An unrepeatable experience
Sunrise in Cala San Vicenç, Majorca, and Miguel Angel Torrandell _(Majorca, 1975) _, from Mon d'Aventure ** a **, you have everything ready: 12 helmets, 12 backpacks in which to store 12 wetsuits and 12 harnesses with their carabiners. He exposes them as if they were a traveling sale next to a wall with its back to the sea.
The earliest tourists avoid him with eyes slanted by sleep and advance to the beach to place their towel in the first line. They won't lie down yet, just they mischievously mark their place, where they will once again enjoy a peaceful day by the turquoise water, the blue sky and a hot sun that characterizes the Balearic Islands.
Miquel doesn't even remember when his last day of sun and beach was, he prefer action which also characterizes Mallorca for having a privileged orography. And his plans today go through injecting passion for adventure, adrenaline and active life to new clients as a guide.
At 9:15 in the morning he has summoned 12 of them who, for the next six hours, they will climb, they will dive and they will jump into the void to drop one of the 30 guns with which the island has. "Everyone repeats." We trust, still sleepy, that it will be so.
In half an hour, the 12 adventurers have managed to equip themselves: each one with his backpack in which they carry their wetsuit, carabiner and their sandwich. In a few minutes, travel by boat through the Mediterranean, the same one that caressed them days before in the coves of the island. Now he says good morning to 15 knots , between splashes and in the shadow of the Tramuntana, the mountain range that cuts the northern part of the island. Along 40 kilometers, he gives away intense sensations those who, like Miquel, live hooked on strong emotions.
The boats stop. time for the sandwich with eyes wide as saucers seeing where they will walk until they reach the Mortitx Ravine, which today will descend. Six will do it after a one hour trek. Another six will experience it together with Miquel after climbing 80 meters of wall by a via ferrata and walk half an hour between karst rocks. The clouds take pity and cover for mid-morning the sun to make the adventure lighter. Backpack, swimsuit and slippers: We jump into the water. I join.
The route starts with a wall three meters ; promise. Michael offers his rope to ensure. we have left 77 meters of vertical climbing : the turquoise water, the blue sky and a wild landscape will make time stops. The sweats begin, the adrenaline shoots up and nervous, we smile. A marvel.
The sea will always be at our feet. Alone, we contemplate the landscape every so often, sitting on the ledges of the wall. Here you do not need to reserve the site. Wonderful I tell myself again. Michael smiles. The injection of it takes effect. Below is the boat in which we have traveled: it looks small.
We've been two hours the swimsuit still wet and hands proud to wear scratches from the rocks we've climbed over. We have reached the first goal. And we already think with intrigue What will the ravine hold? For 30 minutes we walked downhill along sharp karst rocks, the same ones that have generated the underground caves of the island and the same ones for which we will dive later. The trek is appreciated: wind, a new landscape and more intrigue.
The adrenaline of climbing descends. Now, we all think about what awaits us behind the hole : starts on descent of the Mortitx ravine. We open the backpacks to put on the wetsuit: top and bottom. Also, we secure the harness again and we tighten our helmet again.
"The first jump is from three meters. Very important: I will take you by the hand before jumping. If you take the jump too long, I will stretch you against the wall. If you fall short, I'll knock you off the wall. Watch out for the rocks ”. Silence.
Michael wears almost three decades working as a guide in Mallorca. His father, a hotel manager, soon showed him the potential of dedicating himself to the hospitality industry on the island and specifically in the Cala San Vicenç . "But it wasn't worth it." After two years, he decided to explore what he liked the most: the mountain, climbing and action.
Graduated in Teaching, he received from the City Council the commission of perform climbing activities with the little ones during a summer. The initiative was so successful that, since 1990, the vast majority of guides on the island have passed through Miquel until he became the pioneer. He smiles with his face and shoulders. It is clear that Miquel was born for climbing and for teaching : we only thought about going back.
He has to take the first jump and we hit the first : a scream, water and again adrenaline. "With two hits on the hull from the water, you indicate that everything is fine."
We hit the hull . We float in the water between large walls with the sunlight sliding over them and the turquoise water, here more greenish, drawing impossible shapes in each pool. The water tastes sweet. Ahead, a whole succession of jumps. Sometimes three meters, others five but all very safe. More screams, more jumps, more adrenaline. We advance.
We touch already the high hour , the third activity, and we meet the other group. We see them rappelling a four meter jump. We wait anxiously. And you can see the sea: again the turquoise water, fresh and salty. We did not know that that same water could generate us so many emotions.
Before the end, it gives us time even to go down a hole and dive to the lungs through a small tunnel. It's been a few seconds but, again, high. Now yes, last jump into the sea and from him to the boat. While we get rid of the wetsuit and share the sensations with the rest of the group, Miquel stops the boat in a lonely cove
The sun no longer bothers us, on the contrary, it dries our sweat. And from a fridge he takes a melon and a watermelon cut, fresh, and offers them to us. Miquel knows how to make us happy.
We have been active for six hours and we arrive back at the port, to San Vicenç cove , with the same peace with which early-rising tourists enjoy the first sunbeds. They look at us again with the same eyes, slanted, sleepy.
One more day on the island and a new experience on it: not only does it have privileged ingredients for "sun and beach", but it also has them for sport, adventure and active life. We will be back.
This is what the ravine looks like from the mainland
WHERE DO THE GUIDES EAT?
“The best food in Mallorca is in the house of our mothers . The traditional ones are very simple and the rest is for tourism”. That said, they advise us in San Vicenç:
- ambbolí bread in the Bar Majorca
- The fresh fish of the day in Ca'l Patro
- The Paella in the ** W indsurfing **
MORE ACTIVITIES
- kayaking : Between crystal clear waters, through caves and with the possibility of spot dolphins.
- Coasteering : consist of walk among the cliffs with the possibility of making jumps, diving and accessing impossible corners.
- water cave : The big attraction of the island is to discover the beaches that house some of the caves inside and contemplate the play of turquoise lights by the reflections of light in the water.
Peace in Cala San Vicenç