Treks and Trails of Jordan: Karak

by Oudai Al Daoud

We headed to Madaba to meet with Rakan at a hall room where the theoretical part of the training would take place. We got there but the instructor has not come yet so I sat down with the rest of the trainees and got to know each other. You could see the eagerness and excitement in their eyes to learn this great sport of abseiling. Minutes later the instructor has arrived introduced himself and learned our names. The instructor starts talking about the history of the sport, physics, the systems and techniques used to get through canyons and cliffs, rescue, and most importantly the rope which is the heart of this sport. As time went by he gave each of us a short rope so he would teach us the knots -which were confusing to most of us-getting troubled when the knots went wrong made us try harder to get them right. The day was over so fast.

The second day brought new knowledge about the equipment and their weird names or was it the accent of the instructor that made them sound weird; anyhow each item used has several roles in the abseiling system, some of these super light weight items can hold up to 2500kg without failing or breaking! Made me respect them and trust them with my life.

Missing a day made it hard for me to catch up with the group; some of these guys were getting good real fast, but this made me try harder.

This day brought a bigger challenge the group headed to a cliff alongside the road to Ma'in; passing a knot on the rappelling rope while wearing a rope harness which was uncomfortable. The instructor made a fast demonstration on how to do it and it all seemed easy the way he performed it. But when you put it to practice you get confused with the steps of solving this problem due to a powerful mixture of burning sun, lack of sleep, missing out one day of vital info, adds up and leads to misjudgment and panic not to mention the numbness in your legs that makes you panic even more. Looking at Rakan and the instructor sitting in the shade of a palm tree at the end of the cliff smiling and giggle at times when a trainee gets stuck or just hangs on the rope clueless of what to do next!!

A hectic day has passed without passing the knot! This thing raised my anger and frustration to the point that the thought of quitting the course crossed my mind, but I insisted to go on.

The course was so intense that I lost track of time and date, starting early in the morning and finishing by sunset. Your energy gets drained away because of little time to rest and proper meals none the less you are boosted by the ambition to learn this great sport and the amazing adventures that you dream of in the outstanding wadis of Jordan along with dreams of the knots, problems and rescue procedures that never leaves your mind.

The two week course was over, although it was tough at times but it was a great new knowledge and an adventure that I will treasure and apply.

Now as guides we were taken to practice in Wadi 'Assal which we did not have any prior knowledge of.

The group consisted of eight persons including two instructors; we started trekking along a goat trail to begin the wadi. As we reached the first waterfall, two guides opened the first rappelling station, and the others acted as their clients, the instructors supervised their performance and the others who built the following three stations, we finished rappelling the four stations and we headed to the exit point, but "somehow failed to find it". It's almost dark now, the water is cold, and the radio's battery was running low, which made the communication impossible with Rakan who was waiting at the exit point, not to mention that there was no network to operate our cell phones. The instructor advised us to climb a hill hoping to get to the exit and a get in contact with Rakan, so we did but the hill was too steep and with the sun going down we had to climb down, and continue trekking along the water stream to the Dead Sea! The group was struck with the words of the instructor knowing that the trek would take six hours!

It's dark now; everyone lit their headlamps and proceeded with the night trek, along the way we rappelled on two 20m waterfalls and few small ones joining our headlamps for maximum light. Abseiling and canyoning at night who could think of it! The group did not mind it all and pulled together and worked as one. At this point the technicalities and knowledge learned during the training paid off together with our survival instincts that kicked in under this pressure. After a long trek to the Dead Sea we finally made it exhausted, Rakan was waiting and told us that the whole thing was a planned scenario or the "ultimate test" of every guide's abilities under extreme circumstances. This real adventure proved that without proper training and safety measures such as the course that we attended was impossible.

The instructors were pleased with our performance and congratulated us for passing the test as guides.

I’d like to thank my instructors for giving me the opportunity to learn abseiling. A special thanks to Tala and Rakan for their continuous support and advice throughout the course.

To my colleagues who showed great personalities and above all team spirit and selflessness, wish you all great success. Night trekkers I salute you.