Pegasus Caving Club
aka Pegasus Club Nottingham
Panoramic view of the Sierra de Tramuntana mountain range
CAVING IN MALLORCA
PART ONE
MISCELLANEOUS
GENERAL BACKGROUND
Of the three Balearic Islands, lying off the Spanish Mediterranean coastline, Mallorca (Majorca) is the largest. Along with Menorca and Ibiza, all the islands are predominantly composed of limestone, and support karst to some degree. Lapies are extensive, whilst poljes, depressions, shafts, collapsed dolines and open caves all occur.
Looking out on Porto Pollensa from entrance of Cova de Cal Pesso
In the North of the island is the impressively attractive Sierra De Tramuntana mountain range boasting the island’s highest point Puig Mayr at 1443m. In the east is the 500m high Sierra Levant chain, smaller but equally imposing. The island’s deepest cave (-317m) is, the Cova De Sa Campana which is in the province of Escorca. The longest is the commercially developed Cova Del Drach (1700m) in Porto Cristo. Most of the island’s provinces have some cave development, as the adage goes “caves be where you find them”. There are caves in the mountains, caves in the sea, resurgences, deep Yorkshire type pots, caves in collapsed dolines in totally flat barren areas, old heavily decorated fossil systems, new active caves and one imagines a whole host of new caves awaiting discovery.
The variety and scope of trips available will satisfy everyone from the ardent pit dropper, to the geriatric who prefers his caves large, pretty and walking sized. Many of the caves have yielded important archaelogical finds, whilst some of the submerged caverns have yielded original information on previous levels of the Mediterranean sea by virtue of the differing paleo- levels found therein.
Lots of the older systems support thriving bat colonies, along with other subterranean life. Generally speaking the greatest attraction of Mallorcan caves is the sheer magnitude and beauty of the copious formations. Cova C’an Sion in Pollensa for example boasts over 2,000 collumns in one huge fragmented chamber. For different reasons the show caves at Drach, Arta and Campanet are all worth a visit, if you fancy a break from sporting caving.
PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS, TRAVEL AND ACCOMMODATION
Mallorca is a Mediterranean island, unless you are a particularly adept swimmer planning on travelling light, air travel is the only option. If you don’t like flying, tough! Given this mode of operandum, there are two basic choices; a). Bog-standard package holiday or b). Flight only deal, where you arrange your own accommodation. Both have their plus points.
If you choose a package holiday, be sure to specify your preferred location on the island. Alcudia or Pollensa are good choices. Alcudia is more tourist orientated, a sort of Cala Skegnessa. Pollensa, and in particular Puerto Pollensa are more ethnic and up-market, consequently they are more expensive. Expense, however is a relative concept. Wherever you decide to go, you can plan your holiday on a shoestring budget. Cala Vincente also makes an ideal caving base. If you choose a real cheapo-cheapo late booking deal you could end up anywhere in Mallorca. Palma and Magaluf for example are definite no-go areas
If you choose a flight only deal, suitable villas in the right location at the right price are plentiful. This type of vacation obviously requires greater forethought and pre-planning. Camping is not a viable option; there is an absolute dearth of official campsites on the island, (Ca’n Picafort is the only one that springs to mind). Even if you could find somewhere unofficial to camp, there would be absolutely no facilities on hand. On top of all this, the sheer weight and bulk of camping equipment do not make it compatible with air travel allowances.
Car rental is cheap and easily available, both at the airport and at the resorts you may be staying at. This can be pre-booked from the UK but is not considered necessary.
If you choose to go self-catering, by far the most sensible option, then there is a veritable plethora of supermarkets and a few open markets to purchase your scran from. If you prefer to be waited upon, as well as hostelries offering traditional Mallorcan cuisine, there are Spanish style Tapas bars, Steakhouse grills, Indian restaurants, Chinkies, Kebab stalls and Italian Trattorias. For those desperately needing to get a life there are English Chippies, Burger Kings, Pizza Huts and KFC outlets. In addition all the hotels and bars serve good old English fry-ups at breakfast time and Sausage, Egg & Chips during the day. Booze, whether it be beer, wine, spirits or local cocktails is cheap and has the desired effect. You may however, have to consume copious quantities of the local lager or cheap Sangria before you actually topple over. The island operates a zero tolerance policy as regards drink driving, you have been warned.
The road infrastructure of Mallorca is pretty much what you’d expect for a small island. All the major roads radiate out from Palma to the other larger towns. The public transport systems begin and end in their entirety at the capital city. Getting from A to B cross-country can be tricky. Some of the winding mountain roads along with some coastal routes are a bit iffy. Generally they’re OK if you’re careful but they can still be a trifle challenging. They can be particularly stressful for the passengers if a certain Andrew Walchester is at the wheel of the automobile.
