Jebel Qada'ah - Routes 1 and 2

Jebel Qada'ah sits centrally in the northern UAE and Mussandam mountains, as a prominent sub-peak on the far end of a north-western ridge line of Jebel Qiwi at 4321' / 1317 meters (source: peakery). It has the 2nd highest prominence of the northern UAE peaks of 921'/278m (est.), however with wadi Bih curving around the northern and western sides, and it's tributary Wadi Sal to the south, it has a huge local prominence from the Jebel Jais range (Jebel Harim Massif) to the north, and the southern peaks of around 4000'/1219m (est.) It is the 10th highest UAE peak (on my none-official list).

Basically it's by itself, with awesome views. Great mountain.

Of 3 routes I have used to get to and from the summit of Jebel Qada'ah, this GPS file goes up the North-western wadi, and comes down the south-western wadi, with the same route used to ascend and descend the rocky top section. I have split the description below into the two routes, and the third route is described separately here:
https://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=19575686

The North-Western Route: Rated 'Very Difficult' (Description - Bottom to Top)

From the main road a well maintained track takes you into the small village. From here follow the track into the wadi and it slowly degrades into a 4x4 only track. A no access sign then appears but amounts to nothing, and probably refers to a property off to one side of the track, or is referring to vehicles, so we walked on. Shortly after, the track ends at waypoint 'track start/end'. The speed of progress quickly drops here as there are no tracks/paths, and this is the trend for most of the trek, and Jebel Qada'ah in general.

A steady increase in the steepness of the route, takes you past a few stunning view points looking back down the wadi and into wadi Bih in general, and eventually you will arrive at the top of the wadi and the saddle between it and the descent valley.

The next section defines the route as 'very difficult', as up till now it has been a moderate trek, and starts at the way-point 'Saddle - bottom of scramble'. Here a short section of exposed scrambling up a few 4-5 meter steps takes you up onto the skirt of the central 'rock' which defines Jebel Qada'ah.

After a short walk up past some abandoned farms, which are scattered across the 'frilly skirt' of the mountain, you arrive at waypoint called 'Ridge'. The towering buttresses of Jebel Qada'ah are immediately in front of you, rising up for a 1000' / 300m to the summit/s.

From here head north (left), making sure not to loose your height. A true traverse, sometimes along narrow exposed ledges, but consistently easy. A clear corner sits half way along the traverse, so continue on after this. A set of scree shoots appear as you approach the waypoint 'Start/End of the traverse'. From here you can go directly up/down the scree shoots, or scramble on the rockier ridge line slightly further around. The scree is more of a small bolder field at times, which is dangerous, so the extra distance onto the rockier ridge is probably worth it.

A steep ascent/descent gains about 800'/250 meters and brings you out onto a smooth rolling top of the mountain. There are two peaks, of which according to my gps were around 90'/30 meters different in height, with the SE peak being the tallest at 4521'/1378m. However with noticeable prominence, both are worth a visit, and sit about 1 hours walk apart, with a pretty straight line traversing to the saddle, up a simple step and along. At this second peak, you can then choose between taking the following route down, or Route 3 which I will upload separately.
The peaks of Jebel Qadah’ah have a few signs of human usage, with weather measuring equipment as well as remnants of a large UAE flag, as well as various dry stone built features.

In this GPS route from track to summit the total distance is 12.7km, with 4150’ / 1260 m of ascent taking 7 and a half hours at a moderate pace. A descent would take around 5 and a half hours, with the scramble section being noticeably harder for descent.

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The South-Western Wadi: Rated ‘Moderate’ (Description – Top to Bottom)

From the main (south-eastern) peak, return back from all the way to the way point called ‘ridge’ by following the reverse of the instructions from the North-Western Route.
At the ‘ridge’ head directly down the rocky and steep slopes, as the flanks of the wadi close in, towards the farm houses some 1000’ / 300 meters below. After about an hour, with the farm houses just ahead, there is a step in the wadi in a large C, with the wadi continuing off to the right, with a huge step further down just out of site. On this gps I went right here, and it was a very steep scramble down, so I have waypoint marked the route I now use which is the moderately used path to and from the village.

From way point ‘Wadi Step 1’ traverse on the narrow ledges to the houses, and continue around past way point ‘Farms’ until you reach way point ‘stairway’. Here as the name implies dry stone stairways have been built to make the route far easier, however at times it is tricky to follow and constantly and sharply zig-zags counter intuitively. After ‘Bend in the Route – 06’ the route descends down a scree slope, but with a warn path zigzagging towards a bright white tree, that stands out from its surroundings. This provides the first shade in a long time.

From here head into the wadi, and it is an easy but quite long walk out, and the path becomes a track, and the track turns into a descent unpaved road basically, as you come into the main valley of Wadi Sal. The way point ‘track – Start/End – 01’ marks the further point you can park a vehicle.

In this GPS route from the way point ‘track – Junction – 02’ we got a lift back around to the start of the North-Western Route. Therefore the total distance from summit to vehicle access is 8km, with 3550’ / 1080 m of descent taking 4 hours at a moderate pace. An accent for this route would take about 6 hours I would estimate, however I have not done this.