Situated in a remote region of Chad, the Ennedi Plateau has long been celebrated as the “holy grail” for rock climbing aficionados. In this scarcely explored desert, climbers and photographer Jimmy Chin and his team tackled cliffs as tall as 1,000 feet (around 304.8 meters), completing the feat and becoming the first in the world to conquer this awe-inspiring rock formation.
In one of the photos capturing their climb, it’s hard to spot the two climbers unless you look closely. Against the massive rock face, they look no bigger than two tiny ants. Chin said, “It felt like we were kids walking into a candy store. For climbers, it was like discovering a new continent. The landscape completely amazed me.” In December 2010, Chin and several other climbers set out from his hometown of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA, to the Ennedi Plateau in central Chad. It’s a pristine paradise for climbers, spanning 20,000 square miles (about 51,799 square kilometers), reminiscent of Utah’s Monument Valley.
Chin, now 38, prepared three trucks and three weeks’ worth of supplies for the trip to Chad. At night, his climbing team slept in the desert and even bravely faced armed bandits. After flying 8,000 miles (about 12,874 kilometers) to reach Chad, the team spent four days driving hundreds of kilometers across the desert’s muddy roads before finally arriving at the remote and nearly untouched Ennedi Plateau. Occasionally, they would come across a herd of camels.
The members of the climbing team were all highly experienced. In addition to Chin, the group included 24-year-old Briton James Pearson, 30-year-old American Tim Kepler, 30-year-old Renan Ozturk, 25-year-old Alex Honnold, and his close friend Mark Synnott, who organized the expedition. Despite having little knowledge about Chad’s rock spires and stone arches, Synnott managed to convince Chin to join the adventure.
Chin said, “No one had ever rock climbed here, partly because it’s so hard to get to. Mark has climbed in Baffin Island in the Arctic and taken on challenges in Central Asia—he hasn’t been many places he hasn’t conquered. He convinced me to join because it’s so remote, no one had ever rock climbed here, let alone taken climbing photos. Mark had thought about this idea for a long time. We all knew the Ennedi had insane landscapes. There were so many elements perfect for telephoto shots. If you knew the kind of adventure Mark was planning, you’d understand how tough it was, the challenges we faced, and also what it takes to be a top-tier climber.”
During their trip to Chad, Chin’s team encountered some locals. During the day, they hid in thatched huts to escape the 38°C heat. Chin said, “Even in December, temperatures here are extremely high. In summer, it can go over 47°C.” The team brought enough gasoline, food, and tents to survive for days in the vast desert while taking in the beauty of this forgotten land. Chin said, “It actually feels a lot like the canyons of Utah. We saw stone arches, rock spires, and cliffs, and we knew no one had ever climbed them. It’s a dreamlike place full of endless possibilities. If you want to climb a 200-foot (about 60.96-meter) spire or a 1,000-foot cliff, this is the place to do it.”
Faced with an overwhelming number of options, Chin and his team made systematic choices. He said, “We ultimately decided to climb the 12 most impressive rock structures we saw over the three weeks. We scaled the legendary Aloba Arch, which stands 700 feet (about 213.36 meters) tall and 300 feet (about 91.44 meters) wide, making it the tallest freestanding arch in the world.”
Along the way, the team faced their biggest challenge in Chad—bandits. Chin said, “After completing one climb, all of us except James found ourselves face-to-face with a group of bandits wielding knives. They didn’t want us anywhere near the car, which was some distance away. They gestured toward our cameras and climbing gear, wearing scarves around their heads and looking very aggressive. James appeared near the rock formation, and I signaled for him to run back to the car. Mark and I then picked up stones and sticks nearby, ready to fight back. The bandits must have weighed whether to actually attack and possibly kill us. In the end, they backed off and left. We didn’t lose anything.”
The difficulty and challenges of climbing on the Ennedi Plateau were similar to those in Utah’s Monument Valley. Chin said the trip to Chad was the most exhilarating experience of his life. He said, “The dangers and challenges here were on par with those in Monument Valley. I took over 5,000 photos. I was one of the first to explore these untouched, undeveloped climbing routes. It was the happiest time of my life.”