Jebel Qihwi - Northern and Southern Routes - Wadi Khab al Shamsi to Wadi Gharbiyah
near Luwayb, Musandam (Sultanate of Oman)
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Trail photos
Itinerary description
The route up Jebel Qihwi from the North is a well known route, which now has a track near by. It is a Moderate route in terms of difficulty. This trail was then an experimental route trying to find a good southern route. The route we did ran into some elements I would put as 'Experts only' however, by following the way points and not taking the sidetracks we explored I would grade the descent as 'Difficult'.
The total decent time I could see being 5 hours on a now known route. 5 up, 5 down.
For the ascent, after driving up out of the wadi to/from dibba and arriving at a village on the corner drive onwards, working your way around the northern slopes of jebel qihwi. After another 10 minutes the track turns to the left and will head on down into wadi Bih in the central part of mussandam. Here is the parking.
From the parking head off on a clear footpath which traverses around the hill. You can either work your way over the ridge to your left (between you and the track you drove up) and end up at the village, or you can keep following the path straight to way point 'Ridge'. If you do go to the village, there is a little extra height to loose/gain, but it's an easy walk up to the ridge all the same.
After reaching the ridge the ascent is gradual, at times flat. Just follow it straight along with Jebel Qihwi always clear ahead. You will start to gain more ground as you approach 'Southern end of the ridge'. After this it is a steep section to finish you off, and this brings you to the northern end of the extruded rocky peak.
There are two peaks on the extruded rock. For the northern one you need to scramble and wedge yourself up inside a tight cave at the very northern end. At the top of the scramble, turn right and appear out on the top. It isn't possible to move between this peak and the southern peak safely. For the southern peak it is a little trickier (Difficult). The route is on the far southern end of the extruded summit, and is again about squeezing yourself up a crack inside the peak. However is wider at times with a sideways slope making for trickier clambering.
For the southern descent, we headed towards what i presume is the weather station and helipad just south of the peak at way point 9. Follow the hill around into a steep tight valley (beginnings of a wadi) at way point 'top of wadi'. Scramble down here and at the bottom a large step makes for the trickiest part of the route. Scramble carefully around to the right hand side (west) to get down into the main wadi.
Abandoned dry stone buildings are built into the wadi sides here, which gives a false sense of easy access. Turn to the left and follow the bigger easy wadi. This section is easy and fast, and takes you through a set of waypoints marking a tight twisty section before arriving at a large farming area (waypoint: 'settlement').
Once at the way point we continued down the wadi, however after way point 'top of gorge' the sides close in sharply. We scrambled down to find a large vertical drop, and without ropes this was not possible. Therefore we climbed out the wadi about 100m to get back up onto the ridge line. I would therefore suggest walking directly from way point 'settlement' to way point 'Small valley' staying on the ridge line to the east of the wadi.
Once at 'small valley' we followed the easy path down to a slightly bigger valley. Heading east here would potentially drop back into the main section of the wadi on the road from dibba to wadi bih. However we headed west and it was good progress until way point 'Big step - 02' where the down scrambling got harder and harder and would certainly be graded as 'experts only' and we again got to a section which really requires ropes. Therefore we headed back up to almost the way point 'tributary wadi'. I would suggest therefore going directly from 'tributary wadi' to 'Settlement ridge'. This is a quite steep walk up hill which is never motivating on a descent trail however didn't take too long. At the top smooth farming fields marked the col. From here on a faint path can be followed down through initially some trickier scree/loose rock sections, but then gradually onto solid ground and down the wadi.
This was a great route as it had civilisations, all stages of wadi's, and was very remote inaccessible territory. I keep planning to go back to find 1) the easiest route and 2) taking ropes down the more direct wadi route.
The total decent time I could see being 5 hours on a now known route. 5 up, 5 down.
For the ascent, after driving up out of the wadi to/from dibba and arriving at a village on the corner drive onwards, working your way around the northern slopes of jebel qihwi. After another 10 minutes the track turns to the left and will head on down into wadi Bih in the central part of mussandam. Here is the parking.
