CURRENTLY ©GALATZÓ

Photography and Writing by ©Inma Zanoguera

GALATZÓ, MALLORCA

“Lightly, tread lightly, hold it all softly”:

It’s the wisdom of the rocks, of hard edges and sharp turns, of their ancient knowledge of how to hold the softer beings of this earth.

Written by ©Inma Zanoguera

The Galatzó summits at 1037m on the northwest of the island of Mallorca, one of the few peaks above 1k from sea level in the Tramuntana mountain range. Anywhere south of it, your gaze is drawn again and again to the top of this mountain, sharper than the rest, contoured more distinctly against the canvas of the sky.

On the drive to the trailhead the day I endeavor to summit Galatzó, I make eye contact. I observe this topographic art piece, sitting majestically serene, as if on a throne, and think:

God willing.

Innumerable routes lead to the top, but I like the one from Es Capdellà because it’s the easiest to access via public transportation. The bus stops on a main road in town. 2k of narrow streets lead to the start of the route, a plot of farmland famously warded by a vast historic finca, or villa (Finca D’es Galatzó), that is now open for hikers to get across on the way to the peak.

This is the long route. It leads first to a smaller mountain in order to connect to the trail at the foot of Galatzó, at which point, 12km into the run, the accumulated vert is already +500m.

There is no cruising on this course—each segment requires its own kind of focus, even the first third where farmland and dirt paths lead gradually to gravel and onto lager, loose rocks and firm boulders.

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©Galatzó, Mallorca

39.6338°N 2.4861°E

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A brief mountain pass after the first 12k places the runner squarely in the middle of a dry wilderness: an invitation, an ever-renewing rite of passage that is also a little breath before the final ascent.

The path gets narrower, less clear; trail markers spread further apart and you realize very quickly that when the grade on a trail surpasses 20%, no wrong way exists as long as you keep going up. On all fours at times, or relying on the strength of your shoulders as they pull you up a near-vertical passage.

I like the reassurance of an out-and-back route: the return will be the same, but it will be different—the right amount of thrill in an already familiar course. And so it goes with this one: after the summit, you double-down into town.

More rocks and with them more reasons to soften up; the mystery of what these uninviting, delicious trails have to show; the ways in which surrendering your stride to their mercy will shape you into the stranger you came here to become—all of this awaits on the descent into town.

I am awed, again and again, by the experience of being held by this mountain. A living thing, a teacher:

“Lightly, tread lightly, hold it all softly”:

It’s the wisdom of the rocks, of hard edges and sharp turns, of their ancient knowledge of how to hold the softer beings of this earth.

Written by ©Inma Zanoguera

*Special thanks to Gabi Nicolau; unmatched in dedication to and love for these mountains.

©Inma Zanoguera
45.9237° N, 6.8694° E

©2025

About ©Inma Zanoguera

Inma Zanoguera is a multi-passionate, eclectic human: once a professional basketball player, she later became a trail/ultrarunner, began modeling, and found a love for writing and storytelling as modes of reciprocal engagement with the larger world.

As a model and as a writer, Inma approaches her work as an artistic and empowering act, discovering herself through the creative process of bringing an image or an idea into existence.

Born in Mallorca, Spain, with roots in the Western Sahara, she now travels between Mallorca and Paris where she works as a model while pursuing her PhD dissertation in the Literary Arts. Inma is happiest running trails in the mountains, covering challenging terrain that pushes her physical, mental, and spiritual limits.