Jebel Rubsha: the little peak

Of all the summits in the High Mountain Region, Jebel Rubsha was the last I did. It was on the doorstep all the time; but I just never got round to it. Mostly because it felt so close to town. I like to get as far away from towns and people as I can in the mountains. But as much as anything, because it didn’t look like much of an adventure. I could see everything from the bottom. I felt like I knew the mountain and everything about it before I’d even gone. But it was there; and, because of that, I still needed to do it.

I went half way up on Friday 13th December 2013, when huge blizzards hit the Sinai. Not to climb it. Just to photograph the town in the snow.

If you DO want to see the town – eg. to photograph it – Jebel Rubsha beats ANY peak. You can see it in that pic on the left. That’s not the WHOLE of the town either BTW; it’s just the main, central part (called El Milga). That big mountain behind – the one in the middle – is Jebel Rabba, a brilliant one to climb. This pic was taken about half way up Jebel Rubsha’s south face; which I’d say is about the best height for photographs; go higher and the perspective on everything changes so it doesn’t look quite as good.

The next time – about a month later – I went under blue skies. On a normal route.

Jebel Rubsha is actually a twin-peaked mountain. Three-peaked if you count another little point I took this picture from. You can see the two main summits in the picture on the right. An easy wadi leads up here from town, then you just scramble up the gully between the two peaks. From the top of the gully climb the peak on the RIGHT. That’s the higher of the two peaks and it’s an easy scramble up the skyline. You can do the other too but it’s a bit trickier, with some awkward moves heading up from the gully side.

Honestly, I didn’t go expecting much from this summit.

But it was one of the most memorable I’ve done in the Sinai. I thought the town would detract from it; but actually, it added something.

Up here on Jebel Rubsha I could hear all the sounds of the town. Children playing. The hum of engines. The muezzin practising his call to prayer. There was nothing in your face about it. Everything was distant and faraway. It didn’t sound like noise. It just sounded like home. It reminded me of all the years I’d spent in St Katherine since I first started going to the mountains. I’ve been up here a few times since that first time. I still like listening to the town. And being high up here, looking down on the bustle below gives me a sort of perspective. It might not mean the same thing to you but I still reckon it’s worth doing if you’ve got a few hours to kill. Once you’re up here a beautiful long ridge stretches away to the north west too, which you can follow to begin a brilliant – and entirely new – adventure in the mountains…