[iwasmexican]

I might be going to Mallorca for a work conference in may and obviously would love to do some DWS while I'm there, but will probably be alone. For anyone thats been, how busy are the most popular areas/ how likely is it that there'll be anyone else there? Usually I'm quite happy climbing alone but less so when theres scope for drowning...

[Paul B]

Barques (sp?) usually has people and Porto Colom likewise but I've never had other climbers at Diablo (one from this parish turned up and left!) and the venue near the tower (with Toni) I've also never seen anyone else there.

[User deactivated.]

I can't answer your specific question, but there's a lot of DWS in Mallorca that's as safe as DWS can be and i'd be happy to do it alone. There's a possibility you could drown just like there's a possibility you could fall off a normal boulder, hit your head on a rock and die.

[Adam Lincoln]

Diablo always been busy when we have been. As long as connies are good. October is the month though as sun is low enough to dry backs of caves out.

[T_B]

IDK about May but don’t leave any valuables at the top of Diablo. Been twice. Once goppy, but calm sea and just me and wife. Mildly terrifying. Once when there was a bunch of Spanish chucking themselves off the top. Much more reassuring.

[remus]

I can't answer your specific question, but there's a lot of DWS in Mallorca that's as safe as DWS can be and i'd be happy to do it alone. There's a possibility you could drown just like there's a possibility you could fall off a normal boulder, hit your head on a rock and die.

Personally I think this is over-egging how safe it is on your own. A friend of mine fell off (seemingly not particularly weirdly, but hard to know for sure given upcoming events) and passed out under water while on their own. Fortunately it was brief and they regained consciousness before they drowned, but they spent 5 mins choking out sea water afterwards. Another friend broke a hold off while really high up (20m+), smashed in to a ledge and then hit the water. If his pals weren't there to swim him out I think there's a fairly decent chance he could have died. Then of course there is the Cook brother who died while DWSing on his own in Mallorca.

Having said that I've done quite a bit of DWS on my own, but I think you need to be aware that if you fall off badly in the wrong place it's more risky than bouldering, because you're in the sea which means it's easy to drown.

[Johnny Brown]

Not been in spring but word on the street is the sea doesn't warm up until later. Suspect the 'low sun' advantage in autumn is also related to lower diurnal temperature ranges meaning less condensation in the first place.

Barques was the only place that seemed popular. Big XXL was the best easy thing I did, really fun jug fest across the roof of a cave, never very high.

I'd also caution against DWS on your own, somewhere easy and vert like Ferrera maybe (just treating it as soloing i.e. no falls) but not if you've any chance of falling. I nearly drowned just laughing at a mate's attempt at a dive.

[User deactivated.]

Remus, I don't disagree with what you've said, but the key bit for me is: "if you fall off badly in the wrong place it's more risky than bouldering". Don't be in the wrong place when doing it alone, certainly not 20m up! There's plenty of DWS in Mallorca below 10m where it's basically impossible to hit something on the way down. Freak accidents can happen but the risk can be very low if you choose sensible spots. Loads of surfers are happy to be out alone, but not so many who'd want to be out alone when it's double overhead!

[Will Hunt]

I've done stuff at Barques when I was there on my own but with other climbers around. In hindsight I'd rather go with a spotter who was actually looking out for you. I always thought this sounded like cold water shock (which can occur from around 15 degrees) but it seems unlikely given that it was June when the Mallorca water temperature ought to have been 17 at least (ignore the headline, he'd just jumped in from the bottom of the crag).
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2251260/British-tourist-nicknamed-Captain-Caterpillar-drowned-jumping-100ft-sea-free-climbing-Majorca.html

There's other dangers than rockfall/falling off badly. What your tolerance for risk is I don't know.

[Johnny Brown]

It doesn't read like cold water shock at all. More likely a faceful of water at the wrong moment.

[nik at work]

Phil was a friend.

I’m a pretty reasonable swimmer but I wouldn’t DWS alone. I don’t consider myself to be especially risk averse.

[Paul B]

Freak accidents can happen but the risk can be very low if you choose sensible spots. Loads of surfers are happy to be out alone, but not so many who'd want to be out alone when it's double overhead!

I can remember walking in to the DWS Festival at Connor Cove (I can't remember if it was the year where it was sponsored by over-caffeinated sugary drink company  ) and a lady had jumped from the top (I think rather than fallen?), lent backwards in the fall, and seriously hurt herself. She was air-lifted out. Likewise, I've seen people fall from Freeborn man beneath turning the lip that've needed people to dive in for assistance. I think these things can happen easier than you might expect and during simple tasks like pulling up short Fisherman's ladders back onto the rock with an ill-timed wave. Sure, if you go to Porto Colom and only traverse / do low level stuff then that risk is relatively small but at other venues, you're needing to treat it like soloing.

