Multipitch Atlas

Mongol Express

Sa Gubia – Bomberos wall (Sector Polla Boba) · Mallorca (Sa Gubia) · Spain

Read the cautionsBail with caveatsBolting confidence: medium

A big line up the full height of the Bomberos wall: a 40 m tufa pitch that is a popular climb in its own right, easy broken ground, a steeper 6a, and a long, steep, technical 6b+ wall to finish. The top pitch cannot be aided past its crux, so this is a route for a solid 6b+ leader.

The Puig de Son Nasi (left) and the pointed Puig de s'Alqueria, the Sa Gubia peak, seen from the Sóller railway to the east. The climbing walls are out of sight in the gorge on the far side.Photo: Joan Gené · CC0

Photo

The Puig de Son Nasi (left) and the pointed Puig de s'Alqueria, the Sa Gubia peak, seen from the Sóller railway to the east. The climbing walls are out of sight in the gorge on the far side.Photo: Joan Gené · CC0
Hardest pitch
6b+
Pitches
4
Length
155 m
Approach
45 min
Aspect
–
Not recorded
Rope
2×50 m minimum
pitches up to 45 m
Read before you go

Bolted but serious: obligatory 6b+, pitches of up to 45 m, a worn lower-off on pitch 1 and guidebook lengths that are wrong.

The route

Overview

Mongol Express climbs the Bomberos wall of the Sa Gubia amphitheatre to a belay below the Albahida ridge. Foracorda describes five pitches and 205 m including an easy exit along the normal route; the bolted climbing is the first four pitches, about 155 m. The first pitch climbs between two tufas and is often done on its own; easier starts up the neighbouring Méjico Lindo or Mami Blu are possible. The guidebook pitch lengths have been reported as badly wrong, so plan for pitches of 35 to 45 m. The opener's own note gives 6b+ obligatory.

The climbing

Pitch by pitch

PitchGradeLengthNotes
P16b40 mThe left-hand line to a scoop (possible belay after about 15 m of 4+), then between the two tufas to the high lower-off. Ignore the half-way lower-off. The pitch is 40 m or more. Alternative starts: Méjico Lindo (6a+), Mami Blu (6b) or Oasis (6b+).
P2530 mEasy broken ground to another belay. Rockfax gives 5b.
P36a40 mA slightly steeper section.
P46b+45 mA steep, technical wall to the top belay; the hard climbing is obligatory.

Getting there

Approach

To the parking

From Palma drive north on the Ma-11 towards Sóller. Shortly after the junction where the Ma-2010 leaves for Bunyola there is a large car park by a restaurant, the usual parking for Sa Gubia. Mountain Project reports regular car break-ins: leave nothing in the car.

On foot · about 45 min

About 45 minutes from the car. Cross the road, walk back past the roundabout and take the small road that leaves the Ma-2010 past houses. The tarmac turns to dirt; just after a house with stables a dry stream bed crosses the track. Turn right up it and follow the cairns. Right-hand forks lead in turn to the Silicona, Excalibur, Isla Bonita, Princesa and Bomberos sectors, then Albahida. Go to the far, left-hand wall of the amphitheatre (Bomberos, Polla Boba sector). The first pitch takes the left-hand line of bolts to a scoop and on between two tufas; Méjico Lindo (6a+), Mami Blu (6b) and Oasis (6b+) are the neighbouring starts that lead to the same belay.

Map of the walk-in

  • Crag

Loading map

The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.

Coordinates · crag

39.69454, 2.67318

Point from Mountain Project sector point (Bomberos, Sa Gubia), about 70 m from camptocamp waypoint 820495

For your phone or watch

Download GPX

Contains the route point. Opens in most mapping apps and GPS watches.

Points are compiled from published sources, with the precision stated above. They were not surveyed on the ground: check them against a current topo.

Getting down

Descent

From the top belay abseil the route in three long abseils (Rockfax). Alternatively continue: follow about three bolts for some 15 m to the Albahida normal route and climb it to the top (grade 4, about 52 m, on your own protection), then walk down by the summit and the track to Can Penasso.

