I have just added a slightly facetious FAQ page for the UAE guidebook. Apart from the last two, these are all questions I regularly receive, in some cases a few times a month. Please let me know if I am have missed out an important topic.
Under-12 ≠ 13
December 20th, 2011The climbing scene in the UAE feels pretty dysfunctional these days, or at least in a state of uncertain flux. Depressing though I sometimes find this, it’s reassuring to be reminded that organised sport can sometimes be no better.
Last Saturday – during prime climbing conditions – I devoted a day to supporting my eldest son through Abu Dhabi’s first ever street-football tournament. This is a fast-paced 2-a-side version of the game played on small walled-in pitches. It’s pretty entertaining. Son #1 is a talented and tenacious footballer and had teamed up with his similarly-strong best friend for the event. Combined they thought they had a decent chance of winning the U12 competition, which offered 1000 dirham prize money as well as a cup, even though there were more than twenty teams in contention. They sailed through their group stage, with a 40+ goal advantage. However whilst waiting for other groups to complete they spotted another team in action with two obviously larger and older kids, one of whom they knew to be definitely 13 or older. Reluctantly I decided to highlight this to the organisers, not least as there seemed to be many children upset about it. The organisers insisted they’d investigate. My son also confronted the over-age boy who admitted his age and that he’d lied when registering for the event. It was so obviously uncontentious that the offending team should be disqualified that I thought nothing more about it. Amongst numerous factors, there were several teams of thirteen year olds competing bravely in next age bracket – U17 – for whom the unfairness of someone of their age being able to compete in a younger bracket would be massive.
The quarter-finals passed easily for my son and his friend. However I was shocked to discover that they were drawn against the over-age team, who apparently hadn’t been disqualified, in the semi-final. The kids asked me what to do: whether to raise the issue immediately or try to win. I suggested the latter. They drew 1:1 in the match time then were forced into a sudden-death play-off. The ball was kicked out of the match area and the referee suggested throwing in one from a spectator to save time. This was done, my son’s friend scored and that should have been that. However the referee changed his mind and disallowed the goal. The over-age team got the next one and were deemed to have “won”. My son and his friend went straight to the organisers to contest their knock-out. After hearing a pompous and illogical public statement as to why the over-age team hadn’t been thrown out and why the referee’s bizarre decision in the offending game had to be honoured, they left in tears. Of all the aspects of this I found most distasteful, it was a brief conversation with the parents of one of the over-aged players, who saw no shame in their child’s dishonesty. The event was led by an outfit called Street Kings but the bulk of the administration delivered by Manchester United Soccer School in Abu Dhabi, who would appear to condone lying and cheating as a path to sporting success.
The next day I had the day off to climb and performed very poorly, perhaps due to tension from the previous day. However any competition was between I and the rock. The rock always plays fair and we never have anyone to blame but ourselves.
9a Mike
December 4th, 2011
A very strong french climber, Michael Fuselier, visited the UAE for a few days last week, hosted by a Dubai rope access gear distributor. As I understand it from various sources, he spent a couple of half days outside, which proceeded as follows: a drive up Wadi Shahah, but no climbing as there was “no potential over 6a”; a visit to Taiwiyan, where – in a time-honoured display of gallic superiority – he warmed up on Office Clerk in trainers then made an onsight ascent (the first, AFAIK) of Echo Beach, stopping at the crux to spark up a Gitane (*), then downgraded it to F6c. Splendid stuff.
Less splendidly, he then jumped on my unclimbed but bolted project there (the Caracal Tree extension). I’d specifically requested to three separate people who were there that the project’s “closed” status be honoured, so was not initially delighted to hear about this. However I have learnt that he just checked it out bolt-to-bolt rather than made a clean lead. After some prodding on Facebook, he also gave me a detailed opinion on the possible grade, for which I am grateful.
Observing the original equipper’s rights over a project is a much-debated topic around the climbing world, but the consensus is pretty clear: they are closed unless the equipper decides otherwise or the passage of time has become absurd. In this region that principle has been observed scrupulously over the time I have been here. For example, the cool-looking “Gutter” project on Wonderwall’s Central Wall has remained closed for 4-5 years. I have no intention of insisting on that for the CTE but one more inviolate season would be nice. Non-bolters may wonder what all the fuss is about. Rather than bang on with my opinion I’ll just highlight that Rock and Ice’s Jeff Jackson says it better here than I could. Worth a read.
One other note: overall the entertainment of Monsieur Fuselier could have been much better handled if his (non-climber) host had consulted more widely. At the moment, there is little in the UAE guidebook area to interest anyone operating at that standard. In fact, there may never be, as the rock rarely seems to erode into the sort of long/ steep/ clean features that lend themselves to F8 routes or above. For future reference, I do know of one interesting project that a cutting-edge climber could be pointed at, but someone would need to spend some significant time cleaning and bolting it first. Otherwise I’d say bouldering or DWSing could be more fruitful. For example, a repeat of Partheon Slots could have generated lots of spectacular photos for Mike to take home to his sponsors.
