A solo climbing micro adventure
Top rope solo climbing the Na Penyal tower in Mallorca
The Na Penyal is a 200m hill close to the sea in the mallorquin town where I live. Even though it is not very high it boasts an impressive 40-ish meter headwall and an adjacent rock tower with 30-35m vertical walls. As I can see Na Penyal from our home and ride by it almost daily on the bike the walls have intrigued me even before I started climbing about a year ago.
I did a bit of research and there are actually a few routes that have been established both in the head wall and the tower in 2011. The main route through the headwall is classified as aid climbing while the tower is supposed to be a 5+ free climb. Before the lockdown I had already scouted out the routes and found that there is almost no fixed gear in the wall but newish and bomber anchors on top.
During the lockdown I decided that I would do the 35m tower route called “Via Aresta Brucs” by rappelling down and climbing back up on self belay (see the disclaimer below). This approach would allow me to bail at any time and have a look at the climb on the way down. Also doing the route top rope solo would be much safer than lead solo. I will not go into the technical details of my top rope solo setup but I use GriGri as the main device and I back it up with stopper knots or another device based on the situation and the difficulty of the climb.
When the lockdown rules allowed for individual outdoor activities again in mid May I backed up my gear and rode my mountain bike to the base of Na Penyal, hiked up to the summit and scrambled over the ridge to the top of the rock tower. On the tower I set up my rope on the two anchor bolts and connected myself to it with the GriGri. As this was my first complete solo climbing mission stepping over the edge was a bit exciting but I had checked the system a few times and felt everything was very well under control.
Rappelling down I found a few bolts on the lower part of the climb (which is rated 5+) and redirected the rope as the route manders a bit. Finally on the ground I looked at the route again and was content that I would get up. The first 10m looked the hardest and as I started to climb I made sure that I took the slack out of the system frequently and put in a stopper knot a few meters off the ground (and after that every 2-3 meters). Honestly the 5+ rating felt stiff, but that might be because of the eight weeks I was not able to touch rock...
The second half of the climb does not have fixed gear but the topo suggested the route would continue left and then move over right towards easier climbing (III-IV) up to the top. Going left I was conscious about the anchor being quite far right and that a fall would lead to a big swing over cheese grater rock - I got through the section without issues but my heartrate did rise a bit. The final meters to the top were indeed easy.
After packing up my stuff I hiked back to the bike and was home about three hours after I had left. All in all a very successful microadventure close to home. My plan for the rest of the year is to do as much stuff here on the island as possible and get to know this place even better.
Adventurer: Bengt
Disclaimer: Climbing is dangerous and solo climbing even more so. Do what you want to do under your own responsibility. This is not a guide. Have a look at Petzls info on the topic if you are interested.
Also respect your local Covid-19 rules.