For those of you who love mountaineering and caving, Oman is the place for you. Having done the famous Majilis Al Jinn cave (check out this incredible/insane video of extreme BASE jumps) several years ago, I decided to sign up for the 7th Hole – one of the largest cave chambers in the Middle East.

Photo credit: Alvarez Photography

We booked this with Muscat Diving & Adventure Centre, which involves 3 x 2.5 hours training sessions in their indoor wall to become familiar with all the equipment, before attempting the cave. Check out their leaflet here. The mission: abseiling/descending down a 120m deep chamber, and then climbing back out again..

I’ll be honest the more information I was given about the trip, and the more training I had, the more nervous and anxious I was about the whole thing. I was slightly freaking out by the numerous types of equipment and words being thrown at me such as carabiners, safety ropes, rapelling rope, climbing descenders, ascenders, safety stops and belay devices, all on the first day. I looked at this pile of metal and rope that I was meant to know exactly how to use to keep me alive, never mind learn all there names, in 1.5 days. I wanted to cry a little. Not being a technical ‘climber’ by any means, I was convinced signing up for this was the worst decision ever.

..No fear, fast forward 3 days later (still alive!) and I’ve experienced a mind-blowing adventure that I can’t wait to share…

The drive up to the Selma Plateau in our sturdy 4-wheel drive was an adventure in itself. Due to the (rare) rainfall a few days earlier, boulders had fallen directly across the road in several locations throughout the wadi. We all stood and watched with bated breath as our driver somehow managed to manoeuvre the car up, down and sideways through the mound of boulders.

Arriving at the 7th hole entrance was pretty fantastic. The ominously large, gaping hole suddenly becomes visible against a backdrop of the flat and calm plateau – it’s quite a contrast.

Selma Plateau

Entrance to the 7th Hole

That night after our usual camping meal of sweet potato, bacon and cheese on the campfire, we tried to get as much sleep as possible camping under the bright stars.

Our two climbing guides made sure we were up bright and early at 6am, fed, dressed and kit up with all our climbing gear. It was clear that we were all filled with anticipation and nerves. Even though we had put on all our gear countless time during our training sessions, this time it was for real and knowing there was no going back felt thrilling and absolutely nerve-wrecking at the same time.

I waited anxiously for my turn to descend in to the 120m deep cave. Eventually I was summoned by the climbing experts. Walking towards and lunging my body over the edge of a plunging hole in the ground was one of the most scariest and unnatural things I’ve experienced.

Descending down the hole

I was basically dangling from a rope above a 120m drop, trying to make as little movement as possible while remembering how to use the descender equipment, all while not daring to look down. Honestly, the whole experience of getting down this rope was terrifying – convinced that my legs may drop off at any moment as the blood had completely drained from them, my arms aching and heart racing. I thought that I had made good progress making my way down the rope however when I eventually had the courage to look down, I had a rather disheartening realisation that I was barely even a quarter of the way down!

Eventually our guide’s beaming face was getting closer and closer. Never happier to see ground in my life, he grabbed my harness, disconnected me from the rope and allowed my legs to regain their feeling before instructing me to join the rest of the group.

It was an amazing relief to be walking at the bottom of the cave chamber. It was huge, dramatic and incredibly spectacular. My memories of the abseil slowly disappeared as I took in the breathtaking rock-formations surrounding me.

The ascent up four sections of the cave wall to give a total of about 90m took more technical skill. We all took our training to the test, ‘jumaring‘ all the way up, remembering to not twist the safety ropes while keeping at least two points of contact to the cliff face at all times. (Jumaring is a technique that climbers use to ascend a rope, using an ascender device and loop for your foot to lift yourself upwards. This part was much more enjoyable for me, it was such a rush and really did feel amazing).

It was a true adventure and reaching the top gave us the biggest sense of achievement. We were all elated, we did it! The rest of the day we were buzzing from the experience and I highly recommend this to anyone visiting Oman. It’s a unique adventure and a great bonding excursion to do with family or friends.