PERSONAL EQUIPMENT AND CLOTHING
Due to Mallorca’s typical Mediterranean climate, you can expect to be considerably warmer caving here than in the U.K. The summers are baking hot, and the winters are mild and pleasant. The island is not averse to a drop of rain however, this can take the form of continuously heavy thunderstorms.
In some of the island’s large systems with extensive horizontal development, such as Sa Campana, Cal Pesso, Fra Raphael and Diners etc, the caver’s greatest problem can be overheating and dehydration. It is essential to carry drinking water for consumption inside the cave as well as for the walk to and from the cave entrance. Caves like these can be comfortably tackled wearing shorts or tracksters and a tee shirt. You may however want to wear a lightweight overall to protect your knees and elbows in the passages where crawling is necessary The universally accepted caving footwear of boots or wellies is as good here as anywhere, trainers with a decent grip are also acceptable.
In the island’s more aquatic holes; e.g. the resurgence at Font d’Algaret, a neoprene-fleece undersuit is an essential piece of kit. Some of the other places like the exposed shaft at Les Basses or the cave at Rodes can also become somewhat damp and draughty at certain times (i.e. in the middle of a torrential downpour). It would make good sense to be wearing more substantial clothing at such times, it would make even better sense not to be down there in the first place!
Snow has also been known to fall in Mallorca, but this is not a commonplace occurrence, snow-shoes, crampons and ice-picks are not a prerequisite to visiting the island’s mountains.
Lighting is very much a matter of personal choice married with the constraints of what it is possible to carry on the plane. Head mounted battery powered lamps like “Petzl Zooms” are O.K., but be sure to bring plenty of spare batteries with you, Spanish replacements though cheap are not renowned for their longevity. Lead-acid miners cap-lamps are not allowed on the plane, whilst FX2 type electrics will need an international adapter, to enable them to be plugged into your charger. Expedition carbide generators are spot-on, as long as you have already identified a reliable supply of carbide on the island, you can’t bring carbide on the plane with you for obvious reasons. We got our carbide from Sa Pobla at a garage, the auto mechanics use it for generating acetylene to use in their welders. As soon as the proprietor knew what we wanted it for, he was happy to sell it to us, we paid about a £1 per kilo. Unless you can speak fluent Spanish, making yourself understood can sometimes be a problem even when you attempt to use sign language. Geordie Dave picked up some small stones from the roadside, spat on them and made a hissing sound. He received some strange knowing looks, a shrug of the shoulders and directions to the local builders merchants, where they sold gravel!
A good lighting combination is to use an expedition carbide, or a small stinky, in conjunction with a head mounted small electric.
Two final items of kit which are essential over in Mallorca that you would never think to use in the U.K. are a sun-hat and some suntan lotion for use when searching out cave entrances in the midday sun.
TACKLE REQUIREMENTS, ACCESS, RESCUE AND INSURANCE
The amount of rope and ancillary equipment carried will obviously be influenced greatly by the airlines personal weight allowances. The first time I visited Mallorca to cave, there were 4 cavers and 1 non-caver in our travelling party. We were able to carry all the gear we required but had to travel fairly light as regards non-essential (i.e. non-caving) baggage. It was necessary to bend the rules a little as to what should have been carried as hand luggage, and what actually was.
If you carry sufficient lengths of rope to bottom the island’s longest and deepest cave, Cova de Sa Campana, and a rope long enough to drop the deepest shaft, Avenc de Travessets, you should be prepared for anything Mallorca can offer. SRT is the only serious option for tackling the island’s various caves and pots, all the party therefore must be fully kitted out with their own personal gear and proficient in it’s use. They must also be familiar with self-rescue techniques. There are no official rescue facilities on the island. If you have the contacts it may be possible to call upon reliable, competent local cavers, in the event of an emergency, but don’t count on it.
Modern day cavers may find the rigging procedures alien to them. Mallorcan caves are not adorned with a proliferation of shiny new “P” hangers, like the majority of popular UK trips. Natural belays are normally used, big boulders and trees at cave entrances, and columns, boss stals, eyeholes and flakes within the cave itself. A few caves also have spits of unknown vintage in situ. For this reason you may be tempted to bring along your own bolting kit, and an assortment of hangers. Use it sparingly, it would be nice if the local caves could remain “au naturelle” and not become like artificial caving walls. It is also a good idea to carry an extensive selection of slings and other tethers of varying lengths. Tackle-bags can generally double as rope protectors at obvious rub-points.
There is no real official policy as regards permission and access procedures. Use your common sense and as always follow the country code. If the cave is on private land and it is possible to ask the owner for permission, do so. We found most of the landowners friendly and helpful, but as always there are the exceptions that prove the rule.
Allegedly Spanish law permits access and right-of-way to any path that leads to the coastline, a mountain top or a place of interest, presumably all caves would fall into one of these categories.I don’t know how true this allegation is. Some caves are on military land and access is strictly denied. If you consider visiting one of these sites, consider also that Spanish jails are not renowned for their hospitality.
