Climbing Near Riyadh
There are a few decent places to climb around Riyadh. The best time of year to climb is winter, between January and March. Any earlier or later and it’s far too hot, and you run an increased chance of running into snakes and scorpions. This is a major concern because most of these locations are located far from any kind of medical care, so practice caution.
Hanifa
I’m not going to say where the crag is because it’s in a rather sensitive area near the Diplomatic Quarter and climbers there have had recent run in with security. So, if you know where it is exactly, climb at your own risk. I haven’t climbed there at all in the past couple of years because a. the rock isn’t fantastic, and b. it’s not worth the trouble you get caught by a guard who is having a bad day. I will say that there are two bolted crags there. Cat wall and Dragon wall. Both have a number of routes rating from around 4 to 6c. All of the routes are short, so a 60 meter rope and a 7 or 8 quickdraws are all you’ll need.
Faisal’s Finger
Faisal’s Finger is to the west, just outside of Riyadh. It’s a desert tower of chossy limestone. There are a few routes, notably the standard route around the back, and the chimney route. All routes require trad gear and a certain disregard for personal safety. The climbing isn’t terribly difficult, but the pro is bad and you’ll probably find yourself clipping into some of the shaky old pitons when you can’t find any other placements. The only really good bolts are in the notch below the summit, that you need to use to rap after you finish. You’ll need a trad rack and two 70 meter ropes for the rappel. Climbksa.com has some good information about the routes.
Umm Sarayha/Ar Ruwaidah
Very recently I was contacted by Neville Holmes who was kind enough to point out that I had missed quite a few places to climb west of Riyadh. He was then kind enough to share with me all of the material on the climbs that he had done and established in the 90s. With this wealth of new information I am going to be rewriting this section, adding in new crags and far more information. Again, thank you so much, Neville.
Mawan
This place used to be a hidden gem for bouldering. However, it was recently discovered by the masses and nicknamed “The Hidden Canyon”. You can find it on google maps now. As far as climbing goes, it’s by far the best, most solid rock around Riyadh. The problem is that it’s only climbable for a short period of time each season. Every year it floods after the very brief rainy season. The other problem is that after it rains the ground level changes. The water either washes away or deposits more sand each year, so it’s constantly changing. One year you have a nice 4-meter boulder problem, the next year it’s a 6-meter highball, or a 1 meter step. I’ve seen snakes here early in the season, so be careful. Also, the past couple of years it’s become home to pigeons who leave large portions of the wall covered in shit.
Hareeq
Hareeq is a town south of Riyadh, the climbing area is close-ish to Hareeq, so that’s what we call it. This one requires a 4WD with high clearance to get to. It was discovered and developed by climbers in Riyadh a few years ago. They went out and bolted eight or nine routes grading from 5a to 7?. Unfortunately, a year later someone went through and stole all the anchor chains. Very fortunately, all the anchors were recently replaced! They've been lowered by a meter so that no one else will be able to come and steal them from the top. All of the anchors have quicklinks now, so you will have to rappel off rather than lowering off to avoid wear on the hardware and to avoid kinking your rope all to hell. The rock is fairly decent, and routes are mostly well bolted. A 60 meter rope and 8 to 10 quickdraws will do. Potentially, we will be adding new routes in the coming months.
