International Courant
Among the many terraced olive groves of northern Lebanon, a younger man with sharp options and a shaved head ties a rope to a harness round his hips. Nareg is quiet and pensive, mentally rehearsing the actions his physique will face below stress.
A couple of native boys from the largely Maronite Christian city of Tannourine watch silently among the many spring wildflowers and the rocky contours beneath the cliff. Nareg checks the knot of his harness one final time, whereas his girlfriend Tracy holds the opposite finish of the rope, after which begins to climb.
Mountain climbing, a sport quickly gaining recognition in Lebanon, has its personal native heritage linked to the cliffs of Tannourine.
Greater than half a century in the past, Georges Massoud, from the town itself, grabbed the sharp slate-gray limestone along with his palms and naked ft. He made a free solo trek over the cliffs simply to the precise of the place Nareg climbs at this time, with out a rope, to set quail traps on skinny rock ledges.
Under, his stone home nonetheless lies between the cliffs and the St. Jacob Hermitage. Locals say that is the oldest repeatedly inhabited home in Lebanon, probably for greater than 500 years. Each his spouse and son thought he was loopy for crossing the cliffs. However at this time a climbing route right here bears George’s title, a memorial to an early maverick of a era of younger Lebanese climbers.
Nareg dances upward, seemingly weightless, whereas 30 different climbers – each Lebanese and foreigners – set out collectively for their very own climbs.
For the Lebanese circle of climbers, the the reason why they climb are multifaceted. However all of them have one factor in widespread: a loving dedication to this close-knit and numerous group.
Lebanon’s Rock Climbing Renaissance | Capabilities
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