By: Arwa Al Hashimi
Photos by: Adbulaziz Al Hadhrami
It’s the kind of adventure that is filled with thrill and excitement — where often, only those who are the bravest at heart can do.
The first question you have to answer before even doing it is, do you have the courage to descend a giant hole on the ground hanging at about 160 metres to reach the abyss below? If the answer is yes, then this is definitely for you.
The 7th Hole Cave located in the wilayat of Qurayat, about 160 km from the capital, Muscat, is one of the places some of Oman’s daredevils go to get their adrenaline fix. Part of the greater Salmah Plateau, known for its amazing geological features of limestone layers high above sea level, the 7th Hole can be specifically located in the Jabal Bani Jaber area which covers about 30 square kilometres of land area in total.
The Salmah Plateau includes some vertical holes that lead to the “Majlis Al Jinn” cave, known for its huge cave chambers reported to be one of the largest cave chambers in the world. With an area of 4 million square metres, not a lot of light goes through the bottom. It has an extraordinary room that amazes the visitors as it contains magnificent limestone formations. The chamber was described as not too warm nor too humid.
Majlis al Jinn Cave includes three vertical entrances distributed on its roof and the maximum height of free fall is 160 metres. The Salma Plateau, on the other hand, has four other vertical entrances, known as the Bow Cave, the Funnel Cave, the Three Windows Cave and the 7th Hole, in addition to the horizontal exit which is the Al Tahery Cave.
The 7th Hole Cave has been the favourite abseiling destination for many adventure lovers. Aside from the thrilling abseiling, once you hit the ground, you can walk for several metres and would come out to Al Tahery Cave passing through ponds and huge boulders in between.
Untouched for millions of years until the invention of caving equipment, a lot of the things inside had been preserved to their original form. Walking through its chamber is an even more experience than exploring a museum with everything you’re seeing possibly millions of years old.
Many of those who were able to complete the adventure shared that inside were fascinating discoveries. The 180 metres high ceiling at its peak gives the place its majestic vibe. It’s also a different world down below with its unique geological formations, fossil chambers, stalactites, stalagmites and crystal chambers formed over millions of years. What’s inside had only been surveyed and mapped in the 1990s.
The cave is home to bats that thrive in the darkness of the cave. According to one of the adventurers, the view of the hole from down below is not only bewitching but is also so surreal that the sky looked so near yet so far at the same time.
Due to the rugged and dangerous nature of the cave, climbers need to go through several training sessions with experienced and licensed climbers. These sessions are a prerequisite for such advanced caving adventures. Adventurers must also wear special clothes and get some tools that help them in their adventures like the helmet, the stainless steel Petzl descender, a small device in which the rope is passed in an S pattern to control the descent and the climbing shoes. They also need to take enough food as they make a lot of effort throughout the adventure.
The cave is a unique destination for climbers, due to the depth of the cave and the geological terrain it contains.
For those planning to do this adventure, be aware that the abseiling normally takes about 12 minutes down the hole for the experienced climbers while beginners may normally take a few more minutes to adjust to the height and descend.
For most of the people who have completed this climb and come out of Tahery Cave, they are of the unanimous decision that it is a breathtaking place filled with different wonders and will definitely captivate the heart and minds of hardcore adventure lovers.
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