Article: Mallorca Bouldering

Mallorca may not be the first place you’d think of when considering bouldering on the continent, and whilst not a prime destination for a trip exclusively of the bloc persuasion, if you fancy a little something to break up your sport climbing or deep water soloing holiday here’s a few options.

S’Estret Bouldering
Until recently the only documented bouldering open to none islanders was the circuit below the crag of S’Estret on the east of Mallorca. This area, whilst having some good problems, is not very picturesque and certainly not a venue you'd want to spend too much time. That said it’s definitely worth at least a half day visitation. Right, Miguel Riera on El Esquinazo Font7a+.

My top 5 “must-do” problems at S’Estret are:

1. Jop Font7b
2. Zubizarreta Font7c
3. Don Manolo Font6c
4. Chanelance Font7a+
5. Hip Hop De Puta Font6b+

The bouldering topo and access details for the S’Estret boulders can be found in the Mallorca Rockfax guide.

Over the last year a couple of other areas have been properly documented and written up in the form of topo guides, here’s the lowdown.

Vall De Son Marc Boulders
In October of 2006 I was fortunate enough to be invited on a free trip to Mallorca, staying in a swarve little villa in the north east of the island on the outskirts of Pollenca, an old town fairly familiar to most regular Espano-sport climbers. The only downside to this proverbial pat on the head from Lady Luck was that my traveling party consisted of three sun-worshiping, beach loving, and more importantly, none climbing individuals, thus my rock sport options took at instant blow.

Photo: The author at the Vall De Son Marc boulders on El Apagon Font7a


I figured that although the island would still be pretty warm, the autumnal breezes would have started to kick in. So I purchased a walking guide to the island, with my plan of attack being to knock off as many walks as I could in the form quarter to half day runs. As we were leaving for the airport I had sudden thought that maybe, just maybe, I’d spot a few boulders on one of my runs and decided to take a small crash pad, boots and a chalk bag - a decision that turned out to be a masterstroke.

Photo: The upper section of the Vall De Son Marc boulders.


On my first full day on the island I decided to take in the sites and terrain of a varied looking walk/run starting at a small vineyard at the head of the Vall De Son Marc valley. As I drove up the snaking road which links Pollenca to Soller via a super scenic mountain thoroughfare I couldn’t fail to notice the hugely striated limestone ridges, craglets and boulders at the head of the valley which culminated in a hanging sub-valley which was relatively flat, accessible and, more importantly, rich in a limey crop of sumptuous blocks. One day in and I’d struck gold, white gold! That day, as I bounded over the undulating calcareous grassland daydreaming of what the following days exploits would reveal, I wasn’t to be disappointed…

Photo: The author at the Vall De Son Marc boulders on Gustar Font6b


As pointed out above the Son Marc Valley boulders reside in a beautiful hanging valley at the head of the large sweeping bows of the main Son Marc Valley (Vall De Son Marc), just off the C710. The boulders are of the finest weather worn limestone and whilst there was (at the time when we visited) some minor evidence of previous development (primarily on the Champiñon bloc and Death Star Roof) the boulders, despite there obvious quality, seem to have escaped the onslaught of a full scale development program.

Photo: The author at the Vall De Son Marc boulders on Pocket Way Font8a(ish)


Click here to download a PDF guide to the Vall De Son Marc valley bouldering.

My top 5 “must-do” problems at the Vall De Son Marc Bolders are:

1. White Gold Font7a
2. Exclusion Principle Font7b
3. Liso Belleza Font7a+
4. Gustar Font6b
5. El Apagon 7a

Bloc Santanyi
The most recently documented bouldering on the island is in and around the popular sport climbing venue of Cala Santanyi, in the south east of the island. This area can be found in the recently published Miguel Riera guide “Psicobloc”, which also contains deep water soloing and sport route information.

The majority of the climbing is on superb sea washed blocks located on the seemingly laser cut ledges below the main cliffs, although there are a number of roof problems in the in-cut caverns beneath some of the crags. Although, on the whole, the landings are flat a mat is advisable due to the obvious unforgiving nature of a landing on solid rock (however flat) from height!

Photo: David Torres at Cala Santanyi enjoying the excellent Txeco Txeco Font7c


My top 5 “must-do” problems at Cala Santanyi are:

1. Txeco Txeco Font7c
2. Can Keta Font7b
3. Nikes Nuevas Font7a
4. Blau Drete Font6b
5. La Cresta De Lo Ola Font6c

Psicobloc Sample Page:


This area is the most child friendly, although as it is close to short drops into the sea it's probably not suitable for extremely young children. You can purchase the Psicobloc guide here.

Other Areas
There are undoubtedly a number of other areas on the island kept in close confidence of the locals. The most obvious locations for sizable new/yet recorded locations would be the huge blocs


of the Boquer Valley (which have been climbed on to varying extents - see image above) and the boulder field below Xon Xanquete crag on the very north east tip of the island. There must also be numerous Parisella/Woodwell-esque caves and craglets across the island just waiting to unleash the next Rockatrocity, maybe...

Below: Area locations