{"id":9581,"date":"2024-12-11T11:34:32","date_gmt":"2024-12-11T11:34:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sierracazorlaturismo.com\/mountain-bowling\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T12:54:03","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T12:54:03","slug":"mountain-bowling","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sierracazorlaturismo.com\/en\/mountain-bowling\/","title":{"rendered":"Mountain Bowling"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The game of bowling is one of the oldest mountain traditions that are still alive. It currently represents one of the main hallmarks of the popular culture of these mountains, an unequivocal example of the two factors that justify the rich ethnography that is preserved in these regions. On the one hand, the diversity of this type of manifestation is given by a historical past, characterized by the different colonizations that, coming from different parts of Spain, took place, above all, after the Reconquest. <\/p>

The game of bowling that has come down to us in these mountains, transmitted from father to son over generations, is the result of an evolutionary process over the centuries, which have modified a large part of the rules and casts of the “birlos”, a primitive game of medieval origin from which most of the modalities that exist in Europe derive.<\/p>

Modalities<\/strong><\/h2>

Apart from certain local and regional peculiarities, mountain bowling is played in two different ways:<\/p>

  1. Valle or Tres Mingos Modality.<\/em><\/strong> It is the oldest variant, and preserves some of the primitive bowling casts, such as the action of “birlar” or “bilrrar”. It is played with three mingos (bowls) and is a mixed game of knockdown (bowling) and advance (passing). The distance at which it is thrown is 3 meters (benjamines and fry), 5 meters (ladies, veterans and children) or 8 meters (from male cadets). <\/li>
  2. Mountain or Mingo Modality.<\/em><\/strong> It is a game of pure passabolo (advance), since the only objective of the throw is to move the ball as far away as possible after the impact with the ball. It is a derivation, by simplification of rules, of the previous modality, played with a single mingo, without birle. The shooting distance is also shorter than in the valley modality, with the mingo being between 3.5 and 5 meters from the shooting line. <\/li><\/ol>

    <\/p>

    The pitch.<\/h2>

    It is a sport that is practiced outdoors. Traditionally, bowling alleys or “boleas” have been located in more or less flat places or with an upward slope. Ideally, they should be located on terrain free of obstacles, of variable dimensions (between 50-100 meters long by 4-20 meters wide), ensuring that the Running Zone and the Plank Zone are flat. <\/p>

    <\/p>

    The mountain bowling alley consists of three areas<\/strong>:<\/p>

    1. Running Zone or Roll.<\/em><\/strong> It is an area with a firm, compact and non-slip floor, where the player runs to execute the throw of the ball, finished off in a line, called the line or shooting line. It must have a minimum length for the race of 8-10 meters. <\/li>
    2. El Tabl\u00f3n. <\/em><\/strong>It is the place where the pins or “mingos” are placed. It is usually a buried wooden plank, with the top surface at ground level. In recent decades, the surface of the plank has often been covered with a sheet metal, to prevent wear and tear on the wood. <\/li>
    3. Striped area. <\/em><\/strong>It is the largest field of the bowling alley and is the place where balls and mingos roll after the throw. The field is sectioned by a series of transverse lines that indicate the value of the move, which goes from ten pins to ten. The stripes are placed between 4 and 6 meters apart, and are marked on the ground by ropes, strokes or plaster. The first line, which is called the “line of ten” or “line of sheep”, is usually placed at twice the distance between the line of fire and the first main line. <\/li><\/ol>

      <\/p>

      Playing equipment<\/h2>

      As for the necessary playing equipment, a distinction must be made between the ball and the bowling or mingos:<\/p>

      Ball:<\/em><\/strong> solid dial, which has traditionally been made of hardwood, holm oak (Quercus ilex) and juniper (Juniperus oxycedrus). In the last thirty years, wood has been replaced by plastic material (Teflon), which is much more durable and resistant. The balls have dimensions of 17 to 23 cm. in diameter and weigh between 2 and 7 Kg. It has a handle with two cavities, which allows it to be gripped tightly and is called “wire fence” or “wire fence”. <\/p>

