Tag: Jebel Katherina

March 29, 2015

Three Peaks Egypt: the intel…

Over the last few months, I’ve been part of a team developing the Three Peaks Egypt Challenge, a new 38km hiking trail in the mountains of the Sinai. It’s Egypt’s first mountain challenge and the only Three Peaks Challenge in the Middle East. Well, it is so far, anyway. Hopefully we’ll see other ones. The whole trail is a community initiative. Its aim is to showcase the beauty of Egypt’s mountains and to revive some of the tourism that’s crashed so disastrously here since Egypt’s revolution. We want it to bring a trickle of hikers through the mountains, to help the local communities. Anyway, so far we’ve produced maps. There’s a GPS track. And route guides. We’ve got a website up and running. All that stuff is free and you can get it HERE.

Since then, the emphasis has been on walking and re-walking the challenge in a general intelligence gathering exercise; figuring out its secrets to advise hikers with the best tips and to find the best ways of supporting challenges with guides, camels, accommodation for the local community etc.

Growing a trail is like growing a tree. It’s a long process and we’ll be working on this for years to come. Anyway, I’ve been able to reflect a bit on the first phase a bit lately. So here’s what I know about the 12 and 24 hour options.

THREE PEAKS EGYPT: 24 HOUR CHALLENGE

I reckon this will become the classic way to do the challenge. It’s manageable if you have a good level of fitness and stamina and walk it the right way. The first guy to do it was a 57 year old engineer called Leo who walks barefoot in the Alps and who’d taken a month-long walkabout in the Sinai prior to the challenge. He got round in an impressive 16 hours and 6 minutes. Also with us was Olivia, a PhD grad studying bee pollination in the Sinai who took a generally dim view of the whole Three Peaks Egypt Challenge, telling us she’d done all three peaks before and saw no good reason doing them again, especially not on the same day, and that she was coming for a nice walk and would retire half way around. Which is exactly what she did, despite our best protestations.

OK, so here are my main impressions and top tips for the trail:

1. Slow and steady. Go slow and steady. Look on yourself as playing the part of the tortoise in that old fable about the tortoise and the hare. The hare tears off to the horizon, then relaxes and sleeps, letting the tortoise overtake to finish first. You have to be the tortoise. You don’t need to go super fast. You can go slow. But you have to keep going. You have more time on this challenge than you might think. We set a manageable pace all the way along and took breaks for tea, lunch, pictures etc. Go too fast and you’ll burn out too early.

2. Night hiking. This is unique to the 24 hour challenge. Don’t underestimate it. The paths are loose and uneven and you have to stay 100% focused to avoid a tumble. The darkness also makes it harder to judge how far you’ve gone, how far you’ve got to go etc. Everything feels further. It’s a psychological thing. Take a headlamp and spare batteries. Or hike in spring, when the day is longer. Try to get to Farsh Umm Silla on Jebel Katherina before dark too: just before it is a scrambling section that would take much longer at night.

3. To sleep or not to sleep? I was sorely tempted. There was the hiking hut on Jebel Katherina. A Bedouin tent at the bottom. Cushions. A fire. A hot meal. Actually, we’d planned to sleep here. But then Leo piped up wanting to head up Mount Sinai. Maybe a short power nap on the spot would help. Anything more though, probably not. Setting off after an hour was tough enough. Waking up, pulling on a backpack and pressing the muscles back into service up another mountain would have been a tall order indeed.

4. Small, light meals. We had really good meals. They gave us energy and were a chance to relax and make plans on how to finish. They say the best plans are laid with a full belly. I’d add the caveat that executing those plans with a full belly – especially on a 38km mountain challenge – is another matter entirely. I ate seconds and thirds on this challenge. And I paid the price. I felt like an anaconda that had swallowed a calf afterwards, hauling myself up the mountain. My top tip: eat smaller meals and energy snacks like dates, halawa, chocolate…

5. Know how it works. Ask your guide how the logistics of the trail will work before you do it. This will help you plan each stage. If you’re in a group, a camel will usually meet you half way. That means you can think of it as a game of two halves; carrying lighter loads on each. Know the water points too. There’s more water on the first half than the second, so you can go lighter on the first, drinking water on the way. This will preserve your energy; travelling lighter will also be better for your feet and knees. You’ll feel better.