Retreat

Bailing off the route

Bail with caveats

Abseiling the route is a normal descent, in three long abseils from the top belay, so you can also retreat from the lower stances. It needs two ropes: the pitches are 30 to 45 m and a single 70 m rope does not reach the ground even from the top of pitch 1.

Retreat from
Any belay, with two ropes.
Point of no return
None described, but the last pitch is obligatory 6b+: if you cannot climb it, abseil from the top of pitch 3.
Carry
Two ropes of at least 50 m; a maillon for the worn pitch 1 lower-off.
Basis
Part stated, part inferredRockfax states the abseil descent and UKC comments give the real pitch lengths and the state of the lower-off; the two-rope requirement is inferred from those lengths.

Partly inferred from the route facts

Safety

Hazards

  • Rope length: a 2023 party ran out of rope in the middle of pitch 3 expecting a 20 m pitch from Rockfax; pitches 2 to 4 are 35 to 40 m or more.
  • A 70 m rope does not get you back to the ground from the top of pitch 1 in one lower; belay at the first lower-off or use two ropes.
  • The pitch 1 lower-off was reported in March 2024 as very much in need of replacing.
  • The 6b+ on the last pitch is obligatory.
  • The exit above the top belay to the ridge is not bolted climbing.
  • Car break-ins at the parking are reported as regular.

Sun and weather

Conditions

No source gives the aspect or sun hours for this wall. The amphitheatre is enclosed and the sun arrives late; Sa Gubia is climbed from autumn to spring.

Usual season · Jan to May, Oct to Dec

Sun on the wall

No estimate: the wall's aspect is not recorded for this route.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Mean daily high °C121214172125282924201513
Mean daily low °C77810141720211815118
Rain days 1 mm or more776653237998

● marks the usual climbing season. Averages for 1991-2020 at about 400 m. Area climate from Open-Meteo reanalysis. Temperatures are adjusted to the height of the crag; rain comes from a grid cell of about 10 to 25 km, and summer highs on sea cliffs can read a few degrees low. The wall and valley can differ. Data: Open-Meteo, CC BY 4.0.

What to carry

Gear

Quickdraws for pitches of up to 45 m, and two ropes of at least 50 m for the abseils. Helmet. If you intend to exit by Albahida, a few slings and nuts.

Checklist

Quickdraws
Number not given in the sources
Rope
2×50 m minimum (pitches up to 45 m)
Helmet
One each
Abseil device and prusik
The descent or the retreat involves abseiling
Maillons or spare karabiners
To leave behind if you retreat

Derived from the route data; check it against a current topo

From climbers

Reader reports

Reader reports are not being collected yet. Until they are, check a current topo and the local club or guidebook publisher for recent changes to Mongol Express.

Worth knowing

Tips

  • If 6b off the ground is too much, start up Méjico Lindo (6a+).
  • The first pitch alone, to the high lower-off, is a worthwhile outing if time is short.

Open questions

Where sources disagree

  • Pitch lengths: Rockfax gives 38, 20, 20 and 20 m; Foracorda gives 40, 30, 40 and 45 m, and UKC comments from 2023 and 2024 confirm the longer figures. Foracorda's are used.
  • Pitch count and length: Foracorda counts five pitches and 205 m including the 52 m exit along the normal route; Rockfax describes four pitches, though its header says '40 m, 2 pitches'. The record covers the four bolted pitches.
  • Pitch 1 grade: 6b in Rockfax; an older UKC description splits it into 4+ and 6a+.

Provenance

Sources

Same area

More in Mallorca (Sa Gubia)

All routes in Mallorca (Sa Gubia)
Sa Gubia seen from the Palma to Sóller road: the pointed Puig de s'Alqueria and the gorge that splits it, whose walls hold the multipitch sectors. The exact line is not identifiable at this distance.