From the parking head off on a clear footpath which traverses around the hill. You can either work your way over the ridge to your left (between you and the track you drove up) and end up at the village, or you can keep following the path straight to way point 'Ridge'. If you do go to the village, there is a little extra height to loose/gain, but it's an easy walk up to the ridge all the same.
After reaching the ridge the ascent is gradual, at times flat. Just follow it straight along with Jebel Qihwi always clear ahead. You will start to gain more ground as you approach 'Southern end of the ridge'. After this it is a steep section to finish you off, and this brings you to the northern end of the extruded rocky peak.
There are two peaks on the extruded rock. For the northern one you need to scramble and wedge yourself up inside a tight cave at the very northern end. At the top of the scramble, turn right and appear out on the top. It isn't possible to move between this peak and the southern peak safely. For the southern peak it is a little trickier (Difficult). The route is on the far southern end of the extruded summit, and is again about squeezing yourself up a crack inside the peak. However is wider at times with a sideways slope making for trickier clambering.
For the southern descent, we headed towards what i presume is the weather station and helipad just south of the peak at way point 9. Follow the hill around into a steep tight valley (beginnings of a wadi) at way point 'top of wadi'. Scramble down here and at the bottom a large step makes for the trickiest part of the route. Scramble carefully around to the right hand side (west) to get down into the main wadi.
Abandoned dry stone buildings are built into the wadi sides here, which gives a false sense of easy access. Turn to the left and follow the bigger easy wadi. This section is easy and fast, and takes you through a set of waypoints marking a tight twisty section before arriving at a large farming area (waypoint: 'settlement').
Once at the way point we continued down the wadi, however after way point 'top of gorge' the sides close in sharply. We scrambled down to find a large vertical drop, and without ropes this was not possible. Therefore we climbed out the wadi about 100m to get back up onto the ridge line. I would therefore suggest walking directly from way point 'settlement' to way point 'Small valley' staying on the ridge line to the east of the wadi.
Once at 'small valley' we followed the easy path down to a slightly bigger valley. Heading east here would potentially drop back into the main section of the wadi on the road from dibba to wadi bih. However we headed west and it was good progress until way point 'Big step - 02' where the down scrambling got harder and harder and would certainly be graded as 'experts only' and we again got to a section which really requires ropes. Therefore we headed back up to almost the way point 'tributary wadi'. I would suggest therefore going directly from 'tributary wadi' to 'Settlement ridge'. This is a quite steep walk up hill which is never motivating on a descent trail however didn't take too long. At the top smooth farming fields marked the col. From here on a faint path can be followed down through initially some trickier scree/loose rock sections, but then gradually onto solid ground and down the wadi.
This was a great route as it had civilisations, all stages of wadi's, and was very remote inaccessible territory. I keep planning to go back to find 1) the easiest route and 2) taking ropes down the more direct wadi route.
Waypoints
Waypoint
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009
009
Waypoint
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Bend
Bend
Waypoint
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Bend in Wadi - 01
Bend in Wadi - 01
Waypoint
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Bend in Wadi - 02
Bend in Wadi - 02
Waypoint
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Bend in Wadi - 03
Bend in Wadi - 03
Waypoint
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Big Step - 01
Big Step - 01
Waypoint
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Big Step - 02
Big Step - 02
Waypoint
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Meet the Wadi
Meet the Wadi
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Parking/Track
Parking/Track
Waypoint
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Ridge
Ridge
Waypoint
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Settlement
Settlement
Waypoint
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Settlement - Ridge
Settlement - Ridge
Waypoint
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Slight Bend in Wadi - 01
Slight Bend in Wadi - 01
Waypoint
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Small Valley
Small Valley
Waypoint
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Southern End of Ridge
Southern End of Ridge
Waypoint
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Start/End - Road
Start/End - Road
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Station
Station
Summit
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Summit 1
Summit 1
Summit
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Summit 2
Summit 2
Waypoint
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Top of Wadi
Top of Wadi
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Tributary Wadi
Tributary Wadi
Waypoint
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Village
Village
Waypoint
0 ft
Wadi/Path
Wadi/Path
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