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
Vía de los Bomberos
Sa Gubia – Bomberos wall (Sector Polla Boba) · Mallorca (Sa Gubia) · Spain
Easy to bailBolting confidence: medium
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.
- Hardest pitch
- 6b
- Pitches
- 4
- Length
- 135 m
- Approach
- 45 min
- Aspect
- –
- Not recorded
- Rope
- 2×50 m
The route
Overview
The Vía de los Bomberos (Via des Bombers in Catalan) takes the cleanest strip of rock up the left wall of the big bay at Sa Gubia, between the Albahida ridge and the Princesa sector. Rockfax describes four pitches of 30, 25, 40 and 40 m at 6a, 6a+, 6b and 6b, sustained but never desperate, with a tricky section near the end of the fourth. Foracorda gives it five stars and the same four grades, and states that the route does not exit at the top. A fifth pitch (6b, 35 m) now continues to the ridge and a junction with Albahida; a 2019 party found its bolts newer than the rest.
The climbing
Pitch by pitch
6a6a+6b6b
| Pitch | Grade | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 6a | 30 m | The right-hand line of bolts to the big white tufa. |
| P2 | 6a+ | 25 m | Pull up right and climb the blunt rib. |
| P3 | 6b | 40 m | A long, sustained pitch that uses a lot of quickdraws. |
| P4 | 6b | 40 m | Steady climbing to a tricky section near the top. The usual end of the route: abseil from here, or continue up the optional fifth pitch. |
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. The trails lead past Silicona and round into the unmistakable amphitheatre; continue to its far, left-hand wall. The base slopes up to the right, with levelled terraces for belaying. Start at a clear area below a big white tufa in a hollow, and take the right-hand line of bolts.
Map of the walk-in
- Crag
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Point from Mountain Project sector point (Bomberos, Sa Gubia), about 70 m from camptocamp waypoint 820495
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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.
Coordinates: 39.69454, 2.67318 (crag)
Getting down
Descent
Abseil the route from the top of pitch 4. Rockfax specifies double 50 m ropes. Foracorda says either double ropes or a single 75 m rope, and elsewhere describes the line as four clean vertical abseils with some of 40 m, which a single 75 m rope would not cover: take two ropes unless you have checked on the day. If you climb the fifth pitch you join Albahida on the ridge and walk down (about 1 h 30 by the summit and the track to Can Penasso).
Retreat
Bailing off the route
Easy to bail
Abseiling the route is the normal descent and the line is also used by parties coming down from other routes, so every belay is an abseil station. With two 50 m ropes you can retreat from any stance.
- Retreat from
- Any belay.
- Point of no return
- None.
- Carry
- Two 50 m ropes; pitches 3 and 4 are 40 m.
- Basis
- Stated in the sourcesRockfax and Foracorda both give abseiling the route as the descent, and Foracorda describes the line as clean vertical abseils.
Safety
Hazards
- Parties descending from Supernova and Albahida abseil this line: expect ropes and people above you.
- The 40 m pitches cannot be lowered or abseiled on a single 70 m rope.
- Parts of this wall are slabby with vegetation, according to Mountain Project, and stonefall from parties above is possible.
- 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: on the Albahida ridge beside it the sun reached mid-height only around midday in April. Sa Gubia is climbed from autumn to spring.
Usual season · Jan to May, Oct to Dec
JFMAMJJASOND
Sun on the wall
No estimate: the wall's aspect is not recorded for this route.
| Measure | Jan (usual season) | Feb (usual season) | Mar (usual season) | Apr (usual season) | May (usual season) | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct (usual season) | Nov (usual season) | Dec (usual season) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean daily high °C | 12 | 12 | 14 | 17 | 21 | 25 | 28 | 29 | 24 | 20 | 15 | 13 |
| Mean daily low °C | 7 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 21 | 18 | 15 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain days 1 mm or more | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 8 |
● 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 only: Rockfax says to take lots for pitch 3. Two 50 m ropes. Helmet.
Checklist
- Quickdraws
- Number not given in the sources
- Rope
- 2×50 m
- Helmet
- One each
- Abseil device and prusik
- The descent or the retreat involves abseiling
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 Vía de los Bomberos.
Worth knowing
Tips
- A harder variant is listed separately at 6c+ (Foracorda) and Rockfax lists a Bomberos Direct at 6c; make sure you take the right-hand line at the start.
- La Ley del Deseo (6a), already in the atlas, is on the same wall.
Open questions
Where sources disagree
- Length: 135 m from Rockfax's pitch lengths, 140 m in Foracorda's title.
- Fifth pitch: Rockfax's current text describes a 6b, 35 m pitch to the ridge; Foracorda says the route does not top out, and a 2019 UKC comment says the pitch was then not in the guidebook.
- Abseil rope: 2×50 m (Rockfax) against 'double rope or single 75 m' (Foracorda), while Foracorda's Supernova page mentions 40 m abseils on this line.
Provenance
Sources
- UKC Logbook – Vía de los bomberos (Rockfax description and comments)Used for: pitch grades, lengths and descriptions, descent, fifth pitch
- Foracorda – Via des Bomberos, 140 mtsUsed for: equipment, grades, abseil options, equippers
- Foracorda – Supernova Spits'n GigglesUsed for: abseil line details on the Bomberos route
- Mountain Project – Sa Gubia: Bomberos sectorUsed for: sector description, approach, sector point
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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.