THE 12 HOUR CHALLENGE: EXTREME

A Bedouin man-of-steel called Salem – born at the foot of Jebel Katherina – was supposed to be doing this. Until he got laid low by a stomach bug. Then I was the next in line. Generally, these extreme sort of challenges aren’t my thing. And generally, since school, I’ve had the knack of being in the wrong place at the wrong time when the dubious chance of doing one comes around. Cross country races. The 1500m. Half bloody marathons. I’ve been roped into all of them. History repeats itself. I hardly slept before this: I never do when I’ve got to get up early. Especially not with a 38km mountain challenge looming over me like the Sword of Damocles. Anyway, this was tough: but definitely not impossible. I took 9 hours 28 minutes and 30 seconds. Watch a video HERE.

OK, so here are the main things I’d say if you’re doing it.

1. A fast walk – not a run. You can do this as a fast walk. I ran less than 300m. My plan was to start it as a walk. If I was doing OK, I’d carry on; if I was lagging, I’d run. I got to the half way point in four hours. After that, I knew I’d be OK. Beware though, time is bearing down. It’s breathing down your neck all the way. So although you can do it as a walk, you have to keep going. I took six rests. Most were 3 minutes. The longest was 7 minutes. It’s like being the tortoise again. This time though, a sort of thoroughbred racing tortoise.

2. Use the daylight. You’ll have at least 12 hours of daylight in the Sinai, even in winter. Which means you should be able to do it all outside darkness, as long as it goes to plan. The 12 hour challenge isn’t one for the dark…

3. Watch the clock. Time ticks mercilessly away on the challenge, indifferent to your suffering. Make all the time you can in advance. I didn’t take many pictures. I didn’t stop to eat. I didn’t rest much. I put my chocolate bars where I could grab them. I opened the corn beef before I left. I put some TANG in an empty bottle, so it’d be ready when I re-filled it. I put new batteries in everything. Think of what will take time, then cut it out, minimise it, or do it at home. A lot of this challenge is about strategy and having a tight game plan.

4. Choose company wisely. If I’d been with somebody faster I’d have felt I was holding them back. And I hate that. It would’ve been a psychological burden for me. If I’d been with someone slower on a challenge like this, I’d probably have felt held back myself. Alone, it was 100% my pace and my plan. Company can be good, but it depends. If you go with a partner, make sure you’re well matched: that you can tolerate and laugh about each other’s shortcomings.

5. Know the challenge. Knowing every twist and turn meant I didn’t waste time. I knew where I was going. I knew where to get water. I knew those sections where I could go quicker. The downhill stretches. The better paths etc. My top tip is to walk the whole trail before your challenge, figuring everything out.

6. Eating and drinking. No big, heavy meals this time around. I ate on the move. The chocolate bar count was 12. I ate two slices of corn beef. I drank four litres of water. The annoying thing was drinking through a tube. I borrowed a bladder bottle with a drinking tube that dangled round my chest, thinking it was a good idea. Actually, sucking water through a tube messed with my breathing rhythmn. To use an Americanism, it sucked. Literally. So I abandoned it, carrying a small 750ml litre bottle in one hand and reverting to the traditional method of pouring it down my oesophagus when I was thirsty.

7. The pain barrier. Four months ago, some eegit dug a hole outside my front door in St Katherine. I fell into it and didn’t walk properly for a month. Half way through this challenge I couldn’t put my foot down. I thought it was the old injury: actually, I’d strapped it too tight. That was the first pain barrier. Later, the accumulative battering took its toll. Knowing my pace count I reckon I took at least 53,200 steps on the hard, rocky paths. My feet really felt it. The balls and heels. At the end, my body did too. In fact, it felt like my 32 year old self had been reincarnated in my 80 year old self’s body. So be prepared for it to hurt a little…

Over the coming weeks we’ll be working all the information into the website, so if you’re serious about doing it, have a look. I haven’t talked about the 72 hour challenge here but that’s also an option. Good for the blazing heat of summer. Or for other inclement weather. And if a challenge event isn’t your thing you can do the walk as a normal hike, in whatever time is comfortable. In the coming months, the next phase here will be setting up a system through which a hiker can do the challenge easily and independently. And it’ll be about finding businesses – ethical, responsible sorts of businesses – that can offer the challenge to people, bringing more people to the local economy and helping the region. Contact me if you need any info on the whole thing!