Spain · Mallorca (Sa Gubia)

Via Llum de Lluna

Technical, sustained wall climbing on positive holds up the left side of the Princesa wall, ending in a memorable powerful finish.

6b5 pitches216 m

Read the cautions

Sa Gubia seen from the Palma to Sóller road: the pointed Puig de s'Alqueria and the gorge that splits it, whose walls hold the multipitch sectors. The exact line is not identifiable at this distance.

Spain · Mallorca (Sa Gubia)

La Ley del Deseo

A steady 6a sport line, the first bolt line right of the open-book corner on the Bomberos wall. A harder P2 variation ('Sonrisa Vertical') is available.

6a6 pitches152 m

Sa Gubia seen from the Palma to Sóller road: the pointed Puig de s'Alqueria and the gorge that splits it, whose walls hold the multipitch sectors. The exact line is not identifiable at this distance.

Spain · Mallorca (Sa Gubia)

Sol Solet

Steep walls of beautifully sculpted grey and orange limestone immediately right of Princesa, even at 6b from bottom to top. Rockfax calls it more adventurous than its neighbour. Several belays are hanging, and the pitches can be split or linked in many ways.

6b+5 pitches200 m

A party on one of the bolted multipitch routes on the orange walls right of the Albahida ridge at Sa Gubia, photographed from Albahida in April 2019. The route they are on is not identified.

Spain · Mallorca (Sa Gubia)

Vía de los Bomberos

The best line of clean rock up the huge left wall of the Sa Gubia amphitheatre, and a Rockfax top-50 route. Four long pitches, sustained at 6a to 6b but never desperate, starting up a big white tufa, with fine positions at the stances. The route stops below the ridge and you abseil.

6b4 pitches135 m

Around 6b+ · about 4 pitches

Similar elsewhere

Mala Mojstrovka (left) and Nad Šitom glava (right) from the Vršič Pass in autumn; the routes are on the pale rock wall of Nad Šitom glava above the larches.

Slovenia · Vršič Pass (Julian Alps)

Črni panter

Sustained slab climbing up a striking black streak, clearly visible from the pass, on surprisingly good rock for this face. The crux is a move from slab into a corner on P2.

6b+4 pitches105 m

Read the cautions

The south-east face of the Roca dels Arcs above the road from Vilanova de Meià, in the Montsec de Rúbies.

Spain · Vilanova de Meià (Roca dels Arcs)

El Somni de Quimfer

Four long, steep pitches on the left side of the Roca dels Arcs, sustained at 6a on good holds and not yet polished above the first pitch. The third pitch is the event: a reachy bulge to start, 30 m of gently overhanging strata, and a hard boulder move off a ledge to finish that most people grade 6c. That last move can be avoided by belaying on the neighbouring route.

6b+4 pitches160 m

The Zucco dell'Angelone above the Valsassina, seen from Pasturo, with the antenna on its summit. The climbing spurs are the pale limestone ribs on the sunny side of the mountain above Barzio; individual spurs and routes are not marked.

Italy · Lecco & Valsassina

Foto di Gruppo con Signorine

Three friendly pitches up a striking arched flake and compact slabs, then a short wall with one hard, reachy move that most people pull through. A 1980 route by the Savonittos and Alessandro Gogna, and the usual first half of a link-up with Gli Schiavi della Pietra on the spur above.

6b+4 pitches90 m

Read the cautions

The Paredón del Alguacil from the first pitch of the neighbouring route Pitufosis. Radio Patio climbs the orange upper wall; its line is not marked.

Spain · Montanejos

Radio Patio

Four steep pitches up the orange wall of the Paredón del Alguacil, on pockets and big holds on vertical to gently overhanging rock. The second pitch is the one parties rave about; the third has the 6b+ move on smaller holds near its end. Short, sustained and sunny, with a 43 m first pitch.

6b+4 pitches115 m

Committing

Compiled from published sources and last verified October 2026. Bolts, anchors and access change. Climbing is dangerous and you are responsible for your own decisions: check a current topo and read the disclaimer.