Deep-water soloing (DWS), also known as psicobloc, is a form of
solo rock climbing that relies solely upon the presence of water at the base of a climb to protect against injury from falls from the generally
high-difficulty routes.
While typically practiced on
sea cliff
Seacliff or Sea Cliff or Sea Cliffe may refer to:
;Places
''Australia''
*Seacliff, South Australia, suburb of Adelaide
*Seacliff Park, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide
*Sea Cliff Bridge, in Illawarra, New South Wales
''New Zealand''
*Seacli ...
s at
high tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another.
Tide tables can ...
, it can also be done on climbs above reservoirs, rivers, and even swimming pools. Often a
dinghy
A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, which ...
or other small boat is kept on scene to pick up the fallen climber, as a fall from a taller route can still pose the risk of being knocked unconscious on impact with the water, which could lead to drowning. Pioneers include Miquel Riera,
Tim Emmett, Klem Loskot, and
Chris Sharma
Chris Omprakash Sharma (born 23 April, 1981) is an American rock climber who is considered one of the greatest and most influential climbers in the history of the sport. He dominated sport climbing for the decade after his 2001 ascent of '' Real ...
.
History
![Psicobloc Utah Olympic Park](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Psicobloc_Utah_Olympic_Park.jpg)
Deep-water soloing has its roots in
Mallorca
Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean.
The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...
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
Free climbing is a form of rock climbing in which the climber may use climbing equipment such as ropes and other means of climbing protection, but only to protect against injury during falls and not to assist vertical or horizontal progress. The ...
.
[ This became Mallorca's first ]bouldering
Bouldering is a form of free climbing that is performed on small rock formations or artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers use climbing shoes to help sec ...
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
Porto Cristo is a small town on the eastern coast of Mallorca. It is from the town of Manacor and is within the Manacor municipality.
Geography
The village is located in a major tourist area between Costa de los Pinos and Cala Murada. Its small ...
, 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''.][
The 1990s saw an explosion in Britain for what they called "Deep Water Soloing" (DWS), which began with Nick Buckley's ascent of ''The Conger'' (1983).][ Britain's southern coast saw new routes established by the Cook brothers, Mike Robertson, Steve Taylor, and Pete Oxley.][ In 1996, the British Climbers' Club, published ''Into the Blue: A guide to Deep Water Soloing in Dorset'', which became the first-ever DWS guidebook in the world, and proposed an evolved grading system and climbing style to Britain.][ In 2001, British climber Tim Emmett received an email from Miquel showing ''Cova Del Diablo'' and led to a trip by Emmett that included other leading climbers such as Mike Robertson, Neil Gresham, and Austrian Klem Loskot.][ Within a week they had established over twenty-six routes ranging from 4+ to 8a, bringing the total on ''Cova Del Diablo'' twenty-nine.][ In February 2002, Mike Robertson published an article titled 'Sympathy for the Devil' in the British magazine ''Climber'', describing ''Cova Del Diablo'' along with details and route guides of all twenty-nine lines on the cliff.][
The publication of Robertson's article led to more international teams coming to ''Cova Del Diablo'' to create additional routes and explore new Mallorcan cliffs such as ''Cala Sa Nau'', ''Cala Barques'', ''Cala Mitjana'', and ''Porto Cristo Novo''.][ These teams also introduced Dutch climber Toni Lamprecht to Mallorcan DWS, which resulted in a vast number of new lines being established, chiefly at ''Cala Barques''.][ DWS became more mainstream and globally recognised amongst climbers when a couple of short films were made by climbing filmmakers such as Udo Neumann in 2001, and Josh and Brett Lowell in 2003.][ The films featured some of the sport's pioneers: Emmett, Lamprecht, Klem Loskot, and a newcomer to the style, ]Chris Sharma
Chris Omprakash Sharma (born 23 April, 1981) is an American rock climber who is considered one of the greatest and most influential climbers in the history of the sport. He dominated sport climbing for the decade after his 2001 ascent of '' Real ...
.
In September 2006, the world of DWS changed forever when Chris Sharma completed the right-hand finish to the line that climbed the underside of the dramatic Es Pontàs
Es Pontàs ("The big bridge" in Catalan language) is a natural arch in the southeastern part of the island of Mallorca. The arch is located on the coastline between the Cala Santanyí and Cala Llombards in the municipality of Santanyí. The arc ...
on the southeastern part of Mallorca, and carried a grade of 9a+ (5.15a), the hardest ever DWS grade. Sharma had been looking for a DWS-equivalent to his 2001 sport climb, '' Realization'' (9a+, 5.15a), and his first ascent is featured in Josh Lowell and Peter Mortimer's 2007 film ''King Lines''.[ In 2007, Mike Robinson published a global DWS guide titled ''Deep Water'', further promoting the sport, and the major locations around the world.][
]
Locations
DWS is notably practiced on the coasts of Mallorca
Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean.
The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...
in Spain (and the ''Cova del Diablo'' cliffs in particular), in Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
(Italy), in Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
, Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
, and around the Southern Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...
coast in Britain, in the Calanques
A calanque (, "inlet"; co, calanca, plural ''calanche'' or ''calanchi''; oc, calanca, plural ''calancas'') is a narrow, steep-walled inlet that is developed in limestone, dolomite, or other carbonate strata and found along the Mediterranean c ...
near Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
in France, and in the sea cliffs of Ailladie
Ailladie ( ga, Aill an Daill, lit=Blind Man's Cliff; also known locally as the Ballyreen Cliffs and Ballyreen Point), is an west-facing limestone sea cliff, that varies in height from to , situated on the coast of The Burren in County Clare, ...
in Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. Additionally, climbers have found outlets for deep water soloing among the aquatic karst
Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...
topography of southeast Asia; notable areas include Tonsai, in Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
, and Ha Long Bay
Ha may refer to:
Agencies and organizations
* Health authority
* Hells Angels Motorcycle Club
* Highways Agency (now ''National Highways''), UK government body maintaining England's major roads
* Homelessness Australia, peak body organisation ...
, in Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
.
Notable ascents
:
* ''Es Pontàs
Es Pontàs ("The big bridge" in Catalan language) is a natural arch in the southeastern part of the island of Mallorca. The arch is located on the coastline between the Cala Santanyí and Cala Llombards in the municipality of Santanyí. The arc ...
'', Mallorca
Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean.
The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...
(ESP
ESP most commonly refers to:
* Extrasensory perception, a paranormal ability
ESP may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment Music
* ESP Guitars, a manufacturer of electric guitars
* E.S. Posthumus, an independent music group formed in 2000, ...
), September 26, 2006. First ascent by Chris Sharma. Repeated by Jernej Kruder in November 2016. It features a dyno that took Sharma over 50 attempts to stick.
:
* ''Alasha'', Mallorca
Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean.
The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...
(ESP
ESP most commonly refers to:
* Extrasensory perception, a paranormal ability
ESP may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment Music
* ESP Guitars, a manufacturer of electric guitars
* E.S. Posthumus, an independent music group formed in 2000, ...
), September 23, 2016. First ascent by Chris Sharma
Chris Omprakash Sharma (born 23 April, 1981) is an American rock climber who is considered one of the greatest and most influential climbers in the history of the sport. He dominated sport climbing for the decade after his 2001 ascent of '' Real ...
, who estimated its grade based on the effort it took to climb it without a rope: "If it had bolts on it, it probably wouldn’t be a 9b (5.15b). But when you’re 60 feet up with no bolts, it takes the same amount of effort.” Sharma named the route after his daughter, Alana Sharma.
Books
*
References
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Types of climbing
Articles containing video clips