February 2, 2015

Five holy peaks of the Sinai

Mount Sinai is the spot they say God spoke with Moses, giving the 10 Commandments. It’s the Sinai’s holiest peak. You could make a good case for it being the holiest in the world too. Holier to more people, in more parts of the world, over a longer time, than any other mountain on earth – which is really something. It isn’t the Sinai’s only holy peak though. There are plenty of others. Some of them are holy because – like Mount Sinai – they’re on the Biblical map. Others, because of later miracles. And some were holy in much more distant eras, to much earlier peoples of the peninsula, whose religions we know little about today. Here are five holy peaks of the Sinai you rarely hear about:

1. JEBEL SERBAL Jebel Serbal looks amazing. If you had to say any peak in the Sinai was holy based on looks alone, it’d probably be this. And for a long time, people did say it was holy. Some scholars reckon the name Serbal comes from ‘Baal’, a pagan God who was worshipped in these parts of the Middle East in ancient times. There’s a little ruin on the mountain top that dates from a later era, which archaeologists reckon was a Nabataean temple. Later still, in Christian times, Jebel Serbal took on a whole new association. Early Christians believed it was the real Mount Sinai of The Bible – i.e not the peak we call Mount Sinai today. The ruins of the Sinai’s first episcopal city, plus hermit cells, chapels and crumbling stairways, still stand around the mountain today.

2. JEBEL KATHERINA Egypt’s highest peak. Legend has it angels carried the body of St Katherine here after the Romans killed her in Alexandria. The exact whereabouts of her bones remained unknown until one day in the 9th century when, claiming all had been revealed in a God-given dream, a local monk wandered up the mountain and found them on this summit (the lower of the mountain’s two high points and the second highest point in Egypt 2637m). Ever since then, this peak has been hallowed ground. There’s a small chapel on top but the bones of St Katherine are now in the Monastery of St Katherine.

3. JEBEL TAHUNA A little peak in Wadi Feiran, local legend has it Jebel Tahuna is the spot where Moses watched the Battle of Rephidim, raising his magic staff to spur the Israelites on to victory. A 1500 year oratory crowns the summit, with a near-perfectly preserved water cistern dug into its foundations. Small chapels, whose walls, columns and altars are all still visible, stand by the path up the mountain. Hermit cells are dug into banks along its lower slopes and the higher hillsides are scattered with ancient Christian tombs. Travellers have been climbing this peak for centuries, and you should too. As much as the history, it’s worth it for the beautiful views you get over Wadi Feiran – one of the Sinai’s biggest, most beautiful wadis – and of Jebel Serbal, towering up like a castle.

4. JEBEL MONEJA A lot of tourists climb this, making the mistake of thinking it’s Mount Sinai. Actually, it’s just a smaller, sister peak, half way up. It’s also called Jethro’s Mountain, after Jethro, the Biblical figure, whose daughter is supposed to have married Moses. Monks say God spoke to Moses here, beckoning him further up the mountain, and it’s another of the Sinai’s holiest spots. With a chapel on top, this is a brilliant peak with what is – in my opinion – the best view of the Monastery of St Katherine in the Sinai; the classic viewpoint from which artists sketched it, huddling below Mount Sinai, for centuries.

5. JEBEL EL AHMAR Sometimes also known as Jebel Moneja – like the peak above – this is a little-known summit in the northern foothills of Jebel Serbal. It isn’t as dramatic-looking as the other peaks here, but all the same, this was one of the Sinai’s holiest summits for a long time. Early explorers recorded it having a special place for the local Bedouin of Wadi Feiran. They’d make pilgrimage trips to a shrine on the top, tying rags, beads, camel reigns and other offerings to the stones. That’s stopped today, but I’ve still heard people talk about it in the past. If you go you’ll have a spectacular view over Wadi Feiran, with its big palm grove; and one of the best views of Jebel Serbal. You can also visit the tomb of Sheikh Shebib, a holy saint of the Gararsha tribe, at the foot of the peak.

