Routes in Jordan

#30. 6c or 6a A1.

#29

Timing: Allow for a long day, more if you get lost, which you probably might, more if you want to take it easy and have a break or two. If you are a super-duper mountain guide then perhaps the guide book time of 3-4 hours is achievable.

Sun / Temperature: In August it was bearable with shady belays, but starting in the dark could help.

Gear: Expect rope drag, Cams up to Camalot 3. Some belay stations are bolted. The abseil from the plateau (Hammads ridge) back down to the traverse is about 50m.

Route

• From the village head towards Jebel Rum and take the steps up to Lawrence’s well. Turn right in the minty area and head up the gully.
• After passing between large boulders, towards the top of the gully on the right hand side there will be a rock ramp heading up but facing down the gully (grade 3/4). Someone has also scratched an arrow into the face at the bottom. (Between 40 mins and 1 hour from the village.)

• Traverse the ledge and scramble up

  1. f5- large diagonal crack in the wall, 50m.
• From the shelf traverse a little bit to the right and then head up the plateau (Hammads ridge),look out for a repel station on your right as you climb.
• On the plateau, head left
• find a straight, long and narrow walled chimney/gully that heads to the great siq floor and descend.
• Go east through the great siq with a rappel and two short problems, 2nd being about f5 6m and unprotectable.

• After the 2nd problem you will be at the base of the eye (3 - 4 hours from the village).

  1. f5- wide crack about 50m.

  2. 50m, f5- starts with a tricky chimney

  3. 40m f4 climb the ramp

  4. traverse across to the base of the eye, f3.

  5. Pitch 5 of the main route, climb the slab (and or crack / chimney), in the guide book it is f3 however there are some very tricky sections, with maybe the hardest move of the route, 40m. You are now in the eye.

Descent.

Reverse route about 6 repels to the base, back up through the siq and back up the chimney to hammads ridge. Two options exist from here.

Descent alt. Alternative abseil descent, down jebel rum east face and route mumkin. Somewhat complicated and easy to make mistakes. - 50m From the eye rap diagonally back to below the start of the final pitch. - 25m, hidden. - 50m, heading more east to big ledge at the side of the big black slab - 50m, down big black slab - 50m, - 15m, traversing climbers right, don't go down the gully. - Easy walk through sand to Mumkin abseils.

For more details see http://kbecan.blogspot.com/2014/02/welcome-to-jordan.html

Topo: Howard guidebook #57.

Topo https://www.emontana.cz/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/First-Kiss-TOPO.jpg The crux maybe easier than 7a.

#40

Probably the best rock on Jebel Rum. Starts some meter left of 'Towering Inferno'

Topo

Phototopo by Tobias Wolf

Gear

• 2x 60m Rope
• 14 Quickdraws
• 3x 1,20m Slings
• 3x BD Cams 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 or Metolius Mastercams 1, 2, 3

Source Arnaud Petit

#39. Extends Inferno all the way to the summit, finishing up the final huge chimney of 'Inshallah factor'.

#38

Independent line to the right of 'Revienta o barilla' and crosses 'Insh’Allah Factor' at about half-height. Source planetmountain.com

https://vagabondsdelaverticale.wordpress.com/2020/02/23/la-voie-du-coeur-au-wadi-rum/

Photo Topo shared by Tobias Wolf

#37

mainly sport but trad finish with raid mit the camel

Bolts in difficult sections, making the first 4 pitches sport climbing-like. Need to protect in others.

A glue on critical holds, featured in the reel rock movie "Valley of the Moon". Mainly bolted. Article and topo.

#36

#35

#34

Nice short route at left end of the magnificent East Face of East Dome. Pleasant climbing in cracks and good rock with satisfactory protection. Descent by abseil on the route, take care ropes are jamming.

P1: Start the rip left of the little cave. 2-bolt-belay at ledge or combine with next pitch.

P2: Follow the corner crack sytem. Sling belay left of the ledge (for abseiling) or more comfortable gear belay at the ledge.

P3: Follow the crack, sling belay.

P4: Crux pitch, hard for 5+. Sling belay.

P5: Left leaning corner to the end.

A nice corner just left from Inferno. Ends with traverse right to the Inferno bolt and abseils via it. Few bolts included.

Topos: Howard guidebook #45. First 5 pitches of "Towering Inferno"

1. 5c wide crack to your right, and a hidden crack to your left, committing, with a slight overhang move at the end.

2. Climb straight up left wide crack, a bit hard to protect, chimney on the edges, use left face and body jam finding protection inside, good news ! you reach a station of 4 bolt!!

