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EGYPT
Sinai 2005. John & Anna Arran climbed a new route on the NW Face
of Jebel Safsafa, Holy Moses, 250m, E6/7 6b. See Alpine Journal 2004 for full
details and check out http://www.thefreeclimber.com
for a topo of some areas also http://www.verticalworld.co.uk
for info on Hot Rock trips to Sinai.
Feb 05 Geoff Hornby reports on good “Yosemite quality”
granite north east of St Catherine’s (Jebel Banat) area with new routes
of 400m TD and TD sup. Contact geoffhornby@yahoo.co.uk
Info will also be found in the new UK CLIMB magazine, Feb 05. Geoof also covers
his traverse of Sinai and new routes there in the 2008 Alpine
Journal.
Also check out Dave Lucas for info on
this area and Vertical World trips and see www.israelalpine.org/sinai
and some bouldering
info
SINAI Nov 2007 IMPORTANT NEWS: Dave Lucas (see above) recently
spent 8 weeks in Sinai climbing. Also see Hot
Rock Bus. He was with Geoff
Hornbyon a 300km traverse through Sinai climbing a number of new rock routes
and was able to fill in a lot of information on his map of the climbing potential
in the high mountains of Sinai. He has now been authorised to guide by the
Jebaliya bedouin and is just beginning a 2-year project, sponsored by the
EU, to train trek leaders in the St Katherine’s Monastery area in both
First Aid and Trek Leadership. He is collating information for a future guidebook
and is also running his own trips.
THE EGYPTIAN MAINLAND Feb 2010 The region all along the
Red Sea Coast S and W of Berenice is still closed (we were put in military
jail in Cairo a few years ago for going there! See our Egypt pages). Ministry
of Tourism emailed to say "Regarding your proposal for a fifth visit
to Egypt to the area of Red Sea (desert and mountain areas west and south
of Berenice including Elba mountain) kindly be informed that permits are
still unobtainable and the area is totaly blocked for unlimited time.
See our Egypt pages for info.
Gilf Kebir, Feb 08. A story has been circulating about German
tourists being caught in the desert and robbed. In fact, what happened was
the Egyptian military caught people going to the Gilf without permits and
avoiding the use local guides.
Med coast July 08. Nicholas Grybauskas emailed to say "I've
been living in Alexandria and there's great bouldering along the sea in Sidi
Bashr, excellent steadily overhung 3-5m cliffs that are filled with pockets
and jugs. The rocks are located directly next to the Touring and Automotive
Club. I have a couple pictures of the rocks hosted on Facebook".
SINAI 2010 Martin
Kocsis emailed to say, "For the last few years I’ve had the
pleasure of climbing and exploring and just hanging out in the Egyptian Sinai.
The climbing covers everything from bouldering to multipitch routes, from
Diff to E5. It’s been ace. The rock is granite and the atmosphere is
relaxed. We are based out of St Katherines at the foot of Mt Sinai, from where
we will be going into the desert for up to 10 days at a time. Local Bedouin
guides will be looking after us throughout.
A quick look at Mike
Hutton’s gallery gives a brief flavour of the social scene, if not
the climbing. There are more pictures on Dave
Lucas’s site and the Israeli Alpine Club site (see above), which
mainly details the climbing around St Katherine’s. The cost is difficult
to say, but briefly it will be flights (about £300), camel and guide
hire, transport and food. If you budget about £550 for two weeks all
in, that seems to me to be accurate. For an extra week, probably another £80
to £100. Roughly, anyway. I am going out again with a small group in
October 2010 for 2 to 3 weeks. If you are interested in coming along, then
get in touch with me for more information."
ETHIOPIA
Dec 2002 David Bruton has an article on Tigray in HIGH/Mountain Mag.
Feb – March 2005. Article on climbing in Ethiopia in CLIMBER
Aug 2005 by Pat Littlejohn & Steve Sustad, ascents also reported in the
Alpine Journal 2007. Pat Littlejohn describes climbing on the “Arizona
style” sandstone Towers of Tigray, NE of Ras Dashan and the Simiens
and 40km NW of Mekele. They climbed 3 towers over 8 days in traditional ‘adventure’
style. On Abune Yemata Guh (site of a famous rock-hewn church) they did an
E4. On the nearby Nevelet Towers they climbed Sheba Tower, slightly higher
at 150m, with some unprotected 5c at a similar overall grade. Horsetooth towers
to the E was a bit smaller at 120m but harder at E5 6a.
Also see the Hot Rock Bus.
July 08. Pat littlejohn covers more developments in Axum
and Adwa region (NE of Simiens) in CLIMBER
Aug 08 and in the Alpine Journal, Area Notes, 2008.
JORDAN June 2008. Click on Jordan
for info on Wadi Rum and Jordan. Aspirant Bedouin Guide, Talal Awad, has a
great little booklet of Wadi Rum Bedouin climbs prepared by Gilles
Rappeneau, many of them previously unrecorded. In Nov 2005, Gilles finally
found what is reputed to be a forgotten Bedouin route to Um Ishrin (see Bedan
Majnoun on his website): nice climb, with a good view and Grade 4 crux, now
with fixed gear, but previously unprotected. Aspirant Guide Mohammed Hammad
and Wilf Colonna who made the second ascent think the pitch too exposed for
it to have been a Bedouin way.
