Amid a tiered olive valley in the West Bank village of Ein Qiniya north of Ramallah, a group of 20 rock climbers strapped with ropes, harnesses and plenty of water hiked their way through the thorny dry scrub.
As the group trudged on, a band of limestone cliffs became visible along the edge of the valley. Bedouins from Ein Qiniya were at the base, setting up ropes on the bluff.
Five years ago organized rock climbing in Palestine was non-existent. Then two young American climbing enthusiasts, Tim Bruns and Will Harris began developing rock climbing sites around Ramallah, eventually galvanising the climbing community by opening up Palestine’s first indoor climbing gym - Wadi Climbing.
Wadi has also taken rock climbing to refugee camps around the West Bank during the school summer break. One hot, sunny Wednesday in July, Wadi set up a mobile climbing wall at the Palestine Child Centre in the Shu’fat refugee camp for their summer activities.
Located on the outskirts of Jerusalem, Shu’fat was established in 1965 with approximately 12,500 Palestinian refugees as registered living in the camp. However, UNRWA estimates that the actual number of residents in the camp is around 24,000 packed into under .1 square mile. It is the only Palestinian refugee camp on the Jerusalem side of the separation barrier. The camp itself is completely enclosed by a combination of a wall, fencing and a checkpoint.
Wadi volunteer from Nablus, Ahmad, helps get the kids into their climbing harnesses at the Shu’fat summer camp.
Girls and boys at the Shu’fat were incredibly excited to try climbing for the first time.
Young girl takes on the 30-foot mobile rock climbing wall at the Shu’fat refugee camp located on the outskirts of Jerusalem.