3. Same style a bit easier

4. The crux (Or not !) a traverse left to get to inferno line, that can be easy if you find the right line.

Form here you can try the 6a inferno pitch or just go down on inferno stations

Powerful archetypal laybackig and jamming.

Goldfinger goes up the small pillar that resembles a hand giving the finger, in the middle of the east face of Jebel Rum.

No belays are bolted.

P1: Start up the cracks up and right along to a belay below the obvious crack and chimney (5a, 55m), Build your own anchor.

P2: Climb the finger crack to a big ledge (6a, 35m) (5+ if you know how to finger jam), build your own anchor.

P3: Climb up and left in a corner and proceed further to the very top of the Goldfinger pillar(5b, 20m).

Descent in four rappels down the left (Troubadour) side of the pillar. Rapps on this side are bolted

First 4 pitches of "The Inshallah Factor".

Home made hangers on dark rock.

Homemade hangers.

P1: Big glue in bolts, few cams and nuts would be needed along the way.

P2-4 trad/sport?

Homemade hangers, sling on the small roof.

Slabish climb with very technical moves.

First 4 pitches of "Aquarius".

Soft rock that comes out in chunks! Not great quality and SCARY we bailed after 2 pitches.

Bedouin Route. Howard guidebook #60. Summitpost route description with satellite picture. Topo.

350m in Total

It is possible to climb the first 5 pitches (100m) of 'Coup Par Coup' as an alternative to the final section of the approach, and then start 'The Pillar of Wisdom'

Topos: Howard guidebook #65. & Verticalpirate.

Topos: Howard guidebook #66 Graded TD: Tres Difficile/very difficult (Alpine grade)

Bedouin route up the canyon to the summit. Takes the right side of the canyon.

Bedouin route up the canyon to the summit. 2000 years old. Takes the left side of the canyon.

The first recorded route in Rum, by wife and daughter of Tom Longstaff. Ascends the W side of Jebel Rum, Jordan. About 2km

finish on the shoulder of Frustration Dome, north of Sheikh Hamdan’s Siq

finish on the shoulder of Frustration Dome, north of Sheikh Hamdan’s Siq

finish on the shoulder of Frustration Dome, north of Sheikh Hamdan’s Siq

Ivictus (Alema?n-Coll-Sort,) Catalan group climbers, see Desnivel.com

Deliri (Bonsom-Gibert-Mas-Vale?) Catalan group climbers see Desnivel.com

Direct line up the main crack system. Classic of the area, sustained climbing with scrambly finish.

on Abu Aina Towers finished with lion heart

One mega pitch requiring two ropes. Loose rock, expansion bolts in sandstone, scary. The location is approximate, look for bolts.

Spaced bolting ...

Mixed, Trad and Bolted with glue-ins

6a|bb+|6a|6a|6b|6a

Connects all the way to Jabal Um ishreen highest peak (1753m only one meter less than Jabal Rum peak, or so says the maps). All beduine style, with one section of 3 pitches described below...

Follow the rocky valley up NNW, till you reach a view toward the rest of the valley seeing the slabs facing W.

You go down the gully, jumping over some beduine steps, then taking the first siq/chemeny left then climb zigzag north again till you reach the ledge, there a short 5m problem to a thread to reach the bottom of the slabs where the 3 climbing pitches are:

• 3 slab, ~35m to a bolted belay visible from the ledge (could be soloed)
• 5 slab ~25m (threads and pitons in places) to threads on the top
• 5 Short traverse ~10m left, a scary exposed one reachy/overhang move (with knifed crimp on the left side), poor protection.

From there you put your rope away and enjoy the route-finding challenge all the way to the peak going SWW, crossing the canyon from the west end where it's not very deep, then going all the way south to a gully taking directly to the peak, Cairns exist here and there.

Descent: Reverse the way, on the 3 pitchs one 60m rap to the middle of the 3-graded slab then carefully slide down, or reverse the 3 pitches down climbing first one from the top is possible. One more possible short rap in small Siq if you go a little deeper inside.

Update July 2020: Islam Maani added a new thread, making the scary exposed traverse way less scary, inspect and replace if needed, might need a 30cm metal wire to be able to rethread.

On the outer east face, not in the canyon but in wadi Um Ishrin, decent walk off following cairns back into canyon.