November 28, 2014

Sinai: staying safe in winter

Winter can be an amazing time in the Sinai, especially around the town of St Katherine. This is the highest part of Egypt; the so-called High Mountain Region – The Roof of Egypt – about 1500m higher than the rest of the country. And it has the most extreme climate to boot. Snow falls most years. Sometimes, in such epic quantities it’s transformed into a realm of glistening white peaks, more like the Alps than the desert. It’s my favourite time. But it’s the most challenging time too. One that calls for a different skill set. It’s a time when you enter a world found nowhere else in Egypt, which can be deceptively dangerous. Suddenly, it’s easy to find yourself in an alien environment, where it’s hard to think the best way out of new problems.

Here are ten tips to enjoying a safe winter season in the Sinai.

1. WARM, WATERPROOF CLOTHES – this seems obvious, right? Going to the mountains in winter, you’d think everyone would take warm, waterproof clothes. But it’s amazing how many people don’t. How many think that because it’s warm in Cairo or Dahab it’ll be similar – or a few degrees colder – in St Katherine. Let’s get it straight: the mountains of the Sinai are bloody cold. On top of Jebel Katherina – a quarter the height of Mount Everest at 2642m – it can drop to minus 14 degrees. And the wind can make it feel colder too. The key to staying warm is wearing multiple layers. Wear a tight, skin-hugging base layer – e.g. thermal leggings and a vest. Over that, a T-shirt, a pullover and a jacket. If they’re not warm enough, wear more layers. If they’re too hot, take some off. Pack everything in plastic bags, so it stays dry in rain. Above all, take a waterproof layer; when your clothes get wet, you lose heat five times faster. Hypothermia sets in fast. I take a good, Gore-Tex jacket and a spare plastic pocket poncho.

2. FOOTWEAR – it’s near-impossible to buy specialist walking boots in Egypt, let alone specialist winter boots. The next best thing are high, army style leather boots. If you’re walking in snow, it’s important to stop it going down the tops of your boots. Army boots are pretty good at this, as they strap tight around your legs, higher up than other boots. Gaiters are another option: these are basically ankle covers you strap around the tops of your boots. If you don’t have them, you can improvise with plastic bags and duck tape. That’s exactly what I did last winter, in deep snow on Jebel Katherina.

3. ESSENTIAL KIT – You need extra stuff, and a bigger pack in winter. Along with spare clothes, carry a whistle. You can blow this to attract help. A torch can be useful too. I’ve experimented with laser pens – like the ones in Midan Tahrir – and they’re great. Never go to the mountains without a mobile phone. Reception is patchy; sometimes non-existent, even on high peaks like Jebel Katherina. But there are still places with a signal. I take a small, basic Nokia phone – not a smart phone – as they’re tougher, with a better battery life. Always take matches/ a few lighters. Even in the snow, there’s dry wood in caves, under boulders etc. Take a survival bag too: this is a tough, plastic bag, about the size of a sleeping bag. A shield between you and the wind, rain and snow. Waterproofs sometimes leak. They get ripped etc. Survival bags give that last-ditch security. If you can’t find one, buy a strip of lightweight plastic sheeting. If you’re camping, you need a winter sleeping bag and a tent: otherwise, stay in gardens, with stone huts.

4. EAT WELL – You burn a lot of energy in winter, just to stay warm. Take plenty of high energy food – chocolate, sweets, halawa etc – so you can keep yourself properly heated. A thermos flask with a hot drink can be a good idea too.

5. WEATHER – Egypt doesn’t generate specialist mountain forecasts like many Western countries, where hiking is common. Nation-wide TV forecasts give a general idea of how it’ll be. Check out YR too: it uses weather data from the St Katherine airport, a few kilos outside town (this weather station is around 1000m lower than the highest tops of the nearby mountains – so remember the weather you will experience higher will be significantly more severe). Don’t just rely on forecasts though. Watch the weather; the sky; the clouds. The weather – despite what some say – does not change in the click of a finger. It gives warning signs. It can change fast, but rarely so fast you won’t have time to find shelter, an escape route, a safer place etc. If it looks threatening, don’t hang about. Make a plan. The fastest I have seen the weather turn in the Sinai is about 40 minutes: from clear skies, to thickening clouds, to snow. See a video I took of a Sinai snowstorm last winter HERE.

