Three Savages Trad-Climbing in Jordan

Three Savages Trad Climbing in Jordan

Three young and enthusiastic people are doing some of the hardest trad first accents in the Jordan valley. They use some of the RE equipment such as 4B Slight, Comet set, Hex set and Axel set. We wish them great journey. 

„The goal of our trip is to do first ascents of trad-tours in the area of Wadi Rum in the desert of Jordan. Our main goal is to do multi-pitch trad-routes. The region is famous for the surreal landscape and the huge sandstone walls in the desert. It’s no wonder that famous Hollywood films such as The Martian were produced there. Wadi Rum is simply perfect for our climbing project. There is still a huge potential for first ascents. In the 80’s famous climbers such as Kurt Albert recognized the perfect sandstone walls and established a lot of routes. But after some years of high popularity the area was forgotten again, which is why there are not that many climbers there currently. In the last years there have not been many first ascents. That is why there are not that many hard routes, especially in the tradstyle.

But the difficulty of the climbing routes is not the only challenge. We will also be confronted with the differences between the two cultures, which will be very enriching. For this trip we have to and already have done a lot of organisational stuff and the climate is not the best for climbing, because it is very hot during the day and cold in the nights. Wadi Rum is located in the very south of Jordan and mostly Bedouin. Wadi Rum is not influenced by the conflicts of the countries next to Jordan. At the moment we do not have to worry about the situation becoming worse.

We are planning to go there for two weeks, during the end of April and the beginning of May. This is the best time for a project like this, because the nights are not too cold and the days are not too hot for climbing. On the first days we will try to get used to the style of climbing in this area. The rest of the first week we will have a look-out for our projects. In the second week we are going to finish these projects. Our plan is to do the projects completely without any bolts in order to respect the local style of climbing. Of course there are some bolted sportclimbs, but our main focus is on realizing trad routes. Yet, one member of our team is trying to establish the hardest bolted route in Wadi Rum. But the most important thing is not to climb or finish the hard projects, it is about feeling the spirit of climbing and having a good time with the team in a foreign country.

Description of the Team

Such a project is not realisable without a very good team. That’s why we built up a team with many different characters and backgrounds, yet we all have one wish: doing a first ascent in Jordan. We believe that climbing is not only about difficulties, it’s about living the dream of freedom and having adventures. Jordan offers the perfect conditions for this. And we also can find there the competition to do a hard first accent, because there is so much potential, for new trad routes. Doing a trad first ascent in the UIAA Grade 8 is a goal that is reachable for everybody. Jonas Häring will try to establish the hardest sportclimb there as well.

Michi Seidl

• Organiser
• Repetitions up to the 9th grade UIAA
• More than 100 tours in the 8th grade, among these some first ascents
• Repetition of some Alpine Classics in the Dolomites ( Comici, Zinne Nord
• Wand 7 (17 Pitches), Pilastro Tofana di Rozes 8 (12 Pitches)) and classic multipitches up to the upper 8th grade (Zanzara Colodri, Mescalito Rupe Secia).

Domi Schmidbauer

• Sportclimbing up to the 8th grade
• Experiences in tradclimbing in Africa and Kuba
• Photographer, engineer and creative guy for solutions in tricky situations

Jonas “Blondi” Häring

• Our Topclimber
• Over 75 tours 8a and harder, among these some first ascents up to 8b
• Partner of Michi Seidl in most of his alpine adventures
• Zum 8a.nu Profil

Uwe Müller

• Local knowledge (climbing trip back in 2013) and contact to locals
• Mutipitch first ascent in the UIAA Grade 8-

And news just from Jordan (10.5.)

Here is a small recap of the last days after three days out in the desert without any mobile reception:

We climbed many crazy cracks, sometimes a little bit scary but always really nice and interesting. But just have a look at the pictures.

Besides climbing it was also an adventure to live in the desert, sleeping outside while the only light which can be seen is of the bonfire and the stars. 

We also had the honor to be invited by some beduines for tea. The communication was not easy but we had a lot of fun with them, because we showed them, how to use our climbing equipment.

Now it's time for a first accent, which will be our main objective for the next couple of days.

Photos: Three Savages Trad-Climbing in Jordan archive