Over the past few years, a small contingent of climbers (including a number of Canadians!) have been putting a ton of effort into route development in the country of Oman. Seemingly an unlikely place to start a climbing journey, Oman offers some world class climbing that is relatively untouched and ready for exploration. With the most recent edition of ‘Oman Sport Climbing’ being released on the guidebook app Rakkup, we thought it best to check in with the guidebooks author, Canadian-born Larry Michienzi. Here is what he had to say.
Author Larry Michienzi in Oman. Photo courtesy of Natasa Silec ©
Hi Larry, thanks for chatting with us. So a new guidebook in Oman. What can you tell us?
Well, the guidebook is available now on the guidebook app Rakkup so you can preview it before you buy it. Basically it fits our needs here in Oman. However, one thing that visitors to Oman comment on is that it is difficult to find your way around and sometimes a challenge to find the climbing crags. Because Rakkup has a GPS map built in, it makes it super easy to find the crags and the climbs. It sort of takes the guess work out of your climbing day.
This is a preliminary guide and so far only includes the three crags near Muscat, the capital. We are already working on a mini-guide for DWS and in the near future a bouldering guide as well. The long term goal is to make a paper guide for all of the sport climbing and bouldering. As people may know, to publish a guide book costs quite a bit to get a first pressing so we are trying to off set this a bit by doing it digitally. We also thought that because of the continuous the route development, it would be an easier way of keeping track of all the new routes. I’m guessing we have averaged about 25 new sport routes a year for the last few years, so this is a bit of an issue.
To give us a bit oif perspective, what first brought you to Oman and why have you stayed?
A bit of a long story but basically my wife and I wanted to travel and teach. We started in Korea and while that was interesting and we got to explore Asia quite a bit but the job wasn’t the best fit. We applied to Sultan Qaboos University in Oman and soon found ourselves in the Middle East. To be honest, I didn’t know much about Oman before I applied but after living in a crowded city like Seoul for 4 years we were happy to move to a place where you can camp pretty much any where and there is a lot of exploring still to do. It’s been 16 years now and we still love it. Winter here is a bit easier to take than in Canada for sure and summer is either spent in Canada or traveling. Oman is a great taking-off point.
Why we have stayed so long is a question we are asked a lot. It’s a combination of life style, job satisfaction and tax evasion and hiding from Johnny law! But honestly, it’s an awesome place with lots of different adventure sports like climbing, caving, canyoning, surfing and kite surfing, just to name a few. There is also lots of interesting cultural stuff to keep you engaged as well. And did I mention the weather?
Author Larry Michienzi in Oman. Photo courtesy of Natasa Silec ©
We have heard a ton about the the climbing but is it all really that good?
I think it is a fair to compare the rock quality here to the Rockies in Canada. Lots of choss, yes it’s true, but lots of solid rock as well and with a little work, sometimes even the choss can be made good. There is so much room for further development and lots of opportunity for first ascents of all sorts including DWS, bouldering, sport climbing and trad. There are about 500 sport routes at present so more than enough to keep you busy for a trip or two. The culture and the awesome exploring and great weather… it’s sort of hard to beat. There is some great technical canyoning to do as well that most experienced climbers would love, especially on rest days.
Lots of climbers come to Oman from Europe and tell us that the crags are special and the climbs are good. The rock quality in the developed crags is on par with some of the best crags I have visited but what it lacks is scope in terms of a wide range in grades. This is something that Read Macadam and I have been keen to work on. Still, we have climbs between 5.6 to 5.14a and a few projects that might be in the harder 14 range. Most of the climbs fit nicely in the 5.10 to 5.12/13 range.
Photo courtesy of Natasa Silec ©
Obviously, it is a lot different for Men and Women climbing in Oman. What can women expect if they visit this majestic area?
Women will be treated with respect, that’s for sure. Does that mean they can go around in a sports bra? Not a good idea. Not because they will be treated badly or will they be in danger because it would be disrespectful to the Omani’s. Women should dress modestly and that means wearing loose clothing that covers their shoulders and legs when they are walking through villages. At most crags women can wear what they want as the crags don’t attract many Omani’s who think climbing is a strange hobby. However, some crags may attract some boys from nearby villages and for them a women wearing tights and a sports bar is about the same as a women being naked, so you can imagine the stares women get. To be honest, this really is unusual and again if women give it a little thought they will have no problems. This is Oman, not Saudi Arabia after all, and Oman is much, much more tolerant. Of course anywhere women go they have to think of their safety, and Oman is no different.
What is the best part about climbing in Oman and what keeps you motivated?
The best part is that feeling of exploring and discovery. We keep finding new areas and challenges. We have created our own little spot and people come visit and enjoy it with us. It’s pretty cool when people are amped by the routes you and your friends developed. It’s not uncommon to have the crags to ourselves. Just our little group and then a group of people will walk up and ask us about the climbs and we spray them down with beta. Usually later, either in person or on Facebook, they get a hold of us and thank us and tell us how much they enjoyed themselves. That’s pretty satisfying, for sure.The group of climbers in Oman is a small but strong contingent.
How do you stay fit year around?
It’s true we have a very small group of climbers and in some ways it feels like we have been transported back to the 80’s and 90’s as far as training facilities go. I have a small woodie, a campus board and of course hang boards. Unfortunately, the campus and woodie are outside so they are pretty much off limits in the summer as the heat and humidity are off the scale. So, it takes some careful planning with regards to training, but we keep each other motivated and that’s the key. We are also very lucky as we have crags up at 2000m so even in the summer we have places to climb, and that’s always motivating. Not many places you can climb 365 days a year.
Photo courtesy of Natasa Silec ©
Any advice to those seeking adventure in Oman and beyond?
Just get out there! So many places to explore. What’s crazy is all these preconceived ideas of what places and people are like are often wrong, even if we do feel we are informed. I have seen this over and over again. We think things are going to be a certain way or people are going to behave in a certain way and we are shocked when they don’t conform to our prejudice, crazy!
Thanks for your time Larry. Can’t wait to see you again!
To purchase the Oman guidebook on Rakkup, please visit the Rakkup site here.
