St Catherine

Jebel Rabba

The mighty Rabba

This is the highest peak directly surrounding St. Catherine village, though it does not see much traffic. Long routes up to 650m make for an all - day adventure.

Getting there

For the NW face, from Sayeds Garden in Ein Tufaha head further up through the valley flow until you can approach your route perpendicular from the valley floor. For the East face, the Chupchik and Little Rabba head into Wadi Arbain and then up straight to your route base.

Descent

From the summit closest to the head of the West Face, go down heading S towards a pass. Walk over it and down into ravine and then move along the ravine to the SSW. Stick to the left side of the gully. Do not descend the first main couloir to the right, blocked by a huge wedged stone, instead continue on left and start descending along the second couloir to the right (GPS: 28.543625, 33.943847). Where the couloir begins to expand, go along ledges and inclined slabs trending right, quite far almost back towards the steep part of the wall and go down the scree avoiding any rappels. The descent takes 1.5 - 3 hours. Apparently there are also steps carved into the rock at some point, according to the local Bedouin. Cairns are scarce still, so don't rely on them

Overview

Jebel Rabba sector picture
Jebel Rabba walls overview

Topos

Topo: NE Face

NE Face

Map
Topo: NW Face

NW Face

Map
Topo: Little Rabba

Little Rabba

Map

original topo by Dave Lucas

All routes

Chupchik

Little Rabba

Rabba East Face

Rabba NE Corner

Rabba NW face