Deep-water soloing

DWS is therefore considered safer than normal free solo climbing, however, DWS brings several unique additional risks including trauma from uncontrolled high-speed water entry, injury from hitting hazards above and below the water while falling, and drowning in rough or tidal seas, and is thus considered riskier than normal bouldering.

DWS came to worldwide attention with Chris Sharma's 2006 ascent of the sea arch of Es Pontàs, which at 5.15a (9a+) was one of the hardest climbing routes in the world.

Several locations that meet most of the above criteria have become particularly attractive for DWS:[2] Deep-water soloing has its roots in Mallorca 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.

Riera and his companions named it "psicobloc" (translated into English, means "Psycho Bouldering"),[12][11] and published articles and photographs in climbing magazines on their activities.

[11] Britain's southern coast saw new DWS routes from the Cook brothers, Mike Robertson, Steve Taylor, and Pete Oxley.

[11] In 1996, the British Climbers' Club, published Into the Blue: A guide to Deep Water Soloing in Dorset, the first-ever DWS guidebook in the world, and proposed an evolved S-grading system and climbing style to Britain.

[11] 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.

[11] DWS became more mainstream and globally recognized 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.

[11] There have been numerous competitions held in DWS, the most notable of which is the "Psicobloc Masters Series" that began in 2011 in Bilbao, Spain organized by Spanish climber Finuco Martinez.