Mallorca Deep Water Soloing/Psicobloc 2009

Tito and me in front of "Es Pontas"

Porto Cristo "Cova del Diablo"

Harald in "Attack of the spindly killer fish" in the Virgine Area, Cala Sa Nau

Cala Des Moro

Porto Colom

Cala Barques Sector "Sa Cova"

Cals Barquez Sector"Metrosexual"

Cala Barquez Sektor Sa Cova, "Tower of Power"


Michael in "Hercules", Sector Snatch in Cala Barquez

A turquoise warm sea, sharp pockets and tufas in orange-brown, soft sand and a mild breeze, iron muscle-packed screaming climbers...Yes, we are situated on Mallorca’s east cost, the place to be for psicoblocers.

Last year my first contact with this kind of climbing started. Motivated through hundreds of pictures in magazines and videos we slipped in a new adventure not knowing of this special virus called “flinar” (a spanish word for pushing yourself even further when you are scared shitless). This Deep Water Soloing virus comes over you once you tried your first steps in incredible steep overhanging psicibloc terrain over the sea.

This year 3 weeks should be enough to assuage the appetite of crazy routes and to satisfy my climbing ambitions. But I was wrong. You can’t stop, the virus starts to change in a pandemic. Next year for sure I will book 4 weeks, at the end I will probably stay forever...

So far, but what is this motivation build of? Why do thousands of climbers from all over the world visit this little island in Mediterranean sea? I’m still trying to find an answer. An explanation could be the pureness of Deep Water Soloing. A pair of old climbing shoes and liqid chalk and the show can go on. It’s only your ability in rock and the rock itself. The struggle with your mind, with your physical fitness, the withstanding against fear of falling, your pumped arms, just going forward even if you feel totally exhausted and in case of fall you don’t die. In total you have to find the balance between climbing ability and the seriousness of a fall but you can really push your limits. There doesn’t exist checking out of any routes, testing holds and waiting for perfect grip conditions, there is no need for you to trust in equipment, belaying partners or shit rock, you simply trust in yourself, your mental and physical strength and the ability to read the rock. Anyway you develop a better sense for climbing movement, I call it movement intelligence.

The social aspect is another point why psicobloc is my favorible sport, it remembers me on bouldering. DWS brings people together, not only for motivating scared climbers in hard sections. You can feel the community, entusiastic people with different background but same intention: sharing time and practise leisure activity they love the most: pure climbing. It’s not about grades, who sent which route ot who did the hardest one;it’s about fun and the community itself, the xchange between cultures, beliefs and attitudes in a fantastic paradise-like surrounding. Beach 4 (it remembers on Camp 4 in Yosemite) in Cala Barquez is one of this places where you can experience what I tried to describe. It’s not an official campsite, but it’s tolerated to camp there among the pines on the beach. Lot’s of people we have met last year we met this year again. Like an unwritten law psicobloc fans pilgrim to Cala Barquez in September the centre of atrraction. I hope that this little paradise will be treatened politely and with respect to nature that thousands of people more can experience the sense of climbing.

At the end of the climbing trip we had the luck to meet Miquel Riera, the god father of Mallorcan psicobloc. On a cloudy wet day Porto Colom with its steep terrain and big juggy roofs offered the best oppurtunity for climbing. Normally you don't go climbing on such day, you just stay in bed and read a book, but this day contained the most satisfaction. With the intention simply have a look for the rock, we started in wet slippery roofs. But as the time went by we developed big motivation and tried really hard with spectacular falls and crazy detonations into the water. Also Miquel started for a scary route with the crux in a roof in 15 meters hight. As he was about to fall our screams motivated him to push hisself to the limit although the conditions were the worst you can imagine. This example showes me one more time that the right entusiasm and motivation is the stuff perfect days are made of.

For next year I hope all Mountain Academy team members, guides and athletes will join us in Mallorca. The perfect place to live our dream!