I've climbed at Diablo by myself once (when someone else didn't show up and I was sulking about something else) and looking back on it that feels like a fairly reckless decision even though I'd done the routes before. Likewise, when I did Toni my wife was sat at the top but in reality I'm not sure if that would've been all that useful had I got myself into trouble.

[User deactivated.]

Maybe my risk tolerance is just higher than average. This is my favourite type of victory jump after all 

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kWW0o5lCsQs

[i_a_coops]

Personally I think this is over-egging how safe it is on your own. A friend of mine fell off (seemingly not particularly weirdly, but hard to know for sure given upcoming events) and passed out under water while on their own. Fortunately it was brief and they regained consciousness before they drowned, but they spent 5 mins choking out sea water afterwards. Another friend broke a hold off while really high up (20m+), smashed in to a ledge and then hit the water. If his pals weren't there to swim him out I think there's a fairly decent chance he could have died. Then of course there is the Cook brother who died while DWSing on his own in Mallorca.

Having said that I've done quite a bit of DWS on my own, but I think you need to be aware that if you fall off badly in the wrong place it's more risky than bouldering, because you're in the sea which means it's easy to drown.

The full cautionary tale: there were people there 100m swim away (I naively thought this didn't count as 'alone' at the time) who didn't come over as it looked like my entry was textbook. I pencilled from around 16m into slightly foamy water and think I blacked out as I went super deep (it was also quite a cold day, probably under 15 degrees in the water). I remember opening my eyes underwater, not being able to see anything, and not knowing which way was up.

Next thing I remember was being back on the surface but having the distinct feeling that I was watching myself struggling and vaguely feeling that I should be trying harder to stay alive but didn't have any control over my actions - I suspect this is the kind of thing that gets called an out-of-body experience.

Fortunately I'd replaced the rope ladder at the base of the route a few days previously (the old one had snapped), and managed to hook an arm on that. I spent about 5 minutes there coughing up blood, then managed to swim and crawl through the tunnel exit to dry land (if the sea had been even a tiny bit rougher the swim through would have been impossible - this was at Cala Sa Nau). I then spent a good couple of hours lying on the rocks intermittently vomiting seawater, and literally every muscle in my body had cramped up to the point where I was struggling to walk for the next 24 hours and couldn't climb for another 4 days. The silver lining was that taking a bunch of enforced rest days meant I felt like a mutant when I went back to finish the route off!

According to medical friends, I was lucky that the lining of my throat was irritated enough by some seawater going into my stomach that it swelled up and sealed off my lungs (so the blood I was coughing up was actually from my throat). That's not something you can count on happening though.

I now don't like DWSing at significant height without a good swimmer and something that floats very nearby, having done my open water lifeguard qualifications I know how hard it is to help someone who is unconscious or semi conscious without some kind of aid! At Cala Barques, with reasonably calm seas, I'd still do stuff in the first cave and the Snatch cave on my own as I'm pretty certain I could belly flop off and just be a bit bruised, the metrosexual cave though I'd avoid as it's a bit higher.

[teestub]

Fucking hell! Thanks for reminding me I have no place deep water soloing!

[csl]

Yep, thats a sobering account. I went to go DWS on my own at Diablo once but fortunately was terrified enough to just do some traversing and go home.

The thing I can't get out of my mind when at somewhere like Lulworth is whether I (or they) would die if I hit an oblivious standup paddle boarder/swimmer/kayaker when falling 10 meters onto their head.

[Paul B]

I remember opening my eyes underwater, not being able to see anything, and not knowing which way was up.

Next thing I remember was being back on the surface but having the distinct feeling that I was watching myself struggling and vaguely feeling that I should be trying harder to stay alive but didn't have any control over my actions - I suspect this is the kind of thing that gets called an out-of-body experience.

***New Fear Unlocked***

That sounds terrifying.

[andy popp]

As others have said, bloody hell!!! Scary stuff. Whether or not cold water shock was involved it's worth saying that acclimatising yourself to cold water really works. If you know you're going earlier in the year when the water's going to be a bit cooler it might worth getting some swimming in before the trip.

[ali k]

Just to reiterate - don’t leave stuff at the top of Diablo if you do go there on your own or there’s not many people around.

I left my bag at the top while I just downclimbed a short way to see how greasy it was while I waited for others to arrive. Max 5 mins. By the time I got back up the bag had been emptied and dumped in the bushes.

[SA Chris]

As others have said, bloody hell!!! Scary stuff. Whether or not cold water shock was involved it's worth saying that acclimatising yourself to cold water really works. If you know you're going earlier in the year when the water's going to be a bit cooler it might worth getting some swimming in before the trip.

On the little I've done (Dorset and up here with a wetsuit) I normally go for a swim in the water first to at least get a feel for, and get used to the cold before doing any actual climbing. A wet wetsuit can be a bit of a pain, but worth it i think.