6. USE A BEDOUIN GUIDE – Use a good, experienced Bedouin guide. I’ve heard it said that ALL Bedouin know the mountains. Without a doubt, the Bedouin know the Sinai better than anybody in the world. But not all of them; there are still Bedouin who’ve grown up in towns, and who know virtually nothing beyond Jebel Musa. In winter, that’s not good enough. You need a guide you can trust. One who knows the way, day or night. Who knows the escape routes. The nearest shelters. One who watches the weather, who sees the subtle, early warning signs. One who’ll stay with you, however tough it gets. You can get guides from two official organisers in St Katherine: Sheikh Musa and Faraj Mahmoud. Sheikh Musa operates a rotation system. I don’t like it because I never know who I’m going to get. I get my guides from Faraj Mahmoud: in my opinion, his guides are the best available in the mountains. Call him on 0109-473-2417.

7. KNOW YOUR LIMITS – Stay well within the limits of your mountain experience in winter. And the experience of people in your group. Never do something the weakest member isn’t comfortable with. Be flexible and never be afraid to turn back from a mountain. I’ve climbed a lot of mountains in the Sinai and I’ve turned back from plenty too. It can feel hard at times – like a failure – but that’s only a short term feeling. Think about a mountain as a long term project. It’s not going anywhere; you can come back and do it again.

8. WHAT’S YOUR PLAN? – In winter, always – always – have a proper plan. Know the exact route – from one wadi to the next- and the schedule you will do it on. Plan escape routes. Or easier alternatives, if you need them. Know places you can shelter, like gardens or caves. It’s not enough for your guide to know this alone: you need to know it too. And you must tell someone reliable in addition, like the owner of the Bedouin camp who organises your hike. If you don’t come back on schedule, they can help start a search on your planned route, ASAP.

9. ALL FOR ONE, ONE FOR ALL – Always look out for your companions. When something happens to one of us in a group, it happens to all of us. Look out for your guide as well: things happen to them too. Do the same with the other folks you meet: stop, chat and keep a mental note as – in an emergency – you might be the last sources of intelligence about them. And they might be the last source of intelligence about you. And please – PLEASE, PLEASE – always leave shelters in a good condition, for the next folks. When I climbed Jebel Katherina after the snow last winter, I was the first on top: and the last person had left the window wide open, so it was full of snow. And totally useless for sleeping. Please also leave dry wood in shelters plus matches, candles and any food you can spare.

10. ACCEPT THE RISKS – Mountains are hazardous, especially in winter. The Sinai has no specialist, trained mountain rescue team, ready to go in an emergency. When you go to the mountains in winter, you HAVE to accept that. We go to the mountains for fun. Rescuers come for something else. They put their own lives in danger to try and save ours. Always remember: before it is anybody’s responsibility to rescue you; it is YOUR responsibility to go prepared.

I KNOW PREPARING FOR HIKING IN EGYPT ISN’T EASY – LET ALONE WINTER HIKING. I’VE TRIED TO TALK ABOUT GEAR THAT IS READILY AVAILABLE IN EGYPT IN THIS POST. TRY ALFA MARKET IN ZAMALEK AND THE CARREFOUR IN MAADI. IF YOU NEED ANY MORE ADVICE ON HOW TO IMPROVISE WITH OTHER GEAR, CONTACT ME. AND PLEASE SHARE THIS BLOG POST TO HELP US SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT STAYING SAFE THIS WINTER!

May 9, 2014

Jebel Katherina in the snow

Winter 2013 was one of the most amazing on record in the Middle East. On Friday, 13th December, a huge blizzard hit the region – the biggest since the 50s – whipping it with icy winds and dropping a thick blanket of snow everywhere from Syria to Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and Palestine. Even Cairo, on the balmy banks of the Nile, had its first snow in over a century. Nowhere had more though than the rugged highlands of the Sinai: here, the age old wilderness of red desert peaks was transformed into a rarely-seen realm of glistening white; more like the Alps than Egypt.

Jebel Katherina – Egypt’s highest peak – had the most snow of all and towered up as a gigantic white pyramid in the clouds after the snow; the like of which nobody had seen for generations. It had been re-made as a new mountain.

It was something new; and something I HAD to do.

