Climbing Near Abha/Tanomah
The southwest region of Saudi Arabia has, by far, the best climbing I’ve seen. The rock is typically very good quality. Tanomah is now the premier climbing area in the country.
Wadi bin Hashbal
The only place I’ve climbed in Wadi bin Hashbal is Zor Rock, so I can’t say much about the other countless climbs and possibilities. Here’s what I know about the area… people have been climbing there since the 90s, a French team bolted a ton of routes all over Zor Rock, the rock is surprisingly good, and there are a ton of baboons. Unfortunately, I only spent a couple of days here and didn’t get a chance to fully explore the area or even this one crag. There is a ton of climbing though. Zor Rock alone has short easy slabs, long multi-pitch, fully bolted sports climbs and trad. I hear that there is also ample (though undeveloped) climbing on the other granite monoliths in the area. I’m going to try to get down there again soon so I can document it and bring back more information and topos.
Tanomah
Tanomah is incredible. The rock is beautiful. The climate is superb. The baboons are relatively chill. And it was the site of one of the first climbing development projects by the Saudi Climbing Federation. There are now more than 40 bolted sports routes, with more being developed as of October 2019. There is also enormous potential for trad climbing. There is an excellent Topo, created by Read Macadam, available through MountainProject and on the Saudi Climbing Federation's website.
