UKC

We are off to Majorca at the end of may and cannot decide which side of island to stay on. We will probably be mainly sport climbing but are keen to do some DWS too. Most of the sport seems to be on a the north coast and most of the DWS on the south. Though I know very little else about the place. Anyone got any beta? 

Ta

Si

Actually, last time we were there we had an Airbnb in the middle of the island and got everywhere really quickly. The main road system is xcellent

I don't think it really matters. The climbing is pretty spread out, and as has been said the main road system is excellent. I've stayed in La Palma which has very much a city feel to it and can be quite touristy. More convenient for driving to Calvia and La Gubia. Some interesting architecture like the cathedral.

On the other hand Puerto Pollensa in the north is a lovely coastal town in a beautiful setting with a mountains backdrop. It's within walking distance of the Boquer Valley, and the famous Cavall de Bernatt Ridge scramble - a sort of Mediterranean "Cuillin Ridge" and a must do . I prefer the character of Puerto Pollensa to La Palma as a base.

Another fun day out is the Torrent de Pareis a spectacular gorge walk involving scrambling and sometimes swimming, depending on the amount of water there is in it. It can vary from technically easy to hard scrambling/bouldering, again depending on the water level. It's quite long, day, particularly if you  go up and back down, otherwise two cars will save having to make the return trip. Do NOT attempt it if there is any risk of a thunderstorm - people have drowned in it when caught by flash flooding.

In reply to:

Ta. We have a cyclist coming and I gather the better riding is on the north coast. Are there plenty of quality crags up by Puerto Pollensa? The group is fairly mixed so a full spread of grades needed. Well at least some easier routes that are OK. 

There is quality mixed bolted and trad climbing on the Sharks Fin in the Boquar valley, but a bit limited in scope. 

I would say La Gubia is one of the best venues for quality routes across the grades. A classic is the 800ft La Gubia Normal at about VS. Unless it's been fully bolted in recent years, you will need a trad rack, although the belay stances had chain belays in situ.

It's quite a few years since I was last there and things may have changed. Perhaps someone who has been there recently can advise?

Pedant's corner: La Palma is one of the Canary islands  

The cathedral at Palma was both very expensive and had a queue when we were there. We gave it a miss. 

You are right ) Having been to both I should have known better!

Definitely Pollensa for the cyclist!

Don't know the South so well but love Pollensa. Lots of sport routes in the Boquer valley and its a less than a miles walk from the port but beware of rusty bolts. As Trangia said, Cavall de Bernatt Ridge is indeed spectacular with 1000 ft drops straight down to the sea all along one side, but much shorter than the Cuillin, at a little over a mile long. Torrent de Pareis is fantastic but I'd advise long trousers for the top of the route or risk getting your legs scratched up while scrub bashing. Don't rule out basing yourself in the old town as its only a couple of miles from the beaches in either the port or Cala San Vincente and has far more good restaurants than Puerto Pollensa. Good road links to the rest of the island but it is expensive, expect to pay about 20% more for meals compared to Palma prices.

Last time I was out, we went down to Cala Magraner down in the south east. Grades from 5a to about 8a(ish) in a cove with a shingle beach. Most route going off the beach or up an inland valley, or a little traverse above the sea. Very relaxed, and local bars not too far away. 

Inland is a crag Sa Mola de Felanitx. Grades mostly 5a to 6a+, really well bolted by some friendly Germans who own a nearby refuge/gite. V easy walk in, some burly 7as and good quality limestone. I really enjoyed a relaxing day here. Some reasonably long pitches in parts of the crag, lots of shade.

So it's worth pointing out that at the end of May temperatures will be on the scorchio side so unless you are a lizard then I would suggest that the best sport climbing options available will be in the north and west of the island, anywhere within or in the foothills of the Tramuntana mountains (from Andratx/Calvia in the west to Pollenca in the north). There are dozens of crags of a range of aspects and altitudes to suit the weather. The Rockfax is the most recent and comprehensive guide in any language.

That said, if DWS is your thing and you doubt you'll be clipping many bolts then stay south by all means, that's where all the good DWS is. Not that I have done any....

I second Trangia's recommendatation for Serra de Cavall Bernat (Bernard's ridge? Bernard's horsey mountain?) starting from the end of the Boquer Valley near Port de Pollenca - It is scrambling perfection with breathtaking views and drops either side. Although a LOT less demanding than the Cuillin! 3-4hrs should do it.

As for talk of the Boquer valley sport climbing, this is an old climbing area which is closed to climbers and as such has a lot of shoddy, seriously old bolts/spits/burils - perhaps the only reasonable interest these days is the bouldering. There are soooo many good crags nearby and elsewhere in the hills better to explore.

