The Trail

Jebel Katherina chapel above clouds, Three Peaks Egypt, Ben HofflerThe Three Peaks Egypt Challenge is a 38km mountain route in the highlands of the Sinai, traversing three of Egypt’s highest, most iconic peaks. It’s the first mountain challenge of its kind in Egypt and the first Three Peaks Challenge in the Middle East. The concept of a Three Peaks Challenge – doing three mountains in a set period of time – isn’t new. The first Three Peaks Challenge on record was in the north of England, in 1887, when two local ramblers – J.R. Wynne-Edwards and D.R. Smith – walked a 37km route on the Yorkshire hills. In 1897, in South Africa, Carl Wilhelm Schneeberger recorded another Three Peaks Challenge around the Table Mountain area. Those two Three Peaks Challenges are still going today.  The concept then expanded across other parts of the UK and the wider world. 

THREE PEAKS EGYPT CHALLENGE: FACTS & FIGS

  • The original challenge is a 38km route, with a collective 5000m of ascent and descent. From beginning to end the ascent is roughly 2500m – over a quarter the height of Mount Everest – and the descent roughly 2500m.
  • The challenge starts in the town of St Katherine – the highest town in Egypt – and ends at the Monastery of St Katherine, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The whole route takes place at altitudes over 1500m.
  • Jebel Abbas Basha (2383m), Jebel Katherina (2637m) and Mount Sinai (2285m) are the three peaks. The route also takes in 5 high passes and 14 wadis.
  • Jebel Abbas Basha has an unfinished Ottoman palace on its summit, built by Abbas Pasha I, a Viceroy of Egypt, who wanted a retreat with clean, mountain air for his tuberculosis. He died before the palace was finished.
  • Jebel Katherina is one of the Sinai’s holy mountains, crowned with a chapel. It’s said angels carried the body of St Katherine here after she was martyred under Roman rule in Alexandria. Her remains were found centuries later. 
  • Mount Sinai is one of the most holy mountains in the world. This is where the Torah, The Bible and Koran all tell us God spoke with Moses.

Jebel Abbas Basha cliffs, from Wadi Tlah, Three Peaks Egypt, Ben HofflerEach one of the three peaks is a key point in the route. However, it’s the hiking trail that connects them that is the real highlight. Outside of any challenge attempt, it makes a beautiful route to walk. It crosses landscapes showcasing history from Nabataean to Byzantine and Ottoman times, that resonate with ancient Biblical legends. Any walk on the trail is also a chance to spend time with the Bedouin tribe of the Jebeleya – The Mountain People – who have lived in these rugged highlands for over a thousand years.