British climbers David Barlow, Aqil Chaudhry, Geoff Hornby, Jonathan Preston, and Susie Sammut climbed various new routes in the Western Hajar in the winter of 2013–’14. The Sidaq slabs at the northern end of the range had been visited once by Paul Knott and Dave Wynne-Jones. This climbing team added five routes of 200m to the Giant Slab, some longer, easier pillars of 450m in the Sidaq Gorge, and five routes up to 200m on slabby walls above the village. 

Preston, Chaudhry and Hornby added a 475m new route to the southeast wall of Jabal Misht (a.k.a. Jebel Misht): Grades of Shade (5+). Preston and Chaudhry then added two further routes to the southwest face of Misht: a direct line up the middle of the face (Jabal Rebel, 600m, 5+) and a route on the smaller face to the west (Comb Gully, 270m, 5-).

Elsewhere, Preston and Chaudhry slipped in a new line on the Karnrabab buttress, in between Downhill and Taubennest: Goats Aloud (335m, 6-).

-Geoff Hornby, U.K.