Books The new Cicerone Press edition of our guide to 'Treks
and Climbs in Wadi Rum' was published in May 2007 - there are no new climbs
in, but an updated Intro. The 2nd edition of our guide to Jordan - Walks,
Treks, Caves, Climbs & Canyons was published July 2008, now with 150 routes
all over Jordan. See Publications. Click
Jordan Updates for info
on what's new since then. Another new book published May 2007 is an excellent
guide to Plants and Animals of Petra by the Petra National Trust - invaluable
if you are interested in Jordan's flora and fauna.
For guiding in all parts of Jordan, Jordanian companies developing
eco-tourism include Wilf
Collona and the Desert Guides, Terhaal.com,
Sarha, Discovery
and Yamaan Safady. Two companies
who have helped us in and around Petra are Jordan
Beauty Tours (or contact Sufian
Amarat directly) and Yousef Hasanat of Via
Jordan & Desert Paramours;
all specialise in adventure travel. Mark Khano of Guiding
Star works on pilgrimage tours in Palestine.
Click here for more Rum Hotstuff,
here for Rum Guides,
and here for a good website on Petra
Archaeological Park.
Click here for important info on Canyoning
and Climbing Safety and equipping routes.
Click here for reports on climbing in Jordan in Mountain
Info, Climb mag
(also see the Jordan Updates link above)
Click here for professional
topo of Zubia Cave in Journal of Cave & Karst Studies referred to
as Al Daher Cave, also refer to Jordan
Updates.
2009, the new website Petra
Park has some disturbing info on trails in the Petra Area becoming guided
trails only. It may not happen immediately but forewarned is fore-armed! Nov
2009, See our article in TGO,
Exploring Jordan.
2010, Jan. Mathew
Teller's blog states: From 1st November 2010 regular Petra Tourist ticket
prices rise again, to JD50 (£43/$71), JD55 (£48/$78) and JD60
(£52/$85). As Mathew says, "That’s a heck of a lot of money".
2010. July Wadi
Rum Music and Life. BBC IPlayer
Lebanon
2007 see Rock
Climbing Atlas, Middle East for info on climbs in Lebanon, which not only
has some nice looking crags, both sport and trad, but also world famous caves.
Wynand Groenewegen says "I have been climbing in Lebanon just before
the (short) war of 2006. The routes have mainly been put up by the army. These
days one of the local climbing clubs continue to develop them. The area is
very beautiful but the routes are short. You have to come to Lebanon for the
nature and the people, not especially for the climbing. Syria is much better.....but
having said this, we had a very good and interesting time when we were there.
You will find all the information you need to know in our 'Rock Climbing Atlas
to Greece and the Middle East'. We have also included maps."
The new Lebanon Mountain Trail opened in summer 2007, extending 400km, north
to south, see Lebanon Trail.
LIBYA
2004. Ginger Fullen, in his bid to climb every African
country's highest summit attempted to reach Libya's high point in the
northern Tibesti in 2003 but was foiled by running out of water and supplies
approaching from Chad through "crazy, mad, weird terrain… miles
of pinnacles and deep gorges bar the way. Nothing like Emi Koussi in the
Tibesti massif". For info on eastern Libya, see notes on south west
Egypt above.
MADAGASCAR March 2007 See John and Anne Arran's article
on Tsaranoro and the sea cliffs in CLIMBER
Feb 2007.
The scene in Camp Catta beneath the Tsaranoro Towers is fine with more
new routes every year.Gargitter Helmut emailed Nov 2005 to say "
I read your article about Madagascar. The route Gondwanaland is still
7b+ and 7a+ obligatory. The route has only 2 repetitions and all climbers
(an Italian group from Brescia and Arnaud Petit ) said that the route
is 7a+ obligatory and if you climb all free, then 7b+."
Gilles Gautier who is pleased
to host climbers dedicating their time and energy to set new 'human' lines:
lines opened to a large number of climbers. Great short lines have been
opened offering more variety than the 'athletes-only' big wall routes!
The manager of nearby Andringitra National Park has been jailed with his
financial director for helping themselves to the Park Cash Box! Up North,
the season 2001 has been extremely active, with around 100 new pitches
bolted, in the French 6 and 7 grades. The spot will become a 'must' for
tropical climbing and despite the tense political situation (2002), Gilles
hopes to maintain his camp on the islands from April to December. Close
to 200 climbers went in 2001 and many more are welcome. The exceptional
potential of those cliffs also allows natural protection on new routes
- see Piola's articles in French mags.
Check out: http://www.madamax.com/newsearoc/
Also, click on Madagascar.
Here's a comment we received on our notes on 'climbing ethics' on Madagascar
main page: "Excellent page about Madagascar, you have quite inspired
us - but maybe after present troubles are over. (Hoggar update interesting
too.) Anyway, Alan really doesn't have a problem with bolts and power
drills, as long as the resulting route is a good "work" in whatever
style it is done. We both think it important that there should be space
for both bolted routes and "terrain d'aventure", that bolts
should not just take over everywhere and destroy natural lines etc. But
not too much problem with bolts as such, or with bolts in wilderness specifically.
Important that climbers should agree among ourselves when areas should
be kept as terrain d'aventure. That's it really!" Kate & Alan
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