The Ennedi Desert is located in North Eastern Chad. Up until
early 2010 it was not known if there was even climbable rock there, but then
Mark Synnott lead a North Face expedition with James Pearson and Alex Honnald (a
group similar to the one that went to the Musandam peninsula). National Geographic
photographer Jimmy Chin came along with them and captured some stunning photos
and videos of the climbing. Mark had been wanting to climb towers ever since he
was a child so for him this was a trip that had to happen.
The Geology
Due to its location the rock formations are all sandstone,
which can be quite crumbly and hard to climb but in their chase they came
across hard durable sandstone which is perfect for climbing.
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock which is made up of little
sand sized particles of other bits of weathered rock such as granite. Over long
periods of time as the sandstone dries, it cracks and this is one of the
reasons climbers like it so much. Crack climbing is another form of rock
climbing and it thrives in regions with lots of sandstone.
The Climbing
There is only really one type of climbing to be found in the Ennedi and that is trad climbing since
nobody has been there before to climb, nothing is bolted and you have to place
your own gear as you go. Unless you are Alex Honnald who is renowned for doing
lots of free solo climbs, on the trip in the amount of time it took Mark and
James to climb one tower Alex had already climbed 5 free soloed.
This is the video that was put together of the trip, check
it out its really good!
Photo
http://media.outsideonline.com/images/WCMDEV_154862_climbing-ennedi-desert.jpg