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The Climbing
The Wadi Rum is famous for its big sandstone rock architecture, giving everything from multi-pitch crack climbs to long scrambling routes following ancient Bedouin trails deep into the massif.
Such a vast desert landscape packed with sandstone towers makes for a really diverse climbers’ playground, with grades from easy but adventurous to steeper, harder face climbs. The rock often provides features around the cracks making them user friendly, meaning that we can sample big rock features at an amenable grade
The majority of routes are trad climbs, making it a great place to develop skills or to progress from the smaller scale crags found in the UK to bigger adventure routes.
The Place
Located in Jordan, a country known for its hospitality and as an island of stability in the middle east, the Wadi Rum is a wonderful combination of wild desert and welcoming people.
The scale of the place becomes apparent as we climb higher onto the domes, with sand and rock stretching far into the distance. A sense of wilderness combines with a feeling of deep history, as we follow ancient Bedouin trails which led hunters through the rocky mountains for untold generations.
As would be expected in a desert, the weather is consistently warm and dry, making for the perfect escape from the European winter for climbers wanting to feel the sun on their skin.
The Trip
Our trip starts at the small international airport in Aqaba, served by regular flights from many British and European cities. We will make the hour long drive to the village of Wadi Rum, before settling in to our accommodation and checking gear in preparation for the week ahead.
We stay at the simple climber’s hostel run by our friendly host, Hamdan. The welcome is always warm, with the kitchens serving traditional Jordanian dishes to a dining room full of hungry climbers each evening.
The following six days will be spent exploring the climbing in the surrounding massif.
We have the option to take a rest day to visit the ancient rock-hewn archaeological site at Petra. A two hour drive away, the UNESCO world heritage site is a highlight for many visitors to Jordan. If desired, we will organise a local taxi with our host to visit the ruins.
On our final day we will drive back to Aqaba. If time permits around flights we will visit the large market in town and enjoy a final meal.