Tannourine el Faouqa

__SHIR EL RIBAZI, A.K.A HARISET TANNOURINE__ is the highest sector at altitude in Lebanon. It is located in the mountains above the villages of Tannourine Fawqa and Ain el raha. This sector has been developed by the French army and mountain guides in early 2000’s. It has the longest multipitch in Lebanon at 300 meters. __CLIMBING__ Vertical, slab and slightly overhanging rock. __GEAR__ 70 or 80 meters rope, 18 quickdraws and some long quickdraws to reduce rope drag and helmets. __CONDITIONS__ Sunny sector at around 1700 meters above sea level, good for spring, summer and autumn climbing. In Tannourine el Fawqa there are three multipitch routes of different length: __JARDILAND__ is a 130 meters multipitch (MP), comprised of easy routes easily accessible in the 5th sector “Extase”. The MP tops on the right side of the peak with an easy access back to the parking. A small tied rope at the base of the route will indicate its start. __BRUME EN RIBAZI__ is a 200 meters multipitch (MP), tricky to find at first but has nice climbing overall. The start is on a small pillar around 100 meters downwards from the last sector “Rennaissance”. The MP tops on the left of the peak, take the trail to the left to circumnavigate behind the cliff and reach the parking easily. A small tied rope at the base of the route will indicate its start. __MON COEUR S’ENVOLLE__ The longest MP currently bolted in Lebanon, it is 300 meters long and is a bit tricky to find at first, it lies around 200 meters from the last sector “Rennaissance”. The MP tops on the left of the peak. Take the trail to the left to circumnavigate behind the cliff and reach the parking easily. A small tied rope at the base of the route will indicate its start. __SHIR EL RIBAZI HISTORY__ Tannourine El Fawqa has been a part of the first sports climbing development phases in Lebanon, back in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s with the endeavor of the French army. It constituted the biggest crag in Lebanon before the establishment of Tannourine El Tahta area. For a long period, it was the crag with the hardest climbing route (7b+) and the only crag offering multipitch climbs (three multipitch routes of 130, 200 and 300 meters). When climbing in this crag, one would easily notice how much potential still lies in this place. Situated at an altitude of 1600 meters above sea level and reaching 1950 meters at its peak, this crag is considered the highest crag in the country and therefore climbing is possible only in summer and autumn with a chance of wet rock in spring. The rock is different from other cliffs in Lebanon as you feel it is a mix of limestone and dolomite rock, so helmets are recommended. The name of Shir el Ribazi comes from the wild rhubarb plants that grows on top of the cliff, which you can notice when you top out from the multipitches.