One of the world’s leading climbers has returned to Mallorca to practise psicobloc, which is when rock climbers take on very high and difficult routes on cliffs that have water at their base, to protect them from injury if they fall.
Chris Sharma is an expert in psicobloc, he loves the coastal areas of Mallorca and is often seen on the island during the summer months.
Earlier this summer he hosted Game of Thrones actor Jason Momoa’s climbing adventure on the island - the pair are regular visitors to Mallorca to enjoy the sport.
His signature route in Mallorca is Es Pontas, which climbs the underbelly of a magnificent arch in the middle of the sea.
Sharma has been a leading force in the climbing industry. He is the lead shoe designer at Evolv, and has developed several award-winning models of climbing shoes.
He is a founder of the PsicoBloc Masters—the first and only deep-water solo competition in the U.S.
Deep-water soloing has its roots in Mallorca when in 1978, Miquel Riera became frustrated with the aid climbing routes in his local area so he went to Porto Pi, Palma with his friends Jaume Payeras, Eduardo Moreno, and Pau Bover to find routes they could free climb.
This became Mallorca’s first bouldering venue, and as time progressed, Riera moved onto the nearby sea cliffs where they established DWS routes. Riera and his companions named it “psicobloc” (translated into English, means “Psycho Bouldering”), and published articles and photographs in climbing magazines on their activities.
Towards the end of the 1980s Miquel, aided by Pepino Lopez, Xisco Meca, Pepe Link, and Miki Palmer, had discovered the short sea cliffs of Cala Barques, Cala Serena, and a particularly impressive cliff in Porto Cristo, which was to become known as Cova del Diablo.
Three notable routes were established at Cova del Diablo: Surfing in the Bar, Surfer Dead, and Surfing Bird.