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dirk
Mar 7, 2004, 9:59 PM
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Registered: May 12, 2002
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Hey,
I'm from Michigan (usa), but I'll be doing some contract work in Kuwait and Iraq. I don't know how much free time I'll get, where it will be, or what I'll be able to do with it, but I'm brining my shoes and chalk just in case.
If anyone's been there and has any advice, I'd love to hear it!
Thanks
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mattriedy
Mar 7, 2004, 11:05 PM
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Registered: Feb 18, 2004
Posts: 8
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Advice - Try not to get shot.
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scotto
Mar 8, 2004, 12:00 AM
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Registered: Dec 10, 2003
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the marines were training in jtree for climbing in afghanistan(spelling?) but they said iraq was pretty flat.
my .02
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tradalltheway
Mar 8, 2004, 5:24 AM
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Registered: Mar 8, 2004
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I'm in kuwait right now with nothing but a treadwall in the gym. before coming over i did some research and found that a little north of Mosul, Iraq there was some climbing. I think its mostly bouldering but maybe some single pitch. I made it to Mosul on a "Weekend Getaway" but couldn't get any further north. I could see mountains and the commo team that I was trying to visit was located on top of a mountain in Sinjar, Iraq.
If there is climbing in this area I'm pretty sure that an M16 would be a "must have" piece of pro on your rack.
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dirk
Mar 12, 2004, 4:49 AM
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Registered: May 12, 2002
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Hmmm... Maybe I'll have to switch to buildering for a year. : (
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dwise
Mar 12, 2004, 5:56 AM
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Registered: Jan 1, 2004
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Depending on which airfield you fly into, most will have several 10' tall concrete Jersey barriers lined up here and there. There are usually good cracks in between them--everything from hands to fingertips, dihedrals to splitters. The best I've seen were at Camp Snoopy in Qatar. Bring a crash pad and some tape (the edges of the concrete can be super sharp).
If you fly into Ali Al Saleem in Kuwait, the sides of the bombed out hangers make for good easy slab climbing. Even have rebar sticking out here and there to use as fixed pro.
Yes, pitiful I know, but you have to climb what you can find.
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coclimber26
May 9, 2004, 9:05 AM
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Registered: Sep 8, 2002
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There is good limestone and multi-pitch sandstone climbing in the mountainous bands near the Turkish boarder. We took a look at some garden of the gods type sandstone formations with 3-4 pitches possible. A few of the limestone sections are long enough for 8-9 pitches and are fairly clean. Most are found 50 miles north of either Mosul or Irbil.
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csgambill
May 9, 2004, 9:57 AM
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Registered: May 3, 2004
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Maybe with their new freedom the Iraqis would appreciate a brand new climbing gym. I'm sure the price for labor over there would be really good. You might want to think about opening a place over there after your contract work is done.
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rotcgal82
Apr 27, 2005, 7:18 AM
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Registered: Oct 14, 2004
Posts: 9
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I'm heading to Iraq myself (Anaconda) in the next couple of days and I had assumed that climbing would be out of the question. I figure that I'll just hit it when I have R&R. Any suggestions for middle eastern climbing?
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keinangst
Apr 27, 2005, 7:29 AM
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Registered: Mar 31, 2003
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Well, depending on how your assignments pan out in the context of the evolving world situation, there's some great climbing in Iran. :D
(Check out Climbing from a couple months back for location beta.)
You might also paste a fake Koran cover on the local guidebook to avoid unnecessary trouble. And definitely M-16 pro on every climb over there.
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rouge
Apr 28, 2005, 6:07 PM
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Registered: Nov 13, 2003
Posts: 14
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My brother just got back from a year in Iraq. He and some guys ended up building a wall on their base. He also had some blown out bunkers that he was able to climb on on his base. I guess they got KBR contracted to build the wall and they wrote to hold companies to get free holds. I met some of the guys he climbed with over their and they were stoked that they got to climb, not much else to do on down time. He just got back from climbing in Thailand and is now on a climbing trip to the gunks for a week, a week at the New and a month in South America. Good luck to all of you that are heading over and do what you gots to do to get the fuck home to climb again.
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mikeleblanc
Jan 10, 2006, 3:40 AM
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Registered: Jun 5, 2005
Posts: 4
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I'm at Anaconda. I'll be here until Oct 06 (unless I get fired or a better job offer)...
I'm on the west side if anyone wants to look me up. I'm at HAS11 on the airfield. h1/Q45 in the evenings. Near the westside MWR.
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anykineclimb
Jan 10, 2006, 7:04 AM
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Registered: Mar 29, 2003
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I hear Anaconda has a few treadwalls now.
Aside from my hangboard and drytooling the date palms, theres no climbing here in the IZ.
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mikeleblanc
Jan 10, 2006, 7:11 AM
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Registered: Jun 5, 2005
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They do have two of them in the west side MWR building. Not sure if there are any others. I'm just too retarded to use them for some reason. I always have trouble... but I should probably adjust the tension and take my time...
I work at one of the HASs on the airfield, but it's just a big slope the wrong way... though it does have enough cracks in it that it would be intersting if it was upside down.
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