Since the Civil War in Lebanon is over, Rock climbing is gaining popularity. There are about not more than 20 serious climbers in Lebanon and tourist have not yet discovered the finger grapping virgin rocks. Unfortunately there are not that many bolted routes yet and the exciting once are not rated over 6b, anyway I was fortuned to be a pioneer on the Lebanon Rocks!
Avedis invited me for some serious rock climbing; I was exhilarated, since I never heard about rock climbing in Lebanon!
I was picked up in the empty morning streets of Beirut by Peter, an ambitions man with the dream to be a part of the first Lebanese team to conquer The Seven Summits. I was too tired to enjoy the silence and the salty morning breeze while waiting. I fell a sleep at 4 o clock, since I was writing about the cognitive psychology of photography and as complement to subject, I forgot all about time. However I knew that the mountains would give me energy and the rock-climbing would pump me with adrenaline, so there was nothing to worry about, even though my eyelids were like lead.
As we drove in Avedis’ Jeep through the escalating traffic, I laughed of the trilingual fact of the Lebanese. Avedis was frustrated by the tragic traffic jams like everybody else ,he honked his horn and shouted “Yalla monsignor, come one”. Most Lebanese are basically fluently in English, French and Arabic, they often mix their the languages in their conversations, which is very entertaining and a multi cultural experience, some also mix their body expressions, which means you can end up in a conversation where the body language goes though several cultural stages, like an American rapper with Arab humble gestures and ending with french chin kisses.
As we went past the military checkpoint entering Tripoli, Peter gave me a hint on how you pass the checkpoint without any hassle. The trick was simple, greet them in French. “Bonjour” Avedis said, I followed with a shy “Bonjoour” and wanted to test the theory with a “Cha va”, but restrained my newly found trick. Avo and Peter had no theory behind the trick just that it works. I guess the French educated aristocratic accent does not sound as suspicious a foreign American accent or the native Arabic.
We turned east from the coastal road and almost instantly we were in the mountains, my mouth went wide opened as we went into the valley of rocks. My fingers felt the need to squeeze my body close to the rock giants. I stuck my head out of the window and felt the fresh air and as predicted, the 2 hours of sleep had no longer any impact of my energy. The scenery was revitalizing with its stunning beauty.
The scenery changed from luscious green to a dry mountain landscape after we drove through the idyllic village Douma. A place I definitely will spent some more time in!
We finally reached our destination in the Tannourine natural reserve, 1700 meters above see level and we faced a majestic limestone rock with a peachy dry fur surface that made the stone perfect to grab on to. I was amazed by the short distance, two and a half hours from Beirut and we were in Mother Nature’s finest.
Avedis and Peter☝
Climbing is like physical chess. You have to think, feel and sense your next move, besides that, you have to overcome the mental stress of losing your life or seriously hurting yourself. Sometimes, when the muscles are overheating and the cracks too small for a finger, you are checkmate and have to perform a controlled fall, jumping out and into the rock while soften your impact with your legs, its pretty simply and not as dramatically as it sounds, although its 1-0 to the rocks.
As we finished our last climb, the clouds came rolling in with a tremendous speed into the valley. It was overwhelming witnessing the rapid clouds conquering the valley like slow motion waves. Before we knew it we were covered in clouds.
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