Capo Caccia (Alghero) · Sardinia · Italy
Read the cautionsCommittingBolting confidence: medium
The easiest line on the Capo Caccia sea cliff: six pitches of 4b to 4c on pocketed, sharply sculpted limestone above the open sea. You abseil in from the top and climb out. The first two pitches are vegetated; the climbing proper starts on the pitch 3 slab.
Well bolted by recent accounts, but it is an abseil-in sea cliff route with 2007 hardware, no published pitch lengths and a crag-wide corrosion warning.
The route
Powaqqatsi is the easiest of the bolted multipitch routes that Corrado Conca equipped on the north-facing sea cliff of Capo Caccia, west of Alghero. It gives six pitches at an even 4b to 4c, apart from an easier second pitch, on rock that parties describe as shark-tooth sharp. Like every route here it is reached by abseiling from the cliff top, so the climb is also your way out. Published detail is thin: neither source gives pitch lengths or bolt counts.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| P1 | 4b/c | Vegetated start. Camptocamp gives pitches 1 and 3 to 6 as an even 4b to 4c; Climbing Italy lists them simply as 4. |
| P2 | 3a | The easy pitch, and the most vegetated. Pitches 1 and 2 together are about 50 m, going by the 2018 party's single 50 m abseil past them. |
| P3 | 4b/c | A good slab where the route really starts; the 2018 party found it not so easy for the grade. |
| P4 | 4b/c | Sculpted, pocketed rock; a 2022 party called this pitch perfect. |
| P5 | 4b/c | No description published. A 2021 party did not find the last two belays and finished up the route to the left. |
| P6 | 4b/c | No description published. Finishes at the cliff top. |
Getting there
Capo Caccia is the headland west of Alghero in north-west Sardinia. Climbing Italy gives a 5 minute approach from the parking to the cliff top; the sources read do not describe the road or the parking in more detail.
About 5 minutes to the cliff top (Climbing Italy). The abseil line starts from a chained station that is clearly visible from the top of the cliff. A 2018 party abseiled in four stages using every belay and then made a single 50 m abseil past the first two pitches; follow the chained stations. No source says how high above the water the route starts.
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Point from camptocamp waypoint 674083
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: 40.57424, 8.15914 (crag)
Getting down
The route ends at the top of the cliff, a few minutes from the parking. Getting to the start is the abseil part of the day.
Retreat
Committing
You abseil in from the top, so retreat means climbing out. Abseiling back down from part-way only returns you to the start above the sea, and no source describes an exit along the base. The climbing is easy and the belays are chained, so pulling on bolts to finish is the practical fallback.
Partly inferred from the route facts
Safety
Sun and weather
North facing sea cliff. Climbing Italy marks the crag as getting sun in the afternoon, sheltered from the scirocco and climbable all year. Trip reports are from April to November.
Sun on the wall · N-facing
Working out the sunlit hours for this month.
Sun on the wallDaylight, wall in shade● Usual season
Estimated from the wall's aspect only. Ignores surrounding terrain, gullies and the wall's exact shape. Clock times are local to the wall (Central European time), for the 15th of each month.
Climate figures for Sardinia are not available yet
What to carry
Two ropes for the abseil approach (a 2018 party made a 50 m abseil; a 2022 party used double ropes). The number of quickdraws is not published. Helmet.
Derived from the route data; check it against a current topo
From climbers
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 Powaqqatsi.
Worth knowing
Open questions
Provenance
Same area
Italy · Sardinia
An airy, mostly left-rising traverse that spirals round the Pedra Longa sea stack to its summit, on water-runnelled grey walls and pocketed white rock right above the sea. It has become one of the most popular routes in Sardinia, so expect queues.
6a+7 pitches190 m
Committing
Italy · Sardinia
This is the easiest way to the top of Sardinia's iconic 140 m pinnacle above Cala Goloritzè. Short technical bulges and walls lead to a fine slab finish, and the harder overhangs can be aided. Gulliver splits it into 4 pitches; camptocamp gives 5. Check seasonal access rules for Cala Goloritzè before going.
6b5 pitches150 m
Read the cautions
Italy · Sardinia
A short but superb sea-cliff route on beautifully sculpted limestone in an incredible setting near Pan di Zucchero. Corners and an airy pillar lead to a steep, rounded 6a wall. Camptocamp rates it 'great'.
6a4 pitches120 m
Italy · Sardinia
An easy and popular line on the big amphitheatre above Cala Gonone: three 4c pitches of juggy steps and easy-angled slabs, a short walk left through bushes, then a 35 m wall of heavily sculpted rock at 5a. Expect queues.
5a4 pitches120 m
Around 4c · about 6 pitches
France · Calanques
An oddity: easy slabs and a long water-worn runnel up a dome of puddingstone above the sea, reached by abseiling into a cove from the Mugel park. The climbing is grade 3 and 4 on surprisingly solid pebbles. It was fully rebolted in 2024 and is a popular first multipitch.
4c6 pitches220 m
Spain · Western Aragonese Pyrenees (Lizara)
Six pitches of easy limestone slab up the great folded stratum above the Lizara refuge, parallel to the unbolted Chimenea del Estrato. Friction and small edges at 4b to 4c, with runnels on the upper pitches, in a high pasture setting. A mountain day at a beginner's grade, with an hour's walk in.
4c6 pitches185 m
Italy · Aosta Valley
A six-pitch arete of well-featured gneiss that is steeper than the grade suggests, with two short bolted traverses. Recent parties recommend it as a first multipitch: good rock, close bolts and a quick path down.
4c6 pitches225 m
Austria · Salzkammergut
Five easy pitches up an edge above the Wolfgangsee, mostly UIAA 4 with a few moves of 5-. A slab low down and an exposed step across a cleft on pitch 4 are the memorable bits. A popular first multipitch.
4c5 pitches150 m
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.