How this Middle East rock climbing group is bringing more women into adventure sports
How this Middle East rock climbing group is bringing more women into adventure sports
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Anyone who has been rock climbing knows the gratification it can offer. Now, thanks to an incredible group’s hard work, women from the Middle East and North Africa are taking to the tough-but-rewarding rockface of the Egyptian valleys, writes Tamara Davison, building community, supporting each other and finding a footing in a male-dominated sport.
![[Women in the Wadi ensure climbers have the equipment they need despite the relatively small size of Egypt’s climbing scene]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/11/29/11/Women-of-the-Wadi-gear-up-to-climb%2C-Photograph-by-Amina-Nessim.jpg)
Looking up at the granite wall before me, I feel a mix of nerves and excitement as I tie my harness to the rope. Here, in the rugged wadis – an Arabic word for a deep valley carved into the mountain – surrounding Egypt’s Dahab, the ancient rock faces are giving life to a small but vibrant community of rock climbers.
![[Local authorities were originally baffled by the group’s activity, especially seeing Egyptian women take to the rockface]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/11/29/11/newFile-3.jpg)
It’s also a place where women from across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) are now starting to find their footing in adventure sports. After the final safety checks with my belayer, I chalk my hands, grip the rock face and start my ascent. New muscles spring into action as I climb, while my mind carefully pieces together the puzzle of the holds and ledges in front of me.
![[‘We really accept any form of expression ... We facilitate and hold that space for people’]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/11/29/11/newFile-4.jpg)
Surrounding me, I can hear other climbers tackling their routes alongside the encouraging calls of the team below. The sense of support among the group is palpable. Frustration, excitement, fear, and exhilaration ring out as the women scale the desert walls. What unites the group are the small victories, the camaraderie and a sense of shared empowerment after a long day’s climb.
Women in the Wadi (WITW) is a female-led climbing group based in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula which makes these experiences possible. Co-founded by two of Egypt’s first female rock climbing instructors, Amira Helmy and Menna Emad, as well as British climber Gen Morris, it’s transforming the region’s adventure sports landscape by unlocking accessibility for women in an area where it’s been traditionally difficult.
