In November, Steffen Krug and I spent three weeks in this very special sandstone area. After enjoying some classic big lines, we repeated a few of the modern routes, including La Guerre Sainte (7b, AAJ 2001), a 12-pitch bolted route on Jebel Nasrani. We found the grading for this stunning route—and generally for modern routes here—to be very soft compared to the classic trad climbs. We then went for what’s considered to be the hardest route in Wadi Rum: Rock Empire (15 pitches, 8a, AAJ 2006), which is completely bolt protected. Coming from the traditional sandstone climbing area of Pfalz, we know that it is not a great idea to put expansion bolts in such soft sandstone, and we bailed after the fourth pitch. Unfortunately, many of the modern routes are equipped in such an inappropriate way, when glue-in bolts would last much longer.

Wadi Rum is still a paradise for exploration, and we opened a new route in Barrah Canyon, right next to the famous crack of Merlin’s Wand. Sound of Silence has seven pitches up to 7a. From the end of the last pitch, 1.5 hours of easy scrambling leads to the summit, where the view is breathtaking. Descent is by rappelling the route with double ropes.

Jens Richter, Germany