Traversing the Puig de ses Vinyes ridge
From our overnight spot we could clearly see the summit of Puig de ses Vinyes and the connected ridge with the highest mountain on Mallorca Puig Major in the background. During my morning coffee I took the decision to give it a try, which turned out to be a great idea.
Scrambling in the heart of the Serra de Tramuntana
As a regular reader might have already noticed, the mountains of Mallorca offer a lot for their small size and low altitude and every time I check off an item of the todo list at least one new one gets added. In this case it was added and ticked off in a matter of hours.
I actually had gotten a recommendation to do the scramble via the ridge to the 1.105m peak of Puig de ses Vinyes from somebody I met at the Coburger hut during our alpine climbing trip in July 2020 but had more or less forgotten that conversation until we parked our van right over the valley to the other side of the ride.
The Puig de ses Vinyes has an unusual camelback like shape with the southern-west ridge connecting to a series of smaller peaks that in total form a 3 km barrier between the valley right below Puig Major and the Gorg Blau water reservoir. The whole makeup and location promised great views all the way and I set off light towards the south-west end of the ridge.
Getting onto it was fairly easy with the slope being steep but non-technical most of the time. However as soon as you are on top the ground gets tricky with extremely sharp, weathered rock that is typical for that part of the Tramuntana. Watching my step I made good progress right on the crest (with great views as expected) and got up and over a few smaller humps before reaching the last two peaks before the actual ridge towards the summit of Vinyes.
From the Van I had already noticed that the second to last peak before the ridge and the bit below the summit itself might get tricky - and that proved to be right. To get over the crux peak you either have to traverse about 5 meters below it with tons of exposure (there are actually a few bolts there) or go right over it with a bit of climbing that (at least for me) felt less scary. Pick your poison!
Another easier hump and the Col before the summit ridge is reached. I chose to directly follow it though it got narrower towards the top and ends at a 15 meter wall guarding the actual summit. After some probing I found an easily angled chimney a bit to the left that leads up onto the wall. From the summit the views over the whole of the northern Tramuntana are stunning with the sea providing the backdrop to the karsty mountains - Paradise. Below you can see the surround view from the top:
For the way back I chose to climb down into the Puig Major valley a bit and then get up on the ridge again to more or less retrace my steps. After about 3 hours I was back where I started and for good measure Brigitte and I did a nice walk round lake Cuber with a picnic on the shore - and that's how a morning should look like!