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Nuances de Grès, Wadi Tibn, Petra, Jordan

Publié le 29 June 2014 | Jordan Eng

South of Petra, below the village of Taybeh, the wadi Tibn crosses the sandstone massif and offers numerous climbing possibilities. Back in the area and after a 1st scouting in December, the idea was to open a route in the middle of the wadi, on one of the large north-east-facing walls. It's done, with 4 pitches of discovery, a piton reclimb, and no real way out to the summit. The site is quite incredible, wild and totally isolated, the rock sculpted from multicolored sandstone truly impressive, unreal? What a great experience.

Technical summary

Wadi Tibn access

Access to the place

Follow the Wadi Musa road south to the village of Taybeh. In the village, take a street that descends to the right to join a well-marked track heading towards the bottom. The track is good, but 4×4 is compulsory if it's in poor condition. There are Bedouin camps at the bottom. Park at the last bend on the right (departure to the left).

Map & topo

Itinerary description

Hiking to the start 45'

Descend following a small path to reach the bed of the wadi, which runs off to the left (more to the south). 15′ walk to find the entrance to wadi Tibn on the right. Descend the wadi for about 15′, leaving several gullies on the left. Pass a characteristic corridor in the sandstone and you reach the area between 2 large walls, very vertical on the right, more open and slightly sloping on the left. Climb to the center, on the northeast-facing left flank for the start.

Course

The route is around 150m long in 4 pitches (30m, 30m, 50m, 40m) and can be abseiled from 2 belays on trunks (R4 and R2). After the first 2 pitches and a 3rd transition pitch (50m) on a sort of grassy, sandy ledge, we tried a 1st crack with no exit (piton belay) before finding a 4th pitch (30m, V+) a little higher and to the left, where we also left a belay on a tree. No equipment in place, but a full set of friends, doubled from 0.75 to 3 and a 2x60m to rappel in one go. Logical route, not always obvious protection, fragile rock in places, ojo!

L1 (30m, V)

Take a step at the start, then join the small dihedral on the left, which is reached by looking high up for a nice crack that you can't see. Exit without too much protection, then cross over and climb a boulder on a small pillar to set up the belay.

L2 (30m, V+)

Pass the small wall with a delicate step on an unreliable plate (where to attack the beautiful crack straight on but risk breaking?). Then continue straight up a beautifully sculpted, undulating wall. Finish at the level of an equipped trunk.

L3 (50m, II/III)

Crappy transition to climb diagonally to the left, past a large trunk to reach L4, in front of a stepped dihedral that rises to the right.

L4 (40m, V+)

Climb the large steps to reach a small plateau at the foot of a fissure. Here, take a good step to wedge yourself into the crack, followed by a nice but fairly challenging aerial finish. At the top, cross horizontally to the tree-mounted belay.