TOP HARDEST CLIMBS IN WADI RUM – June 2016

Rock Empire
Main East Face – Jebel Rum
O.Benes, M.Rosecly, T.Sobotka –  8 to 11/11/2005.
8 pitches for 300m to connect with Raid mit the Camel (ED+), 450m to The East Dome summit.
* Czech Xb or 7c+/8a or US. 5.13b (7b oblig.), ABO. Mixed trad-sport climb.
Afternoon shade.
FFA by the same team on 17/11/2005, in less than 7 hours (2h45 down by abseiling).
First on-sight ascent of the crux pitches by John Arran in winter 2007.
First hardest-extreme climb in Wadi Rum. “Czech style” means…not a bolt ladder ! Quite committing and not always on best rock…

Towering Inferno (remember that movie ?)
Main East Face – Jebel Rum
“It was burning hot the day of that first ascent…”
W.Colonna & T.Howard – 13/10/1986.
FFA – Anne & John Arran – 21/12/2007
450m to the East Dome summit – 12 to 13 pitches – 7a+/7b (E6 6a) or 6b & A2. Trad climb.
From ED- to ED+ for the free version. Afternoon shade.
280 m if climbed to the « 4th floor » only. Afternoon shade.UK grading – E6 6a – says it all ! Sometimes very small pro pieces… Excellent climbing in best Wadi Rum sandstone.
John Arran is a leading top climber – creator and repeater of respected… “high balls” !

L’Arche perdue (The Lost Ark)
Upper Wadi S’bach – Jebel Rum North Flank.
P.Jammeron & A.Vildard – Nov 2003.
300 m – 10 pitches – 7b oblig. on trad pro (ED+/ABO-).
All day in the shade, except for the early morning.
* Selected here for that unique crux-pitch which is very committing – plain 7b has to be climbed high above a single pro. piece. The rest of the route is not harder than 6b/c…
Strong parties have already turned back …

55 Steps to Hell
Jebel Nassraniya Es-sid (*), South Face (Jebel Rum – North end).
K.Albert, B.Arnold & E.Dozekal – March 2002.
300 m – 9 pitches – 7b. Sustained in the 6c/7a+ range. Mixed trad-sport route with 23 bolts in place. A full rack is needed.
Exposed to the sun nearly all day.
The authors’ names – true legends of the modern climbing history – and the announced grades leave no doubt on the level of the climb.
Very nice and good rock throughout, according to the few repeaters.
(*) Not to be confused with the famous namesakes Nassraniya Towers of Jebel Um Ishrin.

Glory
Jebel Kharazeh West Side – South Facing Shield (Um Ishrin range)
A.Malachi, O.Blutrich, O.Nogradi, N.Richman, S.Nisim.
FFA by Ofer Blutrich on 03.11.2012.
120 m – 5 pitches – 8a/8a+ max. Morning shade only.
Already downgraded to 7c+/8a by repeaters…
Nevertheless, an excellent fully bolted route (12 clips, that’s it !) on perfect local rock.

Au Grès du Vent (or “The Children of Don Quichotte”)
North Nassraniya Tower, West Face (Um Ishrin range)
A.Guillaume & Christian Ravier – 04 to 07/12/2006.
FFA – Nicolas Kalisz with Gilles Rappeneau – 26/11/2007.
640 m – 7b or 6c/A1 (ED+/ABO-).
Not only one of the longest climb in Wadi Rum, but also a real rock saga which requires high level of local climbing experience. Just great, if not technically the hardest, but very sustained in 6b/6c. Definitely a World Classic !
Tad protected with very few bolts (13) and pegs (9) in situ. The beautiful drawn topo gives you the taste !
These strong french climbers have been long time Valley regulars, well known for the quality of the routes they’ve done in various places.

L’Âme est amorphe, ose ! (The soul is amorphous, dare !)
Draif al Muragh, West Face – Um Ishrin range, South End.
D.Jeandenand & A.Petit – 26/11/1998.
5 pitches for 200 m to connect with Never say Never (ED+), 300 m to the summit. 7b+/7c (7a oblig). ABO-. Mixed trad-sport climb.
Shade until mid-afternoon.
A serious choice, not always in best rock, but definitely ranked in the hardest stuff of the valley… Arnaud Petit (*) – leading top climber – is able to do nearly everything in terms of style, commitment and difficulty.
(*) He is the one who transformed an extreme bolted sport-climb – Black Bean, 8b, in Ceüse France – in a super exposed trad. test-piece, but also team member of the world famous sport-climb route, “La Guerre Sainte” (see next).

