Bengt

Tips and tricks

Review Salewa Raven 2 GTX boots

In summary a pair of light mountaineering boots that are comfortable for hiking and keep your feet warm enough on most occasions. These boots work well for everything but technical climbing or extreme conditions.

MRC

Rock Climbing Mallorca: Dalt de na Clara (Betlem)

Tl:Dr: Hard and steep climbing on interesting rock in a great location. Routes are mostly 7b and higher and the approach is quite difficult.

Cycling

Riding Cols in the French Alps

Cycling up long steep alpine roads might sound like madness for most people - but for some this is what we call a very good time. I had the chance to ride some of the most iconic climbs of the French alps and yes, that part of the world is as stunning as it looks in the Tour de France.

Climbing

Alpine climbing and cragging in the Bavarian alps

During a short five day summer outing I met up with two friends in the area around Mittenwald and Garmisch Partenkirchen for some proper mountain multi-pitch adventures combined with a bit of sport climbing.

MRC

Rock Climbing Mallorca: Cala Romantica Beach Bouldering

Tl:Dr: A nice pocketed wall right by the beautiful beach to play around on in between swimming and other beach shenanigans.

Climbing

Rock Climbing Mallorca: Cala Morlanda (East Coast DWS)

Tl:Dr: Small area close to a rocky beach with steep climbs on very good holds. A good place for beginners. Also used for cliff jumping - take care!

Tips and tricks

Review Patagonia R1 Full-Zip Hoody

Often called the gold standard of fleece jackets, I have been using the Patagonia R1 as my main layer for climbing, mountaineering and in day to day casual life for over a year now. I will go into the details later but it is seriously good (a 5 out of 5) if you can deal with the high sticker price!

Hiking

Exploring the Son Cifre canyon

After spotting this canyon close to the city of Manacor on a map and a bit of googling we set out to explore what looked to be an interesting feature in the more or less flat part of Mallorca. Turns out we stumbled upon a little hidden gem!

Climbing

Rock Climbing Mallorca: Port de Soller

Tl:Dr: Overviewing the bay of Soller with its super yachts this sea cliff offers superb long routes. The short approach and the quality of the climbing outways the slightly polished rock by far.

Cycling

Cycling on Ibiza. Is it any good?

The smallest of the three main islands of the Balearics might be best known for its party scene and hippy culture but it turns out that it's a pretty good place for all kinds of two wheeled adventures also!

Climbing

Rock Climbing Mallorca: Buda - Sector Es Vedra (Ibiza)

Tl:Dr: The most famous and maybe impressive crag on the island located on both sides of a narrow rock peninsula stretching out into the ocean. Great climbing of all grades but parking can be an issue.

Climbing

Rock Climbing Mallorca: Punta de Aguila - Sector Nostalgia (Ibiza)

Tl:Dr: Stunning 100 meter seaside cliff with medium grade sport multi pitches and a very reasonable approach. Very worthwhile by itself and other sectors are close by.

Climbing

Rock Climbing Mallorca: Cala Romantica (East Coast)

Tl:Dr: A small coastal crag with almost exclusively (very) hard routes. Most bolts are rusty and the installed perma-draws look dodgy. The location itself is great.

Climbing

Climbing the Agulla Forcada

Hiking up to the top of the Galatzo is among the most famous tours on the island. However our sights were set on climbing the Agulla Forcada. A free standing rock tower right next to the main peak.

Tips and tricks

Endurace CF SL Disc 8.0 Di2 10.000 km Review

After having ridden my trusty Cervelo R3 for about 10 years and 150.000 km I was in the market for a new road bike and after a lot of deliberation I settled on a Canyon Endurace. Seven months and 10.000 km later I can confirm this to be a great bike.

Hiking

Exploring the stunning Cova Tancada

I do have a habit of looking for peaks, cliffs and other features on maps and then making other people go to these places for little adventures with me. This is what happened to Brigitte when we were hiked/scrambled to and spelunked in the Tancada cave on this memorable excursion.

Climbing

Rock Climbing Mallorca: El Fumat (Formentor)

Tl:Dr: Mostly hard climbing (including a few multi pitches) on a monumental wall towering over the ocean gained by a 30 minutes hiking approach. Almost no sun and slippery even after a few days of dry weather.

Climbing

A couples ascent of the 70 meter Agulla de Boquer spire

They say the couple that climbs together stays together and even if I do not want to overemphasize the symbolism of a rope team that also is a couple there is something special about going on an adventure with your significant other.

Climbing

Rock Climbing Mallorca: Cala Mondragó (East Coast DWS)

Tl:Dr: Good place to give deep water soloing a first try. Mainly long traverses. Getting out of the water might be tricky if you actually fall in. Great beach to chill on.

Climbing

Rock Climbing Mallorca: Son Servera

Tl:Dr: A small crag with mostly hard routes up to grade 8a. A short approach and comfortable belay stances make this a good area to work on projects.

Climbing

Rock Climbing Mallorca: S' Estret (Valldemossa)

Tl:Dr: One of the bigger areas on the island with walls scattered on both sides of the valley road. Good variety of climbing with easier sectors separated from hard stuff and boulders. Can be busy and parking is limited however.

Climbing

Rock Climbing Mallorca: Mont Port (Andratx)

Tl:Dr: The spectacular setting high above the sea and the variety of different rock and routes outway the somewhat tricky approach and poor belay stances.

Climbing

Rock Climbing Mallorca: Caimari (Hairpin wall)

Tl:Dr: Scattered along the beautiful road leading into the Tramuntana from Caimari this area consists of several crags with more than 120 routes of medium and high difficulty. Worth a visit but finding a place to park can be difficult.

Hiking

Up the Puig de Galatzo via the East face

The most prominent peak (1026 MASL) of the southern Tramuntana can be scaled via a normal hiking trail or, as I did this time, a fairly adventurous scramble through the east face. And in early January even Mallorca offers some cold and windy weather to make things interesting.

Climbing

Rock Climbing Mallorca: Torre d'en Beu (East Coast)

Tl:Dr: Another example of excellent East coast climbing with a wide selection of routes beautifully set right by the ocean. There are also a lot of boulders here if that floats your boat.