There are not many men who celebrate their 61st birthday by cycling in 35C heat, stand up paddle boarding and rock climbing. But then my dad is not your average bear! He has always been up for a challenge and loves to be outdoors, regularly going hiking and climbing. One thing that has been on his bucket list for a while is to do a 'Via Ferrata", so on discovering that there was one in Oman, what better present to get him for his birthday than a nice day out checking this off his list.
Via Ferrata means "iron road" in Italian and is essentially a large steel cable which is attached to rocks, which enables a safer and less strenuous climb. Oman has a number of via ferrata routes, all of which have been temporarily closed for safety reasons (not a good start!). Recently, the Ministry of Tourism reopened the one in Jebel Shams to those travelling with approved tour groups. Fortunately for us
Oman Adventure were running their first trip to Jebel Shams since it was reopened whilst Mum and Dad were here, so we booked Dad, Jenny, Nicky (Jenny's sister) and Craig (Nicky's boyfriend) on the trip.
To get to the start of the Via Ferrata there is a high level balcony walk to the abandoned village of Sab bani Khamis. Here are a few photos and a short video of the trip.
Good work Dad!
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| Jebel Shams is known as Oman's Grand Canyon |
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| Hard to see, but this is the rock they climbed |
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| Dad posing for the camera half way up |
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| Jenny with the GoPro |
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| Craig reaching the top |
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Nicky bringing up the rear
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