Qornet es Sawda

Qornet es Sawda rises to about 3,088 metres on the spine of Mount Lebanon and is the highest point in the country and in the Levant. It is not a technical climb: a rough track runs a long way up from the Cedars, and the final section is a walk across bare limestone and scree to a broad summit with no vegetation at all. On a clear day the Bekaa and the Anti-Lebanon range are laid out east and the sea is west. Snow lies here well into summer.

History

The name comes from the Classical Syriac Qornet Sohde, "Martyrs' Peak", which kept its sound in the shift to Arabic and became Qurnat as Sawda', "the black peak" (Wikipedia, Qurnat as Sawda').

Highlights

• The summit - a broad bare high point at around 3,088 metres.
• The double view - the Mediterranean west and the Bekaa and Anti-Lebanon east.
• The limestone plateau - bare rock and scree across the upper mountain.
• The snow patches - drifts surviving into July in sheltered hollows.

When to go

July to September is the walking season; snow covers the upper mountain from October to June. Weather changes fast and cloud closes the summit often. Nights are cold even in August.

Practical notes

There is no marked path and route-finding in cloud is genuinely difficult; a guide is sensible. There is no water, no shelter and no signal on the mountain. Altitude affects some walkers.

Nearby

The Cedars and Bcharre are below to the west, and the Qadisha valley runs below them.

Key facts