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Chiken’s Paradise, Nizwa Tower, Oman

Publié le 12 February 2015 | Oman Eng

Not far from the Al Hamra Towers, on the outskirts of Nizwa, a bar of rock forming 4 towers. With its westerly exposure, it's best to climb early in the morning to avoid drying out at the end of the day. To discover the site, we set off on one of the easiest routes in the area, Chiken's Paradise, on the 3rd tower. Of the 5 pitches, 2 are really interesting (L2 and L4). The rock is good and the climbing pleasant. Without being a major route, it's a good option to see what's out there before moving on to harder climbs, notably Orgasmus a little further to the right.

Technical summary

Access to the place

From Nizwa, if you take the road to Muscat, you'll soon see the towers. Cross to the left (fiar a U-turn if necessary) and park more or less under the rocky slope leading to the cliffs, behind the first houses.

Map & topo

Itinerary description

Hiking to the start 45'

Done on sight. Follow the rocky slope, past a large boulder and then a huge chaos before finishing on a gentle slope towards the foot of the towers. In the middle, spot a white overhang and an advanced boulder behind which the route begins.

Course

West-facing, the route is in trad with no equipment in place. 5 pitches for around 170m of climbing (10m, 50m, 40m, 40m, 30m). Provide a set of stoppers and friends, preferably doubling the big ones from 1 to 4.

L1 (10m, IV)

Can be climbed without supervision. Provides access to the start of L2 on a long diagonal crack.

L2 (50m, V)

Beautiful, aerial pitch on very good rock. Difficult to protect in places as the crack is very wide. At the top, there are several jumps to negotiate in the chimney. Relay R2 is under a large boulder at the foot of a white wall.

L3 (40m, V)

Go right and climb up to flat slabs at the foot of L4. This too is a fine pitch, airy and fairly easy.

L4 (40m, V)

Brilliant! Start out in the vertical crack (1 step at the start) then reach a hollow protected by a large boulder. Go around it and cross to end up in a super aerial exit on a picot slab. Nice holds, aerial!

L5 (30m, IV)

Easier, simply to exit at the summit.