring:
Jo Gilby,
Martin Upfold,
Eddie Church,
Bruce Gibbon and
Egan Ying
The Travel arrangements were made via Lincoln travel, the last minute travel specialists, who also provided reasonably priced hire cars. The down side of the cheap deal was that the plane left England at Silly o'clock in the morning. Every thing went smoothly apart from finding the rent a car rep at Palma Airport. After a massive rep hunt the car, an air conditioned Hyundai Accent, was collected and we took a 40 minute drive to the lovely resort of Illetas. We booked into some very nice studio apartments attached to a smart hotel.
The Journey and late night took it's toll so after a well deserved lie in we drove to the road side crag of Valldeniosa. Eddie, Egan and Bruce ascended Via des Clau (6b) whilst I lead El Jubilado (5) an unusual route for Spain as it followed a natural feature in the rock, a 45 degree diagonal crack. Eddie, Egan and Bruce then decided to do some show climbing, an ascent of the famous over the road climb Sostre den Burot (6c+). I watched and took photos for the folks back home before heading to the upper crag with Jo to climb the first pitch of Shorty (5+). The 'boys' climbed on in a similar fashion with all the routes in the 6's before retiring to the comfort of our resort.
After a quick rest, wash and brush up we all met in the hotel bar for beer and bloody marys followed by Eddie trying is hand at Karrioake by belting out "like a virgin" Hmmmm. After all this all we could do was dine out in one of the many cafe resurants.
On Monday we headed to the Islands major crag, Su Gubia. Eddie, Egan and Bruce decided to have a go at the excellent Sexo Debil (4+, 6a+, 6b+, 6b, 6b). They found bolt on holds on the third pitch and Eddie is still talking about the abseil descent. I lead a short 6a+ route; Puta Perro, with a bit of yo-yo on the 1st crux, before a smooth climb to the top. A nice challenge even for the vertically challenged like me. Our second route was a four pitch monster, Quan es fa Fee (2+, 5, 5, 5) a superb well bolted route that was vertical in places, overhanging in others and slabby elsewhere. The rock was excellent, with good holds and friction. The view from the top was even better.
Tuesday - This was the day for the sea cliffs at Cala Magraner. It was also very hot so we started with a dip in the sea to cool down. This was followed by a variety of single pitch routes.
Wednesday - We went back to Su Gubia, Eddie and Egan went off to climb another huge classic, Pricessa (6c, 5, 6a, 6a, 5) whist Bruce, Jo and Myself decided on one of the islands easier classics "Gubia Normal" (2+, 3+, 4+, 3+, 3+, 4+, 3, 3). The guidebook description is a tad vague and a full rack, not just a couple of wires as the book suggests is advisable. We got a bit lost on this one and managed to do it in 11 pitches. This took ages and it was getting dark at the top so we decided to walk rather than abseil down. We ended up thrashing our way through a forest in the dark and arrived back at the resort at 11:30. Luckily the cafe bar up the road was open until midnight.
Thursday - Eddie, Bruce and Egan went for a drive, Jo and I decided to sleep in followed by some dedicated lazing by the pool and a huge lunch. The evening was a wild affair starting with cocktails in the hotel bar and ending with an excellent meal.
Friday - After our day off it was time to pick up the tempo again, so we went back to Su Gubia. Eddie and Egan decided on another huge classic: Via de los Bomberos (6a, 6a+, 6b, 6b). Jo wanted to lead some shorter routes so Canabis in Vitro 4, El Jardin de la Abuela 5, Pataje Espanol 4+, and Tantum Ergo were climbed in quick succession. Before the 3 of us decided to have a go at one of the islands classics Excalabur (5+, 5+). Bruce led off on the first pitch, a short vertical section which leads to a ramp and a tough vertical section before the belay. I led the second pitch in the gathering gloom. You get a bit of everything; the first few moves were in a chimney, then a slabby bit, the out under an overhang and into the final crack system using powerful moves up past the finial bolts to the tree belay. This was an absolute belter! The big beers we had in celebration were not a good idea as they left me a little worse for wear.
Saturday - as we had a really late flight we chose to drive to the far end of the island and climb the single pitch routes at Creveta. Due to an immense hangover I could only manage a couple of routes Coordina Coordinator being the most worthwhile. Bruce climbed with Eddie (Egan had departed on a different flight). The most memorable route was Jo seconding El Sant Crist (6a+), the crux was passed using an unusual 3 man belaying and flying technique.
We ate in a non discript restraunt in Alcudia and then slept in the airport waiting for our 3:30 flight, A great holiday
Martin El Upfold