Thanks again to several people for much useful beta:
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=345534
and preceding threads
I was only there for three nights and two routes but will be heading back in the autumn if I can. I can't understand why I haven't been before. It is truly great. I have had a bit of a love affair with US desert stuff for several years but really Rum is bigger, better, wilder.
A few quick notes:
1. It was pretty cold with a chilly breeze around much of the time. I am glad I didn't go around new year as originally planned. During the brief period we did climb in full sun with no wind it was quite warm but not a big problem. On average it felt about 10°C cooler than temperatures we get here in the UAE/ Oman at the same time of year.
2. Not a place for the navigationally-challenged. We did Hammad's Route up and down on day 1 but still had to pause for thought on the descent a few times to stay on the right route. The notion of looking for that descent blind, having ascended by a different route, is daunting.
3. Far fewer climbers there than I expected close to Easter. Maybe just 5-6 teams camped at the Rest House. Amazing for such a world-class area. And mostly euros also.
4. The abseils were the cruxes. We had to reclimb two pitches out of the Great Siq to retrieve a stuck rope after being too ambitious with our double 55m ropes. The optimum route down the bottom part of the route is as several people described: drop down the gully at the entrance to the Great Siq to find anchors about 50m lower down. Then two abseils reach the base.
5. I am pretty sure John Arran is well into his thirty-tens - will he ever slow down? We read his entry in the Rest House book: onsight solo up Inshallah Factor, a 400m route with the F6c crux pitch at about 300m, then on to Jebel Rum summit then solo down Hammad's Route then "the beer tasted good". Quite mad.