I wasn’t exactly kitted out for a full-on winter mountaineering expedition. The only thing I’d got were a pair of leather boots; and even they had holes in. But I could improvise with other stuff. I’d duck tape plastic bags over the top of my boots as gaiters. I had a bent trekking pole that’d double as an ice axe and an old snorkelling mask I could wear over shades for ski goggles. It wasn’t perfect – but it was enough. And I wasn’t going to stop.

Dawn was breaking as I got to the foot of the mountain; the snow sparkling in beautiful blues and pinks and golds. Icicles hung off the high crags – crashing down as they warmed in the sun – and every mountainside looked brilliantly white against Jebel Katherina’s black rock.

Every step was an effort up here. The snow was deep and untrodden and the path’s interminable zigzags doubled the distance to walk.

Further up, I found a couple of donkeys on the mountainside. They’d beaten out about 5m of snow on the path – the easiest 5m of the whole day – plodding it down with deep hoof marks. I wondered if I could coax them into treading out the next 5m, throwing half a sandwich on the path in front. Buy they just stood there. And I stood there. Minus half a sandwich. Anyway, I wanted to buy all the time I could so I threw it back to them and trudged up the last zigzags to Farsh Umm Silla, a high pass below Jebel Katherina’s north face.

Huge views opened up here: one way, I could look out to Mount Sinai. The other way I could gaze over high, snowy summits to Hadabat el Tih: a high, desolate plateau that stretches across the Sinai, from one side to the other. The fabled Wilderness of the Wanderings, I’ve always loved this plateau. And its high edge looked all the more beautiful and haunting under the white snows of winter. Here, from Farsh Umm Silla, I thought the climb would get tougher. Actually, it got easier; the wind had piled the snow up on the side of the pass I’d come up. Over on the other side – where I was going – it was shallower.

All the way up, I’d had doubts about whether I could make it from here. About the snow; the north face. But they all went now. It could definitely be done.

I carried on from Farsh Umm Silla, heading for the North Face. The path makes more zigzags here so I headed straight up in a beeline for the top, kicking steps. An hour later I was just below the high summit crags of the mountain; the peak was just above.

The first peak you get to on Jebel Katherina has a chapel on top and legend has it this is where angels laid St Katherine to rest 1500 years ago. It had caught all of the full blow of the blizzard and the snow was piled into ruts and hollows in the crags. These were the only way through and the toughest bit of the whole day. Most of the way I had to hack through big drifts with a trekking pole.

About 15m below the top I lay on my back and gazed at the huge blue sky: exhausted and frozen. When the fatigue eased – when the desire to reach the peak outweighed it again – I ditched my bag and clambered to the top.

A vast, snowy wilderness unfolded here. Mountainsides covered in white stretched out on all sides. Icy peaks stood on faraway horizons; jagged and beautiful. One way, I could gaze over the beautiful white skylines to Africa; the other way, to Asia.

Directly south was Jebel Katherina’s second peak, with two radio masts on top. Getting up was this much easier, with the path up the sheltered side.

This second peak is covered in wreckage from the time it was a installation in conflicts. Steel girders, oil drums and corrugated iron are all scattered about. Today though, covered in twinkling cyrstals, they were part of a beautiful ice sculpture.

I’d lugged all my gear up Jebel Katherina to sleep out in the summit hut. But it was full of snow – the last eegit here had left the door wide open – and I had another six hours to hang about until sunset so I headed back down.

I glissaded back down the North Face – using my trekking pole as a rudder – from where I followed my own deep footprints for a blissful walk back down.

Honestly, I’ve never been the biggest fan of Jebel Katherina: I’ve done it from every side, probably more than 15 times; mostly because it’s the biggest one; but also because the summit views are incredible. I prefer the Sinai’s red rock peaks and, even as black peaks go, there are more beautiful ones than Jebel Katherina. Even so, this time; the snow made it a NEW mountain; none would’ve been as snowy or beautiful. It was amazing and if the next big snow is as long coming as this one was I’ll be 82 before I see it again (when I think I’d still be inclined to give it a go). If you’re wondering about visiting the Sinai in winter, DO IT! Most folks say don’t, because it’s too cold: but there’s a beautiful light, there are rains; and, if you’re lucky, you’l see the snow too…