      Mingos: <\/em><\/strong>the bowling pins receive this name and are made of wood (valley) or Teflon (mountain). They are shaped like a more or less elongated egg, and measure from 11 to 17 cm. high, by 7 to 12 cm. in diameter. <\/p>

      <\/p>

      Basic rules of the game<\/h2>

      To understand the mechanics of the game, it is necessary to know the following concepts and issues:<\/p>

      Hand throw: consists of throwing the ball, after a brief but intense run, from the “running area” or “throw”, in order to move the single (mountain mode) or the main one (valley mode) as far as possible from its initial position (plank), trying in the latter mode to knock down the other two in order to increase the value of the move. The value of the move is determined by the furthest line that has been crossed by the main mingo (10,20,30, …). If, after being knocked down, the mingo does not manage to exceed the first line (line of “borre” or ten), the value is 3 pins in “mountain” and 4 in “valley”, where knocking down the second mingo is worth 2 pins and the third 1, regardless of where each of them is after the impact. <\/p>

      Birle or bilrre:<\/em><\/strong> in the valley mode, it is the game throw that, once the mingos are placed in their original position, they are tried to knock them down by throwing the ball, in the opposite direction of the hand throw, from the line of “borre” or ten. Each knocked down game awards 2 pins to the player who “steals”. <\/p>

      Spread:<\/em><\/strong> It is the result of the sum of the pins achieved in the hand and in the birle, if any.<\/p>

      Erase:<\/em><\/strong> when the roll is cancelled for inflicting the rules, it is called erase. It is erase when the ball does not exceed the line of ten in the mountain mode and when neither the main mingo nor the ball exceeds that line, in the valley mode. <\/p>

      Charge:<\/em><\/strong> it is the sum of the rolls of each of the components of a team in each round of throws.<\/p>

      Matches:<\/em><\/strong> although in contests and bets you can compete by throwing a certain number of balls (“running” pins), the usual system of game development is the match. Matches can be played between two players, two pairs or two teams, usually made up of four players. After the draw that decides which team starts playing, each member of the team makes a round by batch. The pins achieved (charge) by the first team (A), are the reference for the load that the team that shoots in second place (B) must achieve. If Team A’s load is not exceeded by Team B, Team A scores a “streak” in the score. If, on the other hand, Team A’s charge is exceeded by at least 1 pin by Team B, the latter scores the “dash”. In the first round, in case of a tie in the loads, neither team scores the line, starting the game again. Subsequently, the draw is no longer contemplated, and in case of equal loads, the line is for the team that scored the last one played. When a team scores 6 runs, they get 1 “tip”. Traditionally, matches have been played in the best of 3 points, that is, the team that wins two points, with 6 stripes each, wins. It is also common to reduce the matches to 1 single point of 8 or 10 stripes. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      The game of bowling is one of the oldest mountain traditions that are still alive. It currently represents one of the main hallmarks of the popular culture of these mountains, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9610,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"0","ocean_second_sidebar":"0","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"0","ocean_custom_header_template":"0","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"0","osh_disable_topbar_sticky":"default","osh_disable_header_sticky":"default","osh_sticky_header_style":"default","osh_sticky_header_effect":"","osh_custom_sticky_logo":0,"osh_custom_retina_sticky_logo":0,"osh_custom_sticky_logo_height":0,"osh_background_color":"","osh_links_color":"","osh_links_hover_color":"","osh_links_active_color":"","osh_links_bg_color":"","osh_links_hover_bg_color":"","osh_links_active_bg_color":"","osh_menu_social_links_color":"","osh_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-9581","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sierracazorlaturismo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sierracazorlaturismo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sierracazorlaturismo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierracazorlaturismo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierracazorlaturismo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9581"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sierracazorlaturismo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9581\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9621,"href":"https:\/\/sierracazorlaturismo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9581\/revisions\/9621"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierracazorlaturismo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sierracazorlaturismo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}