Rock Climbing Mallorca: Sa Gubia (Bunyola)

This article is part of a series in which I am reviewing the local climbing spots on Mallorca from my beginner / intermediate climber point of view.

The climbs
First of all: This area is huge. About 130 climbs are documented and more than 30 of these are multi-pitch with up to seven rope lengths. The crag is split up among several walls on both sides of a deep gorge. I have not climbed on all of them (yet), even after several visits.

In general the rock here is solid and grippy as usual in the Tramuntana. Depending on the sector the climbs are on grey featured slabs or yellow / orange steep and overhanging rock with the odd tufa thrown in.

The Espolon arête is the most impressive feature that can be seen from afar. The absolute classic Albahida (4c trad) leads up this arête and follows the ridge all the way to the top of a peak. You can find a complete description of this route and my experience on it here.

The sector Princesa offers some longish single pitch climbs with fairly easy and accurate grades. What is great here is that from the top of the routes you have a perfect view towards all the long sport multi-pitch lines on the surrounding walls.

The big draw for me here are definitly the fully bolted multi-pitches!

Approach
After parking on the parking spot near the restaurant you have to first walk on a path, then follow a riverbed and finally navigate your way to the sectors (which can get scrambly as for example with Princesa). Depending on the sector you might walk between 35-50 minutes, especially if you need to figure out where to go. Just check the links at the end of the article for a detailed description.

If you climb the whole Albahiba plus ridge enchilada you can walk off via a good path towards the north, which will also bring you back to the parking spot.

The good, the bad and the ugly
The beautiful gorge and the vast selection of routes make this a fantastic crag. Especially the multi-pitch climbs are a great reason to come here. Climbing Albahida and the ridge to the top make for a fantastic day's adventure!

Maybe the only downsides are the longish approach and the fact that the areas can get busy sometimes. However this is nitpicking...

The walls face in almost every direction and shelter each other. You will be able to find shade almost at any time of day and year. However it can get cold and damp. When we climbed Albahida in early December the pitches in the morning shade were bone chilling cold.

To climb in the Tramuntana mountains you need a free authorization (mainly confirming that you will not behave like an a-hole). You can find the website for the process here.

For more details on some routes in this area take a look at the Mallorca Adventure Guide!

More Information
Route Information on theCrag
Route Information on UKClimbing
Route Information on Foracorda.com
The area is also described in RockFax Mallorca