* actually I made that part up, but it would it be nice to think it were true.
Second ascent of Exit Surprise
November 21st, 2011Last Friday Aiden Laffey and Philippe Delaunay made the probable second ascent of Exit Surprise on Shady Circus cliff in Wadi Ghalilah. Superficially climbing a six pitch E2 may not seem very remarkable but this route’s reputation has been rising after multiple abandoned attempts. Aiden had retreated off it four times previously: twice with Gen Boni, once with Andy LaBonte (Andy got offroute beyond the 4th pitch crux traverse and took a long fall on to old pitons), and once with Philippe (having solved the crux traverse they realised they needed larger cams for the 5th pitch).
Current thinking is that the first ascentionist Antoine Fabre probably used some aid on the traverse and so far it hasn’t been possible to climb it 100% free.
Philippe at the exposed stance before the crux traverse
The 5th pitch was found to be climbable in line with the guidebook description, though apparently the “Surprise” exit hole at the top of the pitch is quite tight and intimidating to reach.
Aiden at the steep move on pitch 5 before the chimney leading to the exit hole
With hindsight it would have been better to qualify some of the long trad routes described in full in the guidebook with a symbol to indicate that the the first ascentionists’ description had not yet been checked. Some UK guides use a dagger mark for that purpose. Something to consider if there is ever any momentum for a second edition. At least the book gives Exit Surprise E2 rather than the E1 in the previous PDF guide! And the three star quality rating seems to be correct.
Both photos © Aiden Laffey
Musandam in the UK climbing magazines
September 9th, 2011Neil Gresham had an article about the April DWS tour published in the August edition of “Climber“. Amongst the routes mentioned he described “Parthian Slots” F8a as “worth a trip to Oman in itself”. He also described Gen’s Cave as an “exceptional crag”. Summing up he wrote:
Similarly Mike Robertson wrote about his Musandam experience in the September edition of “Climb“. The article, “The Aquatic Art”, is more ambitious in scope than Neil’s, putting the recent trip in the context of two decades of his DWS exploration to exotic places. Mike focused especially on the wildness and natural beauty of the “stunning” peninsula.
2010/2011 season wrap
July 3rd, 2011Shockingly a whole year has passed since I wrote the 2009/2010 report. But as I brought things up to date in January, there’s not a huge amount to add. As last year, in chapter order:
KHASAB
Still neglected AFAIK.
BEYOND RAK
Pete Thompson went back to his Stairway Headwall route with Pete Myers in February and made a one-day ascent. The route is now called Black Dog.
RAK INLAND
John Gregory has been cleaning and climbing new routes at Transition, another area in Wadi Shahah. No details available yet. Apparently Ralph Heath and friends have also been developing routes elsewhere in Wadi Shahah. No details available.
WADI BIH
Very neglected. More reports of people failing to gain access even using the Dibba approach.
SOUTHERN SLOPE
Lots of action at Tawiyan, both new routes and repeats, all noted in a February blog post.
DIBBA INLAND
Gordon Rech and friends have added more new stuff at The Narrows and also have a secret hard project on the go elsewhere in Wadi Khab Shamis. Matt Pfeifer completed the excellent slopey steep project at the Strip Club at about F7b, after quite a lot of effort. No name forthcoming so far. I made the second ascent in April.
DIBBA COAST
The main excitement was the strong Brit/ Canuck team visiting in April, about which I have already written extensively and added an update guide. A few new routes have been added since their visit, notably at The Salt Mine, by Matt Pfeifer, Jose Molina and I.
CENTRAL
At Hatta I climbed the trad crack project near Open Wide and Say Ahh in February.
AL AIN
Theo Giani has been bolting new stuff at NPZ. No details yet.
The Red Armada Publishing Ascent of the Season should probably go to Read Macadam for his first ascent of Parthian Slots F8a on the Dibba Coast, especially given the sponsored-heros snapping at his heels. But Matt Pfeifer deserves an honourable mention for his rapid progress through the grades within 18 months of starting to climb: two F7b+ redpoints and an F7b new route. Similarly Maddy Stocks has reached F6c within less than a year.
If anyone knows of anything significant I have missed, please let me know.
