The Star of Abu Judaidah

One of my motivations for joining this Wadi Rum trip was the opportunity for some more “puerile ticking” from Parois de Légende. Arnaud Petite has included a total of nine routes in the area in the various editions of PdeL – that’s more than from the whole of Spain (and nine more than from the UK!) Whilst that undoubtedly reflects a bit of ignorance (not to mention chauvenism) on his part, it’s also a pretty strong endorsement of the quality of adventure on offer.

The Star of Abu Judaidah weighs in at ED1 6c (6b obl) spread over 250m of sustained climbing in eight pitches. It is set in the remote Barrah Canyon, accessed by a 45 minutes “Jeep” taxi ride through the desert wilderness, which feels a long way from the hustle and bustle of the town (literally and figuratively). They call them “Jeep” rides, but the ubiquitous 4×4 “ship of the desert” is definitely the Toyota Landcruiser, with examples spanning decades of the mark. Hamdan’s pride and joy is a very swanky new model, and we were cosetted in air conditioned comfort as we sped over the sands, accompanied by a commentary on the passing landscape and routes. (Outward journey and return pickup for £60 for 4 to 6 people).

Plenty more to come back for…

Original Land Cruiser…

You get dropped off just 10mins from the foot of the route (designer climbing!)

… and the sense of isolation really kicked in as Hamdan headed back to the village. The kind of place where it’s good to have a bit of company, and Andy and I were delighted to also have Rich and Joint along in the team.

As we’d been driven through mile upon mile of gobsmacking rock scenery, I’d been wondering why on earth the first ascentionists had picked on this particular bit of rock, but one look at the wall answered that conundrum. It’s a really clean face with a very striking line up the system of grooves, cracks and corners up its right side.

Tony Howard, in the definitive guidebook, cites the line as the best established by renowned pioneers Duverney-Monnet in Wadi Rum, which is praise indeed.

P1 climbs a desert varnish features into a long slanting crack to reach a commodious ledge.

P2 is the 6c crux, with one bouldery sequence up a crimpy wall (maybe V5?) which is out of character with the rest of the climb. A couple of drilled pegs protect, and it’s common to take advantage of the extra metal handholds for a more balanced 6b A0 ascent – I wasn’t going to turn down the offer. Here’s Andy weighing up his options.

P3 starts with a horrible sandy grovel (graded 5c but gets a Warning Triangle icon on the topo)…

… before reverting to fun groovy crackiness with an ever-growing sense of height gained.

Here’s Rich leading beneath us:

P4 sees the crack system narrow and the angle steepen, not a great combo, and there are a couple of sections that don’t feel easy for 6b.

P5 is a belter – more easy crackiness lulls you into a false sense of security before the crack disappears, forcing you into a wild traverse leftwards. Here’s me leading…

… and Andy following…

This is exposed but straightforward until the sanctuary of a couple of pegs which protect some tenuous slab moves. Here is Rich, fondling the not-so-positive holds and the distance down to the pegs:

… and rejoicing in the jug of justice at the top!

P6 is the real deal, and I was very pleased that Andy had drawn the short straw. An awkward, offwidth, overhanging chimney, with the choice of gear and squirming in the depths, or crimps and terror out on the face. Andy went for a combo and smoothed his way upwards with his usual sangfroid.

… and me looking relieved that it hadn’t been my lead:

It’s still not in the bag, as P7 continues the crackiness, but thankfully there’s a more conventional crack running to the right of another huge chimney system.

A stiff pull around a bulge yields a “thank god” layback pinch, and a romp to the top. Andy following with Joint at the stance of the pitch below.

P8 is a bit of a damp squib – crumbly rock and a lack of a line lead to a thread belay in the middle of nowhere. After the diagonal crack, keep an eye out for the thread belay a long way out left (easy to get distracted by options to venture further up and right into no man’s land). Either take the 5c grade with a pinch of salt or just skip it altogether and end the route on a high.

Topped out around 2.30pm after 5:30hrs climbing. A 60m gets you down to the stance beneath P7, and another to the one below P6, but unfortunately we weren’t joined by our rope, which was gobbled up by a constriction in the offwidth – as if it hadn’t already inflicted enough damage. We shared the stance and some banter with a team of three female Norwegian climbers who’d started just behind Rich and Joint, and gazed on as their “offwidth specialist” battled and prevailed before kindly rescuing our rope. Here’s a shot of them on the stance between P6 and P7, taken from the base.

… and a shot of the whole route in the evening sun (the top half gets sun from about 2pm).

We were down just after the appointed pickup time of 4pm, with Hamdan waiting punctually and patiently. We apologised that Rich and Joint were still making their ways down, but he was completely relaxed: “I understand, it’s climbing, sometimes it goes fast, sometimes not. Sometimes I wait until midnight”. What a fine host.

Back at base, well before teatime, a quick headcount revealed that we were two short. A call from Neil and Dave revealed that they were still on top of Jebel um Ejil. They’d topped out on Via Salim Musa in reasonable time (though the modest grade needs taking with a dose of salt) but then hadn’t managed to find the descent. Faced with the option of a chilly but safe impromptu bivvy, or blind questing in complex canyons in the dark, they’d decided on the sensible option.

Next morning was forecasted for drizzle and winds building to 30mph, so we sacked our climbing plans in favour of providing a bit of moral support.

Endeavouring to follow the descent description in reverse, we set off up Goat’s Gully and then followed the main path towards Rakabat Canyon until a branch right offers the option to climb up into a different Siq.

Yellow – path to Rabakat Canyon (and Beauty approach) Red – descent from Jebel um Ejil

The complexity is mind blowing.

Interesting scrambling…

… until we finally caught sight of our brave boys heading down our way…

In pretty good shape and spirits considering the chilly night, and well on the way to extricating themselves, but nonetheless glad of friendly faces and some refreshments.