Lebanon’s cliffs are a haven for a growing community of dedicated climbers
It’s a warm morning and I am savoring the heat of the sun as I follow Zan
Chediac along a rocky trail down a steep
descent into the valley of Aamchit, North
Lebanon. Dodging thorns he finds the
right path and after a half-hour hike
the amber cliffs come into view. The
Aamchit crag, a majestic beauty dubbed
the Dreadrock by local climbers, awaits
us. “The climbing routes here range from
level 5 to 8,” explains Chediac, a 20-year-old
biology student and percussionist
who spends most of his spare time rock
climbing. “And more routes are being
added all the time, it’s an on-going
effort,” adds Tony Dagher, a fellow
climber.
While they take out their climbing gear,
I walk along the steep ridge to see what
the other climbers are up to. High up I
spot a guy, armed with bolts, climbing
up swiftly. Hanging on to a rock with
the fingertips of his left hand, he takes
out a drill with his right hand and bores
a hole to place a bolt to expand the
route. Where he finds the energy from
is beyond me, but he does, fueled by
the voice of singer Peter Tosh sounding
out from a phone attached to his belt
…“but if you know what life is worth,
then you would look for yours on earth…”
The guy is George Emille, a 24-year-old
audiovisual student, who lives in
Aamchit.
“I cannot really remember when I
began climbing, ” Emille tells me after
touchdown. Calm and serene, he just
smiles when I compliment his bolting
efforts, looking up towards the cliff
obviously more focused on his next
climb than flattery. “So why is this crag
called Dreadrock?” I ask him. “ Take a look,
“he says pointing up to the straggling
hanging rocks, “what do they resemble?”
Mmm, I get it, dreadlocks. His gaze does
not leave the rock and it’s clear that he’s
pondering his new route, “his project”
his friends call it. Four years ago Emille
and the guys used to just top rope down
into the valley. None of the rocks had
been bolted yet. “We used to spend days
just looking at the cliffs dreaming about
bolting routes.” 20 routes later, he is still
dreaming and always looking to add new
experiences.
“I wanted to raise awareness for the Incredible climbing potentials in our country”
I leave him to it and sit down to watch
Dagher dangling above, also determined
to finish his own project. A tall blond
guy comes to stand next to me. I have
to strain my neck to look up at him. He
introduces himself as Jad Khoury. “Yalla
Tony, hurry up and finish,” he jokes while
taking out his gear. Khoury and Dagher
are obviously very close mates. Khoury
explains how as a bunch of friends
they began to bolt the bare rocks a few
years ago. Last year in November, he
organized the first Lebanese Climbing
Festival together with Dagher and fellow
climbers Emille and Steeve Romanos. It
was a huge success and local climbers
were joined by many other nationalities,
from British, American and Belgian to
Italian, Bulgarian and French.
“Its great here, I love it,” says Mathias
Gen, a French climber who shows off his
incredible skills later, on a cliffhanger.
“It’s so good to see so many climbers
gathered together sharing the same
passion.”
“By organizing the festival I wanted
to raise awareness for the incredible
climbing potentials in our country,” adds
Khoury. “Aamchit is just one of the sites.
There is great climbing also in Afqa ,
Tannourine, and many other beautiful
spots in the North of Lebanon.” He goes
on to explain that the Dreadrock, has 20
routes that range from 13 to 30 meters,
with each named by the local climbers:
It’s Finger lickin’, Phoenician Phoenix,
Immaculate Elephant and Dead Snake
are a few of the little gems. “Dead Snake,
do you remember?” says Romanos,
another dedicated climber, who comes to
join us. “What happened?” I ask. “What do
you think?” he replies. “We found a snake
in one of the crags.”
“Do you want me to belay you?” asks
Khoury, with a broad smile, holding up
a long blue rope in front of me. I gladly
take him up on his offer and adjust my
harness. Climbing up the route, dubbed
Sojo, was actually not as easy as it looked.
But, a few climbers gathered down below
and encouraged me. “Yalla, you can do
it,” shouted Romanos and I made it to
the top. “Coming down,” I yelled. “Go for
it,” shouted Romanos, as I let go of the
rock. Looking out to the Mediterranean
the sun was just about to set, turning
the sky into a stunning rosy hue. As the
day turned to dusk the climbers began
to pack up and prepare for the hike
back, already discussing the climb of
tomorrow.
CLIMBING ESSENTIALS
• Chalk Bag & Chalk
• Harness
• Belay Device & Locking Carabiner
• Backpack
• Quickdraws (10-12)
• Rope (10.5mm X 60 M)
• Rope Bag
• 60 cm Nylon or Spectra Slings (1-2)
• 120 cm Nylon or Spectra Slings (1-2)
• Oval or Locking Carabiners (2-3)
• Helmet
BEST CLIMBING SPOTS
• Afqa
• Faqra
• Naher Beirut
• Laqlouq
• Tannourine el Tahta
• Harisa-Tannourine
• Aamchit
CLIMBING GROUPS
Climbing Circle
03 126675
Facebook: climbingcircleleb
Climbing Lebanon
03 112338, 03 211822
La Reserve – Afqa
01 498775/6, 03 727484
Lebanese Climbing School
03 776705
Facebook: LebanesClimbingSchool
Rock Climbing Lebanon
jad.khoury@gmail.com
Facebook: rockclimbinglebanon
Sports4life
03 574874
The Lebanese Climbing Association
lebaneseclimbingassociation.org
Facebook: Lebanese Climbing Association
U Rock Climbing
03 807854
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