Up from the canyon to the ridge. Descent is by following the ridge and then down a gully.

rap descent

a system of chimneys, Descent is by rappelling and downclimbing into the canyon.

obvious corner, seen to the left when reaching the highest point of the canyon. Descent is by rappelling

Famous for the corner crack in the second pitch, mostly finger-size. A variant of the start of Black corner, you abseil down on the route.

Not to be confused with "The Beauty"

Approach: At the west end of Kharazeh canyon. 2 hours from rakabat east, 1.5 if you know where your going. (1 hour from the village?) From the top of Goats gully head north along a plateau. Head up the scree slope. When you reach the bottom of the face you will see an the bolted climb "the glory", scramble/climb up and round left to reach the easy but exposed ramps of the first pitch.

P1: f3, ramps, un-protectable (or pointless to protect). Head up and right to the bottom of P2 and where the climb splits into scarlet o hara.

P2: f5, a tricky move to get over the bulge then a walk to the base of P3

P3: f4, (30-40m) a beautiful sustained low angle corner crack which gets wider at the top. Two #3's can protect the top 1/3 of the crack. Finishing at a large thread.

Descent: Possible to 60m repel to the base of P2. The guide book suggest a 40m repel and walk off to another area (un-checked). Down climb P1.

sport multi pitch up the face, P1 is f5b. Recorded as 6a 6c 8a 7c 6c

Direct line up the water-polished cracks, begin left of "Vanishing Pillar". Descent with 5 rappels.

Original Topo

"We were a team of six: Benoit Robert, Philippe Batoux, Hervé Bouvard and I as the leading team, and Guy Abert and the Israeli Alon Hod in support. It took us five days, from November 12-16, with fixed rope to establish La Guerre Sainte (The Holy War, 7b+ Max, 12 pitches, 400m) on the east face of Nassrani North. We spent our nights at the Comfort Rest House, where people can find the topo. I am very enthusiastic about this new route, a 400- meter sport free climb in the desert of Wadi Rum, close to the Red Sea in South Jordan.

This is an outstanding climb thanks to the special rock (the sandstone is sometimes more sand than rock) and the beautiful desert scenery. It’s like climbing on the moon! Particularly when you gain altitude, you have the feeling you are in another world: the valley with its yellow sand contrasts with the small red massifs. The colored, very sculpted rock requires a perfect concentration and technique. You are obliged to learn to use your whole body so as not to break a hold. It’s more than climbing on your feet. When it’s 5.12c, that’s not easy.

This is not the hardest route in the world but, due to the quality of rock, the incredible shapes of the holds and the perfect verticality of the wall, it is one of the most singular. The route is well equipped with bolts and rings (special ones made by Petzl), but sometimes it’s run out enough to maintain the game of “Oops, here it’s really better I don’t fall.” Compulsory moves are not harder than 6c, and so attempting the route is possible for many climbers." (Arnaud Petit, France)

Videos: 1. Sasha DiGuilian 2. Magnus Midtbø

Gear

• Min 2x50m or 1x90m rope.
• 14 quickdraws including 2 extensible.
• 60cm/120cm sling

Route

Bolted at hard moves. Slings in threads at easier moves.

1. 6c (30m): Technical pitch with balancy moves. Up the chimney, inside the cave, out of the cave to the right of the bolt, up then onto the slab to the left of the bolt. For safety, wrap a sling around a thread to your left just when leaving the chimney to set up the first safety point. Another sling is already set up after it as well before the first bolt. Might need to take off your backpack to enter the chimney.

2. 6b+ (35m): Fantastic climb with the crux at the overhang just before the anchor.

3. 6b (35m): Relatively more runout, juggy and a little pumpy.

4. 6b+ (35m): Sweet climb with the crux at the overhang just before the anchor. Uncomfortable hanging belay.

5. 7b (30m): Brutal crimpy climb starting with an overhang with tiny footholds.

6. 6b (30m): Sustained climb, harder at last few meters. Anchor is in a cave where couple of people can sit blocked off wind.

7. 6c (45m)

8. 6c+ (40m)

9. 7b (30m)

10. 7b (25m)

11. 7b (35m)

12. 6a+ (20m)

Descent

When rappelling from second pitch anchor to first pitch anchor, you must be careful that your rope doesn’t get stuck in the crack next to the first pitch. To achieve this, lower the rope until above the crack/ledge and have the rest of it tied and on you. Untie the rope and throw it away from the crack. Rappel until the ledge that has the first bolt of the second pitch and allow the other climbers to rappel to the first pitch anchor while ensuring the rope doesn’t get stuck in the crack. The other climbers can belay you while you down climb to the first pitch anchor. To get to ground, rappel out against the wall, not towards the starting point.

