The Madness
A few days ago, our Pro Athlete Miky Mawem earned a ticket for the Olympic Games 2020 in Tokyo. On his way back home, we asked him some questions.-
This episode is about the favorite exercises of Jule Wurm. Exercises that Jule has integrated into her climbing training and that have made her the climber she is today.
We left Wadi Rum in a rainstorm (our timing was perfect) and headed north to the Dead Sea. In addition to bobbing in the sea, Donette smearing mud all over herself and being pampered by hotel staff, we also went climbing on a very fun limestone slab not far above the Dead Sea (but still well below sea level; the Dead Sea is about 1,440 feet below sea level [Badwater in Death Valley is 266 feet]). While there, we ran into a group of “youth at risk” that were being taken rock climbing as part of their intervention program. We talked at length with the Jordanian climbing guides about the program and that Donette had done the same work for Outward Bound.
Each day we went climbing. A few days were spent at the big cliff near town (Jebel Rum), but most days were far out in the desert – the real reason to visit Wadi Rum. One day, we went to a classic climb called Desert Rats in the Shade, which is located about 24km south of Wadi Rum village. From the end of the 4WD track, we hiked about 45 minutes up to the route and did some very fine climbing (including a new two-pitch route).
Climbing on oversized volumes and dual-tex holds seem to be all the rage this year. Being 5'2" with a close to negative ape index never was an advantage for me on comp style climbs. But come on...who isn't up for a challenge?
