TOPO Canyoning | CLIMBING7.COM
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Situated a little higher up than its neighbor, Thunder Canyon, Trident Canyon bears a strong resemblance to it: a dry canyon, a series of open waterfalls with scree transitions, an arid, mineral setting. No major difficulties, 6 abseils, including one on a spider's thread with a not-so-obvious start, a fair amount of walking among the boulders in the central section, a few small, accessible de-escalation passages, all in a fairly deep rocky setting. A nice loop, perhaps more accessible for beginners. An alternative approach is to start from the winding road that climbs up to Jebel Al Jais to reach the starting point more quickly, but with the disadvantage of returning at a distance from the starting point, requiring 2 vehicles for the return.
❱❱ Technical summary
Type ✦ Dry canyon
Location ✦ Wadi Shah
Region ✦ Ras Al Khaimah
Country ✦ United Arab Emirates
Difficulty ✦ v4-a1-III
Vertical drop ✦ 180m
Max abseil ✦ 45m
Duration ✦ 4h to 4h30
Interest ✦ ★
❱❱ Access to the place
From RAK, join the road leading to the entrance of Wadi Bih. At the yellow house, at the small traffic circle, turn left into Wadi Shah towards the El Jais Mountains. Pass the long straight stretch and, just as the road begins to curve to the right into the deepest part, you'll find a large parking lot on your left. There are terraces directly opposite.
❱❱ Map & topo
Voir en plein écran❱❱ Itinéraire
There are no paths or markings, but the route is fairly obvious. Climb the scree vertically above the parking lot before reaching the ridge overlooking the end of the canyon on the left and the final abseils. Further along the ridge, you'll find a vaguely marked path, with a few staircases up to a rocky plateau. Above, an easily recognizable summit in the shape of a splayed M with white and red stripes gives us directions. Cross the plateau, keeping level, and gently approach the canyon to the start. The trail gradually enters the canyon bed, and there's a white cloth post on a large boulder at the start.
The Trident canyon is dry all year round, except perhaps after a storm. It is south-east-facing and includes 6 abseils, 5 of which are mandatory, all equipped (7m, 12m, 20m, 40m, 15m, 45m). No intermediate exit, the route is obvious, even if in scree and boulder areas you have to search a little to find the best option, often on the left-hand side. The route has recently been equipped with knotted ropes and lifelines to secure exposed passages.
Finish by walking out of the wadi and back onto the main Wadi Shah road, the parking lot is on the left at 5′.
One Response to “Trident Canyon, Wadi Shah”
Thanks for the topo !
Well equipped with fixed lines for commercial guiding.