Barun Wall topo
June 8th, 2011I just stumbled over a very detailed updated topo for Barun Wall, assembled by the team who did the second ascent in January, which I mentioned in an earlier post. It claims Barun Wall (600m) is the second longest route in the UAE and the longest continuous route – sounds correct to me.
the DWS update
May 31st, 2011
Finally! This eleven page update to the book’s Dibba Coast chapter contains more than eighty new DWS routes … some probably the best you’ll do in the region of any climbing style (a recommendations list is included). The link can also be found at the updates page. It’s around 12Mb, so be patient if your internet connection is slow.
a Lebanon trip report
May 30th, 2011The hills rising up from Lebanon’s Mediterranean coast are the last gasp of the giant arc of limestone that starts in southern Spain and runs almost continuously eastwards through Catalunya, southern France, Italy, Croatia, Greece and Turkey. Unsurprisingly there are plenty of cliffs there. Given the large number of direct flights between Beirut and the UAE, the relatively short flight time and the much cooler climate, I was intrigued as to whether Lebanon is a worthwhile climbing destination. I spent a weekend there, receiving all sorts of generous assistance from contacts I had been passed by Mike Olver, who recently relocated from Dubai to Beirut. I was taken to Harrissa Tannourine, high up on Mount Lebanon near the ski slopes, and Beirut River cliff, within Beirut itself.
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| residual snow patches on Mt Lebanon above Tannourine |
Unlike the UAE, the climbing scene in Lebanon is not dominated by expats, though most of the new routes (predominantly bolted) have been the work of expats or visitors. For example, Harrissa Tannourine, currently the country’s most extensive cliff, was originally developed by visiting French climbers. Last year, Alex Chabot, a world-cup-winning Frenchman (is there any other kind?) passed through on a tour of the Middle East, adding routes up to 8b, which were documented in the March 2011 issue of Grimper. My hosts Marcin Pius and John Redwine were responsible for the Beirut River cliff development and also recently put up The Gold Mine, a 200m route, with a 7a crux pitch, in the Tannourine gorge. Like the UAE, Lebanon has some “Not in Kansas any more” characteristics; John and Marcin had to avoid a summit minefield left over from the civil war whilst equipping their route.
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| Beirut River cliff |
Is it worth visiting Lebanon from the UAE to climb? My tentative conclusion is “yes”. The cliffs and environment reminded me of other Mediterranean climbing areas, especially parts of Italy. But unlike Italy you can be there in three hours from Dubai or Abu Dhabi and there are at least ten flights a day (counting Etihad, Emirates and Fly Dubai). And most of the climbing is at high-altitude, so it’s a summer destination. As I was looked after throughout, I can’t describe precisely how hard it would be to rent cars and find the cliffs independently, but it looked fairly OK. Probably the biggest negative at the moment is the lack of climbing information. The website ClimbingLebanon has a forum, some access descriptions for cliffs and a few route descriptions but there’s nothing comprehensive in the public domain. Local climbers do have some topos.
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| Not the fabled Beirut nightlife |
Overall I’d guess it would suit a group who wanted to mix up some sport climbing with hanging out in Beirut, which has some reputation for its nightlife (I’m told) or sight-seeing (ie Baalbek). Grumpy tradsters probably shouldn’t bother, though if they do, it seems that Lebanese medical provision stands ready …
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Many thanks to Marcin and John for their hospitality at short notice.
DWS visitors add over 60 new routes
April 30th, 2011A team of five climbers from the UK – Neil Gresham, Grant Farquhar, Seb Grieve, Mike Robertson (author of Deep Water), Tim Emmett – spent six days in a dhow on the Musandam coast in April exploring the DWS possibilities, along with Read Macadam and I. All have been involved with the early development of major DWS areas in other countries, notably the world-class routes at Cova del Diablo in Mallorca and Halong Bay in Vietnam, and were looking for similar potential here. The trip was very fruitful with over 60 new routes recorded from F4 to F8a. I will put out a detailed PDF update for the coast as soon as I can, but for now here are some highlights:
- the whole Indian Ocean coast of Musandam explored all the way north of Dibba to the Straits of Hormuz.
- a major new area, Big Wall Bay, a few km south of the Barracuda Stack, developed with 24 routes including the world-classic (in their opinion) Partheon Slots, F8a – sent by Read.
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| Read attempting Partheon Slots F8a, Big Wall Bay |
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| Tim on Dreaming of Trevallen F6c, Big Wall Bay |
- a total overhaul of the Gen’s Cave area including several long (15-18m) vertical routes at Gogarth East, a zone of very solid white rock right of the cave, re-ascents of Read’s unrecorded routes from 2006 plus the first ascent of the amazing direct route through the cave at F7b+ by Neil.
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| Neil scoping Gen’s Cave Roof Direct F7b+ before the first ascent |
- a similar overhaul of the Limah Roof area with 7 new routes and a new area, The Badger Set, developed on the mainland nearby.
The team also swam with dolphins and sharks, caught barracuda on a handline, night-kayaked in phosphorescence and consumed their full booze allowance from DXB arrivals’ duty-free. Tim also set a new personal best at free-diving (28m).
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| Tim chasing dolphins in Musandam |
There should be a magazine article from Mike and probably some video from the trip appearing on sponsor sites.