1 – La Guerre Sainte – Jihad ! 
North Nassraniya Tower, E.S.E Face (Um Ishrin range)
G.Abert, P.Batoux, H.Bouvard, A.Hod, A.Petit & B.Robert – 11 to 15/11/2000.
400 m – 12 pitches – 7a+/7b (6c oblig.). Fully bolted (glue-in) sport-climb. Afternoon shade only…
THE famous world classic of Wadi Rum – despite the sport-climb style, miles away from the essence of local trad climbing !
Once the hardest climb (beside “Raid mit the Camel” on the Main East Face of Jebel Rum) – technically speaking – of all the massif.
The ascent of the headwall remains one of the most outstanding climbing experience you can get on steep sandstone throughout the universe…
And spot the names of the authors – a Dream Team !

2 – Sandy Silence
North Nassraniya Tower, E.S.E Face (Um Ishrin range)
M.Dorfleitner & F.Friedert – 03/01/2006.
400 m – 9 pitches – 7c (6c/A0). Sparse bolting for this not so pure sport climb (13 QD. and many slings). Serious alpine-like character because of the exposure and the poor quality of the rock in some places as well.
Late afternoon shade only.
Not much is known about this route. But undeniably it’s up the headwall again that the whole adventure gains in intensity… The authors recommend to be… mentally trained !

3 – Dar al Salam
North Nassraniya Tower, E.S.E Face (Um Ishrin range)
A.Black, B.Firth, H.Wirtz, C.Kalous & J.Gamolovskij  – March 2007.
400 m – 8 pitches – 8a. Fully bolted (18 QD.), but needs few cams for P3 & numerous slings. Late afternoon shade only.
At the opposite of the previous route, this sport-climb is very well protected and follows an elegant line on best dark sandstone.
Consistently undergraded in the original topo release, it nevertheless delivers one of the very best hard pitch of Wadi Rum (8a), high above the desert floor – never done onsight until now, nearly 10 years later…

Tira il Diavolo per la Coda (Pull Devil’s Tale)
Jebel Barrah North – West Side/Um Ishrin
L.Lanfranchi, M.Mase, S.Pedeferri, M.Vago – 20 to 22/03/2011.
400 m – 12 pitches – 7c. That 7c crux-pitch – fully bolted – is the start of the climb. You may warm-up on other routes just around…
Otherwise trad. pro with at least four sets of cams, down to micro-Friends. Morning shade.
A fairly long and athletic route, along an obvious crack system, starting on a blank wall sector, not far from the “Slovenian Cave” in Wadi Um Ishrin.
An excellent creation of the “Lecco Ragni“(Spiders of Lecco – Italy).

Al Uzzâ (name of a Nabatean Goddess)
Jebel Khazali, West Face.
W.Colonna, D.Condevaux & B.Domenech – ????
350 m – 11 pitches – 7c with only one aid point (*), or at least 6c+/A1 with 2-3 aid points + A0 swinging along the traverse pitch…
Trad. pro., except for some belays and the fully bolted traverse on
pitch 7. Morning shade.
This natural crack-line looks just magic ! The climbing is sustained and requires good physical shape.
(*) Finest effort so far to reduce aid points – down to one – by the world-class top climbers Edu Marin and Marcos Jubes in november 2013.

More hard routes:
– Kicia
Sicq Barrah, West side canyon  – South facing.
D.Kaszlikowski & E.Kubarska – 25/04/2008.
130 m – 6 pitches – 7c.. Fully bolted sport-climb (13 clips).

– From Sand to Rock
Arab al Antar – North Summit, East Face (Southern area).
B.Arnold & E.Dozekal – 03 to 05/12/2009.
120 m – 5 pitches – 7b. Fully bolted sport-climb (10 clips, handful of small wires in option + kevlar slings).
Excellent rock, except for the first few meters at the start.

* Hardest single pitch : Wadirumela – 45 m – 8b+, by Klemen Becan in 2014, on the South Slab of Jebel Um Razza. (Southern area).