oman-escapes-issue-23

THE FIRST OUTDOOR MAGAZINE FOR THE UAE AND THE MIDDLE EAST
November 2012 - WWW.OUTDOORUAE.COM
Locations
Oman
escapes
Words + Photos: Darryl MacDonald
Spelunking, as it is called in
North America or potholing in the
UK is the “recreational past time
of exploring wild cave systems,”
according to Wikipedia. Prior
to this year, I had never been
spelunking before, but I always
wanted to, partly because it just
sounds so cool – “spelunking!”
During my time living in Oman, I have heard
various stories about the massive cave systems that
exist here and some of the outlandish methods that
the locals and expats alike have used to explore
these deep, dark holes. I have also heard of horrific
repercussions that arose from these explorers using
outdated methods, improper equipment or lack
of proper training. As a rule, whenever I try a new
sport, I either take a lesson or I go guided. There
are endless advantages of doing this; you learn good
habits from the start, avoiding bad ones. You get
to see various types of equipment and methods of
doing things. You gain knowledge from people experienced
at the sport, showing you tips, tricks and
techniques they have learned over the years. And
you learn about the sport as it pertains to the area.
So when my wife and I decided to go spelunking
for the first time, we looked to Muscat Diving and
Adventure Center for guidance.
After some consideration, it was decided that for
our first trip, we would explore a cave known as Seventh
Hole located on the Selma Plateau; a little more
than a two-hour drive from Muscat. Before heading
out on this epic adventure, we were required to complete
three half-days of training on the climbing wall
located at the company’s headquarters in Muscat.
During these sessions, we learned about all of the
equipment we would be using and practiced every
scenario that we would likely be presented with during
the trip until our guides surmised that we were
ready for the challenge.
We packed and headed up to the plateau the
following weekend. We arrived late in the afternoon
and proceeded to set up camp. The plan was to
arrive early enough so the guides could set up some
of the ropes and equipment necessary for the caving
trip, camp overnight and get an early start the following
morning to beat the heat. We camped next
to the entrance of the cave, a massive crack in the
ground which looked as though it disappeared
into the bowels of the earth. Our
guides warned us about walking around at
night without our torches on and our wits
about us. In the morning we were up with
the sun, had a light breakfast and kitted
ourselves up for the trip. Finally, I was going
spelunking! Now, what I haven’t told you yet
is that the very first part of expedition was to
rappel 120m into the cave. This is not slowly
being lowered down a rock face, no; this
is freely hanging way, way, way above the
ground from a tiny rope and lowering you
down. That first moment when you let go
of the rock and are hanging freely 120m up,
that moment etches itself in your memory
forever. My heart was pounding and after a
few deep breaths and reassuring myself that
the rope was strong enough to hold a car, I
started down.
The view is magnificent once inside the
cave; it opens up into a massive cathedral
with beams from the morning sun poking
through some of the cracks in the ceiling. It
wasn’t until I was more than half way down
that I realized one of the guides was holding
the bottom of the rope. The reason I didn’t
notice was because he looked smaller than
an ant from that height! The entire rappel
took about 25 minutes but felt like eternity.
At the bottom of the cavern, there was
another massive hole that continued 160m
further into the depths of the earth, which
was not for us to explore that day but may
be offered as a trip by the company in the
future. On the far end of the cathedral, we
explored a small cave that abruptly ended
in a 30m drop to the floor below. We then
hiked less than a kilometer to the back wall
of the cave where we were to exit into a
nearby wadi. To exit, we used our equipment
to ascend ropes set by our guides
the previous evening back up several small
pitches, approximately 80m in total. This
area had very different rock formations from
the rest of the cave, filled with tiny pockets
from top to bottom, which were great
for climbing! After exiting into the
wadi, it was only a short 15-minute hike
back to our camp. The total trip took
less than three hours but was exhilarating
from beginning to end! I would
highly recommend this trip to anyone
looking for a unique adventure or a
great challenge.
If you should decide to undertake
this weekend adventure, unless you’re
a highly experienced spelunker, find
a reputable local company to get you
through safely. As we like to say in
Canada – get out there, have fun and
“keep your stick on the ice.”
58 OUTDOORUAE