To the right of "Jihad". Shares 5th pitch with it.

between Guerre Sainte and Muezzin 13 quick draws, slings, two 60m

Southeast face of North Nassrani small wall as "Jihad". Crosses "Muezzin" from left to right.

ED

The first three pitches of (SE Diedre: Warriors of the Wasteland) the above route

A splendid climb in its own right.

A great climb with a tricky hand/fingers crack and an airy second pitch. The climb twists and turns a lot.

Time: About 4 hours up and down. Approach 30 mins to 1 hour from rakabat east entrance.

Gear: A full rack.

• P1 f5: Scramble up the ramp, climb the hand/finger crack and question your ability to jam and balance. Belay under the small roof from the big thread.
• P2 f-5: Head up to the left where the crack widens and you feel the air between your legs. Reach a bulge with no hand holds, heading right to a sheltered section and up the slab.
• P3 f4: Pull over a jagged corner/crack head up more slab. Careful your ropes don't get stuck in the crack here as you climb. Head right to the summit.

Descent.

Walk off to the opposite side, repel to reach the valley floor where crack in the back is.

face climbing to the left of PPR

6b, 6c, 5+, 7b, 6b, 6c

Topo.

Between "Perverse Frog" and "The Beauty".

To the left of "The Beauty".

A mega classic, the first 3 pitches are pure quality with interesting sustained climbing. Pitch 4 can be either direct (6b), or down then up the chimney (5). Needs large cams (camalot 5 or 6) for the upper offwidth pitches, double if you want to feel secure. Bolted Anchors. Upper pitches get sun earlier than lower.

1. 5c layback getting steeper, green cams for the top.

2. 6a twin cracks

3. 5c layback

4. 6b direct using peg or 5 going down into then up the chimney (loose blocks on top)

5. 5c

6. 4a

Descent: Rap via the route.

A big jaggedy crack of variable width and creative protection. Guide book says it's a f4 but it could feel harder if your not used to the awkward style.

Time: 4 hours up and down, if you know where you're going 2 hours. Approach 30 mins to 1 hour from rakabat east entrance.

Gear: Full rack.

• P1 f-5: Straight up the crack, Reaching a small ledge/cave on the right with a big thread (40m).
• P2 f4: Exit the cave back into the crack where it opens up more, with bridging and standing on what could be brittle spikes and flakes. Belay from a big flat ledge with a roof on the right just before the crack opens and flattens out
• P3 f3: Climb / traverse right to reach a bigger plateau (limited useful protection).
• P4 f3: Optional, scramble to the summit. If not head up right to the ridge line.

Descent.

Follow the ridge line steeply down generally staying on the right side snaking back and forth. There will be some down climbing and maybe some cairns. Eventually trending more to the right, heading for the canyon crossroad. It is possible to get down without abseiling.

A tough first pitch and an exposed hard to protect but fairly easy 2nd pitch.

Approach: From the east entrance to Rakabat canyon just after the under/over boulder scramble up the ramp to the first pitch. About 20-40 mins from rakabat east entrance.

Gear: A full rack.

Time: Roughly 4 hours up and down.

• Pitch 1 f5: Head straight up pulling over the bulge to poor holds.
• Pitch 2 f5-: Head up the slab hard to protect. There is a big flake on the right side wall don't use it sounds very hollow. Head to the corner on the left.
• Pitch 3 f4: From the corner cruise up the ramp to the mini summit.

Decent.

Using the tat on the huge blocks head down the other face into the gully. Walk down the gully a bit and find the abseil about midway in it back to the start.

Single pitch corner. Probably harder than the given grade. Anchor on knots in the crack, to be verified.

Start as an older route Odeur de Rhum. Originally an artificial section (A1) in L4, can be free climbed at around 6c+.

From the left of the pillar to a bolted belay. Extension of this is the route Soumises.

A single pitch trad route. From the right of the pillar to a bolted belay (in common with routes Odeur de Rhum / Soumises). Rock quality not very good, not recommended.

A single pitch route to the right of the routes Little gem and Soumises. Abseil on threads.

East face. Nice line on good rock. Mentioned in this AAC article.

#sd

#sd

First route from the left. Bolts of good quality. The anchor consists of two bolts without a chain.

Second route from the left. Bolts of good quality. The anchor consists of two bolts without a chain.

Second route from the right. Comfortable bolts of good quality. The anchor consists of two bolts without a chain.

When looking at the wall, the first route to the right. Comfortable bolts of good quality. The anchor consists of two bolts without a chain.