It seemed like no time since we’d arrived, but it was already our last climbing day in Rum. It’s quite a lot of faff to get there (see “logistics” notes below) and with only three routes and a couple of “retrieval” missions to show for our first five days, “The Rat” was still feeling a bit peckish. Whilst the rest of the team set off for a day’s sightseeing in Petra, Andy, Joint and I reviewed options for a climbing grand finale.
Andy had already ticked most of my remaining PdeL targets on previous trips, and in any event they’d all have represented involved missions. The prospect of a benightment with a flight to catch in the morning meant that ambition would need to be curtailed. The perfect objective would be a shortish walk from Basecamp, a decent length, enough of a challenge to make it memorable (but not for the wrong reasons!) and a “rap down the route” descent. The Polish crew had mentioned a new route, First Kiss, which seemed to tick all these boxes (though they hadn’t actually done it!) – we thought we’d give it a whirl.
First Kiss was put up by a Czech team, Š. Janošec & M. Švacha, in March 2023. It’s on the left hand side of the Jabel Rum East Face Towers, just right of The Great Siq Route, with 220m of climbing over six pitches: 6c | 6a | 6b | 7a | 5+ | 6a. It’s bolt protected, with just a couple of slings necessary to supplement the fixed gear (a 0.5″ cam is mentioned too, but we couldn’t work out where you’d place it), but with fewer than 40 bolts including belays it’s quite sporty for a “sport route”. Here’s a Topo, courtesy of The Crag and also available on the excellent Wadi Rum Climbers FB page.
The first ascent team also captured the experience in a really well-made YouTube
If that wasn’t enough recommendation, we were also intrigued by the approach, a grade 2-3 “Scrumble”, a typo that is now firmly embedded in our climbing lexicon!
The route is in the shady patch at the left side of the central tower. It would be a good warm-weather option as it sees no sun after mid morning. Chilly but tolerable in January.
You head up past the Nabatean Temple ruins, being sure to heed the warnings…
… and stopping briefly to admire the construction – a significant archaeological site dedicated to the goddess Al-Lat, built during the 1st century BC.
The “Scrumble” is straightforward and you arrive at a line of bolts as promised – and just to avoid any doubts you are in the right place…
We fired our rope-gun, Joint, up the first pitch, which turned out to be great climbing but really quite taxing and sustained, with some thin moves around the midpoint and a tough sequence up a smooth, faint groove to reach the belay. A metal handhold came in handy!
Pitch 2 starts in a porous, sandy band, with a “hanging garden” vibe, and a stiff pull on scrattly footholds above a ledge. Felt tough for 6a and I was starting to feel a bit sandbagged and wary of what was to come. Happily the rest of the pitch is easier but still interesting climbing on much better rock. The same could be said of P3, with one move that warrants the 6b grade (but no more) and probably easier than P2.
Pitch 4 is the 7a crux, and the tricky move is straight off the belay, with a crimpy pull onto an arete protected by a couple of bolts (one of which got accidentally used as a handhold – in the interests of time). The rest of the 40m pitch is much steadier, if a bit run out.
P5 heads horizontally right along a ledge before pulling onto the wall above on big gargoyle holds…
… and P6 is a 50m 6a romp up easy ground, passing the very occasional bolt as a way marker.
It isn’t entirely obvious from the topo whether you can rap the route, and the sight of a couple of cairns at the top had me worrying we’d misjudged the situation and would regret not bringing shoes for a long walk up and over. Happily there IS a bolted belay off to the left.
A chance for a top-out selfie with Hiker’s Road in the background.
A final view over the town and across to the Nassrani Towers…
… and down to the Temple site:
The abseil descent is straightforward, with the first rap almost directly down to the belay at the top of pitch 4, and 60m ropes enabling pitches two and three to be linked. Up in about three hours, and down in one. Just the job for a worthwhile but chilled last-day wind-down. Recommended!
Next day dawns dull, and we even get spits of rain as we pack up and head for the minibus. This turns to dust storms and torrential rain as we near the airport…
… with weather on the airport check-in board showing a similar 8C and raining in both Amman and Luton – the perfect outcome when tearing yourself away reluctantly at the end of a winter sunrock break.
Stunning views over Athens to break the monotonous five hours flight.
Logistics:
We flew from Luton to Amman with Whizz Air. It’s about a 5hrs flight. It’s then a 4hrs taxi ride from the airport to the village of Wadi Rum. Hamdan organised the taxi (10 seater minibus) which was 180 Jordanian Dinhar each way. The Dinhar:GBP exchange rate is almost exactly 1:1 so transfers worked out about £45 each return. Flights to Aqaba would cut the journey to less than an hour.
You need a visa to enter Jordan which is Dh40 and you buy this on arrival before passport control (annoying queue). You can buy a “Jordan Pass” for Dh70 online, before you travel, which includes this visa and entry to a bunch of the country’s historical and natural sites, including Wadi Rum (otherwise Dh7). If you are just visiting to climb this doesn’t make sense but it’s a winner if you plan to visit Petra (day entry Dh30) or other sites. Check it out and do your sums for a possible bargain.
We stayed at Hamdan’s Bedouin Camp and would warmly recommend the experience. The accommodation is simple but comfortable, in metal-framed fabric-sided “tents”. You can self-cater for Dh10 per night but we opted for half-board Dinner B&B at Dh20 per night – a bargain. The food was tasty and plentiful (if a little bit repetitive) and way preferable to the faff of organising and cooking your own, especially after a long day on the hill. Hamdan is flexible on timing and is used to the unpredictable nature of a climbing adventure.
Hamdan’s Bedouin Village Camp https://uk.hotels.com/ho1440177152/bedouin-village-camp-wadi-rum-jordan/ Best to contact Hamdan directly on Whatsapp (+962779851398).
Hamdan also understands the local climbing scene, knows where many of the routes go and will provide 4×4 transport to the foot of your chosen mission (and back). The drop off and pick up for our team of 4 into Barrah Canyon was Dh60. He’s a good host and we definitely felt well taken care of and in safe hands. I would definitely stay there on my next visit, and having dallied for almost 30 years in making a first trip I hope not to leave it so long for a return.
Guidebooks: Tony Howard’s excellent guide remains the definitive source for climbing and for exploring in Wadi Rum. It’s a huge body of knowledge, assembled over half a lifetime of visits, and is an essential resource. The RockAroundTheWorld selected climbs guide (no connection – honest – the author just borrowed my name) provides the full-colour topo treatment for a selected couple of dozen of the most popular routes, and is a good companion source of reference, and there are also 8 chapters in PdeL dedicated to routes in Wadi Rum. Finally, there are good blog and trip report entries if you scour the Web, and the Wadi Rum Facebook group is a great source of information on the new routing scene, which continues apace.
Connectivity: There’s excellent WiFi at Hamand’s and good mobile reception in the village and on the crags within line of sight. This drops to zero once you head into the numerous siqs and canyons, or explore into the far side of the main formations or farther into the desert. I took a sat-receiver but thankfully didn’t have cause to use it – reassuring nonetheless.
Check out Tony’s website for more Wadi Rum background and beyond https://www.nomadstravel.co.uk/ : and this destination guide from Robert Durran on UKC. https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/destinations/wadi_rum_-_a_desert_sandstone_wonderland-8747
That’s it from me – I hope you were entertained by our mini desert adventure and maybe inspired to plan your own!
RockAroundTheWorld 