First time on Mallorca and it’s a tad scorchio, so we’re going to kick off with an easy 2 point summit near our hotel in Port de Pollença. There’s easy parking for EA6/MA-048 just behind the little tunnel on the Formentor road but you need to bear in mind that non-authorised motor traffic is prohibited up here between the hours of 10:00 and 22:00.
Ascent
We picked up the trail just below our parking spot and crossed over the top of the tunnel towards the summit. There was no clear path in evidence though to be fair sunrise was still more than 2 hours away so things may have looked different by then. Our gentle scramble flattened out after a while and some ‘stone men’ were spotted marking what could have been an official trail.
Summit
Securing our pole to the trig point via some cam lock straps was easy, and my new Spooltenna took mere minutes to deploy. Plenty of areas to sit and try different antenna combinations, but the bands were very poor and I couldn’t see much difference between inverted V and sloper.
Contacts
| Time | Callsign | Band | Mode |
|---|---|---|---|
| 04:35 | 5B4VL | 14MHz | SSB |
| 05:20 | RX6AM | 14MHz | SSB |
| 05:24 | R6DWH | 14MHz | SSB |
| 05:32 | DC6ST | 7MHz | SSB |
| 05:40 | ON7ZM | 7MHz | SSB |
| 05:42 | IU5CJP | 7MHz | SSB |
| 05:44 | HB9HXJ | 7MHz | SSB |
| 05:45 | HB9EVF | 7MHz | SSB |
| 05:47 | SQ9CWO | 7MHz | SSB |
| 05:53 | EW8ADX/6 | 14MHz | SSB |
We heard several VK and ZL in addition to a station from Malawi, but I wasn’t able to get any decent contacts on 20m until I put a spot out thanks to good mobile signal at the peak from Movistar. 40m was practically dead at the start but opened up a little around 05:30Z and I was able to get that magic fourth contact from DC6ST to activate the peak. Highlight of the day was giving Tabea HB9HXJ a complete, meaning that she’d both worked and activated this summit herself.
Descent
As is sometimes the case we were able to find a better way down than the one we had used to get up, this time by following the donkey track down via a series of zig-zags, eventually popping us out on the road about a quarter mile on from the parking spot. Wish I’d taken this route earlier but for some reason we’re averse to walking along a dark road and always want to get into the good stuff as soon as possible.
Summary
Overall a nice activation despite poor propagation, with easy access to the summit and good parking. Being back in time for breakfast is also a bonus.