Valley of Giants, a Bouldering Odyssey in the Sultanate of Oman

In February 2015 Philippe Ribière, Dan Bates and filmmaker Miguel Willis visited Read Macadam in the Sultanate of Oman to explore a remote canyon high in the Eastern Hajar mountain range. Macadam had visited the so-called Valley of Giants once before and longed to return as soon as possible, explaining "The bouldering in Valley of Giants is unique in many senses. It is remote: five hours from civilisation, without cell reception, high in the eastern-most part of Arabia. It is exotic: it sits next to an ancient village settlement, and is perpetually warm. It is huge: the stone, gigantic limestone boulders from about 4m to 18m tall at the base of a 400m wall."

During two separate five day excursions, basically climbing until they had exhausted their food and water supplies, Bates, Macadam, Ribière, and Willis established about twenty boulders from V0 to V9 and left many projects. "We just scratched the surface of the immense potential of the place" Macadam told planetmountain.com "focusing on what required the least brushing and what we deemed safe with our four pads. This trip reminded us that climbing is not just about ticking routes off, but about the whole experience of exploration and discovery. Being the first people to climb on some of these incredible boulders, to be immersed in this landscape and culture, was a tremendous experience."

After screening in eight countries on three continents, the full film is now online.



Info: www.valleyofgiantsfilm.com and Climbing in Oman FB Page