Given that there is no cave rescue and no free national health service on the island, it is extremely prudent to avail yourself of comprehensive insurance cover. The BCRA is an obvious choice for this, and some cavers may already hold such cover. Another scheme to consider as an alternative is the one operated by the Winter Sports specialists, Snowcard. They can provide cover for a single vacation or for a 12 month period, both at competitive prices. Most of our party used this scheme, it covers rescue, hospital care and repatriation. It can also be structured to cover additional activities such as climbing, canyoning and scuba-diving.
OTHER ACTIVITIES
If you are only on a week’s vacation in Mallorca, you will be hard pressed to fit all the caving you wish to do into seven days. If you are there for longer and have a couple of rest days scheduled, there are several interesting options you may consider.
Where the Torrent de Pareis flows into the Mediterranean Sea
The mountains as well as providing some serious limestone climbs and sporting canyonning routes also offer stupendous trekking with breathtaking views, along with some heavy duty fell running and orienteering opportunities.
Dropping down to the coastal areas, there are the obvious twin attractions of golden beaches and the warm clear blue Mediterranean Sea for sunbathing and swimming. Away from the sandy beaches, the rugged rocky coves make for superb snorkelling and open water scuba diving. If you are not a diver already, this is the perfect venue to learn in. If you are a qualified diver you can hire a full set of kit on production of your I.D. card or logbook. There are several scuba schools on the island which provide boat trips to wrecks, reefs and sea caves. Some schools also cater for novice and advanced cavern diving at inland cave sites, as well as the technically simpler sea caves. If you wish to do any cavern diving, you would probably prefer to bring your own customised side-mounted harness, twin regulators and dive computer with you. All the popular resorts offer the standard tourist adventure pursuits such as jet skiing, parascending and paragliding, there is also probably bungee jumping if you search hard enough. Other less strenuous activities include golf, tennis and pony trekking. For the total couch potato there’s always the bullfighting to spectate and the islands football team Real Mallorca to watch. For the really boring there are churches, castles, ruins, botanical gardens, aquatic marinas and safari parks to visit. If all the above prove to be too much hassle, just fester by the pool or in a local bar.
CAVING TEAM MALLORCA OCTOBER 2000
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THE PEGASUS IN MALLORCA
A POTTED HISTORY OF THE CLUB’S ACTIVITIES ON THE ISLAND
I first visited the island in 1993; at the time I was not caving but was enjoying a seven-day warm weather training stint with some running colleagues from Notts Athletic Club. I did however manage to find the time to visit the show caves at Drach & Genova. The world famous caves at Drach were brilliant and provided a welcome respite from constant running. The visit to the caves at Genova was incorporated into a training run. Suffice to say that the 6 mile run to and from the cave, undertaken beneath the blistering midday sun was far more interesting and enjoyable than the boring 30 minutes spent underground on our guided tour.
Whilst staying on the island, I met up with Nigel Atkins and his future bride Becky. Nigel was doing some groundwork for his forthcoming short-lived project; “The Pennine Caving Club’s all-in caving and drinking package holiday to Mallorca”. Perhaps a little considered market research would have convinced him that a scheme involving extracting considerable sums of money from the English sporting communities meanest participants would never make him rich.
Nigel’s venture did however see the light of day. Amongst his first paying clientele were Lee “Floyd” Hollis, Dave “Fig” Briggs and Metal-Mickey Pritchett, a man known in the past to have sported more metallic hardware in his face than I carry in my SRT bag. Prior to joining the Pegasus, Lee & his buddies were trading as the Toyota Caving Club, an organisation set up by the entrepreneurial Mr Hollis to exploit the abject generosity of his benefactors at the Burnaston plant in Derby. Our Nipponese cousins threw money at Lee’s embryonic club with the same reckless abandon as that shown by a Hara-kiri merchant leaping onto his sword. Pretty boy Floyd made further forays onto the island accompanied by various reprobates, until teaming up with Al & Judy Steans, Andy Walchester and Dave “Geordie” Walker for the first “official” Pegasus trip in October 1999. Twelve months later this same small nucleus of people were bolstered by the addition to the ranks of club members, Martin & Sue Bishop, Dave Briggs, Cheg and Aileen Chester, Malc Debbage, Trev Roberts and Malc Scothon.
This year the club plans further hits on the island. Cheg and Aileen are going at the beginning of summer to continue their walking tour of the island, while the lads are planning to hit it big-time in October. For the sake of completeness it would be remiss not to mention our other west country representative, the manic plumber from Bristol, Patrick Cronin Esquire. In the past Pat, representing the Pegasus as a member of the Dark Shamrock Expedition has visited these pleasant warm climes to go cavern diving with the venerable Mr Farr, the intrepid cave explorer from the land where men are men, and the sheep have to run fast. In a relatively short time the club have logged an impressive number of visits to the Balaeric netherworld. The caving reports and description of the various Cuevas, Covas, Grutas and Avencs visited are included herein.
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