Agree that good bases are Pollenca (quaint old town)/Puerto de Pollenca(touristy beach town), Soller (quaint alpine-esque town), Andratx (small, quiet locals town) and all are good for cyclists (very keen cyclists will be able to ride from any side of the island and back in a day, anyway). However, we last stayed in Inca which is a large, non-touristy locals town in middle where the plains meet the mountains and was a bit of a revelation, as well as far cheaper AirBnBs/Homeaways than the aforementioned, with some excellent cheap, traditional celler-style restaurants. Make sure you have a day/evening to explore Palma too, well worth it.

As for other things to do, check out boat trips to the little island of Dragonera in the west for a day's interesting walking, or head to Alaro castle in the middle of the Tramuntana to spend a night in the refuge having eaten the best roast lamb in the world at Es Verger on the walk up... Also make sure you try out the local wines and food in a celler restaurants like Sa Premsa in Palma, La Parra in Puerto de Pollenca or Ca'n Marron in Inca.

As others have said, to get the most out of your trip a car is handy, if not essential. Rental will be ridiculously cheap. And if you haven't already, save yourself large by looking at a third-party car hire insurance company like icarhireinsurance or insurance4carhire - £40 a year in stead of £100 a trip - just refuse any "relax"/"total"/"complete" insurance uplift at the pickup desk...

Have fun and probably see you there.

Probably worth deciding if you're more into DWS or sport.  SE coast for DWS, but the cragging there isn't as good as the northern stuff. (Having said which , Cala Magraner (as mentioned above) is pretty good, though it will be scorchio). Tijuana is also quite good in the SE.

Last two DWS trips we did we stayed in Porto Cristo (or PC Novo), which was only a few minutes from the Cala Barques parking.  This was great for DWS, but bizarrely almost equidistant (timewise) from Alaro, Gubia, Creveta and the other main climbing areas. It was fine to drive once a day, but got to be a bit of a pain if the weather broke and we had to change plans.

Previous trips, in February and April, we stayed in Alcudia.(near Pollensa as mentioned above) because it is right on the Ma-13 'motorway' which runs across the island. It means that even Puig de Garrafa on the far west is easily reachable. We did some ridiculous weather watching on our February trip and climbed every day bar one even though it pissed with rain somewhere on the island every day.

Sorry. Splitting my reply into two in case i lose it.

Be very aware of the swell if doing DWS. I had to rescue someone in Portland who couldn't get out even in seemingly minor waves.   The first year we got loads done but last year was rougher and most venues were too scary.

I suggest starting at Cala Sa Nou and then going round to Cala Mitjana. Good way to warm up. Cala Mitjana is really sheltered even in biggish seas. It's worth printing the routes list from UKC for Mitjana before you go because there are loads of new routes not in the book. And if the sea is big then Mitjana is the only good option ( as far as I know) and so you want to have details of all the routes there, otherwise you'll run out after 2 hours.

If you're not DWS then be very careful of the bolts. Many of them are seriously badly corroded and on some crags like Creveta at least half the routes have brown bolts. No idea how safe they are but be careful. On one of the routes to the left I ended up deciding that the last two bolts were purely decorative and trying to work out if I'd hit a ledge if they failed.

As mentioned above, the bolts at Sa Gubia  are particularly bad. 

Enjoy

Actually, no-one said anything about the bolts at Sa Gubia being bad. I would disagree with this anyway. Apart from on a smattering of old lines/sectors, the many many dozens of good lines there are well bolted, many recently, plus belay chains are usually quality. This is the premier crag of the island, has a lot of sheltered/shady routes including some awesome-looking multipitches and shouldn't be missed!

There has been much ado about Creveta and yes, sadly, many of the routes and anchors here are in dire need of replacement. But that's from my point of view as I am not used to any/much rust on bolts from my UK sport experience. I t's not for me but it certainly doesn't seem to put off reams of climbers boinging about on them on a daily basis somehow! We should move on and talk about all the other amazing crags with generally good bolts... Caimari/S'Estret/Valdemossa/Ca's Catala/Puig de Garrafa/Vall Verde/Calvia/Fraguel/Es Fumat etc etc

I second Sa Mola de Felanitx (bolted thanks to team Camperhof) and Tijuana as good southern sport options but they will be hot, Tijuana in particular. If I couldn't climb due to the heat of the rock in December then christ knows what it'll be like in May!

Off to look for cheap flights...

You're correct. 'Twas on a different thread. But still true. IMHO

I'm sure there are loads of great routes with great bolting, but there are also some great routes with sub standard bolts.

Gubia Normal only needs a light rack (as per the info here: Albahida (Gubia Normal) (4c) )