Who are we?
The Seven Summits Sinai Challenge was created by some of the leaders behind Egypt's award-winning Sinai Trail and the Three Peaks Egypt Challenge. Over seven years, our team walked thousands of kilometres and climbed every major peak in the highlands of the Sinai to select the best summits, exploring them from multiple sides in each season and developing a long-distance trail between them. The project was created by people who have dedicated their lives to Egypt's mountains for the benefit of the wider mountain community.
Salem Ramadan, Founder
Salem Abu Ramadan is a tribesman of the Jebeleya from St Katherine. He was born at the foot of Egypt's highest mountain and walked thousands of kilometres in scouting routes for Egypt's Sinai Trail. Today, he works as one of the head guides on the Sinai Trail. He is also a founder and head guide of the Three Peaks Egypt Challenge. Salem had a leading role in developing the Seven Summits Sinai Challenge and has climbed each of the summits multiple times. He is a mountain man, known for his resilience, superb route-finding capabilities and an extensive knowledge of the Sinai's mountains. Nobody of his generation has walked the highlands of the Sinai more widely.
Faraj Mahmoud, Founder
A tribesman of the Jebeleya, Faraj Mahmoud was born in St Katherine and has lived his whole life in the region. He grew up working as a guide and walked widely in the peninsula, building up a formidable knowledge of the region. Known for his vision and bridge building capacity Faraj is a leader of the Bedouin community and his knowledge of the region and its people played a key role in the creation of the Sinai Trail, Three Peaks Egypt Challenge and Seven Summits Sinai Trail. He is a co-founder of all three projects today and handles the organisation of trips on each one. Alongside his work in tourism he works with NGOs, international universities and media in showing the best of the Sinai to the world.
Ben Hoffler, Founder
Ben is one of the Middle East's leading trail developers. He co-founded the award-winning Sinai Trail with leaders of the Sinai's Bedouin tribes in 2015, growing it into a bigger intertribal project in 2018. He developed & founded the Red Sea Mountain Trail, voted one of TIME's World's Greatest Places. He also founded the Three Peaks Egypt Challenge and has overseen the development of hiking trails in Saudi Arabia as part of the country's 2030 Vision. He authored Trailblazer's 2014 guidebook Sinai: The Trekking Guide and is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He has walked over 10,000km with Egypt's Bedouin tribes & his focus is on mobilising tourism to conserve endangered heritage.
Mostafa Abu Fadl, Manager
Originally from Egypt, Mostafa spent long parts of his childhood in Saudi Arabia. He was part of the first group of hikers to walk Egypt's Sinai Trail in 2016. He began working for the Sinai Trail soon after and spent several years coordinating trips. He is the general manager of Egypt's newly-founded Red Sea Mountain Trail, and is working with the Maaza Bedouin to oversee the early development of the trail. Mostafa co-ordinates all hikes on the Three Peaks Egypt Challenge and will manage the Seven Summits Sinai Challenge as it continues to grow. He work has been critical to the sustainable growth of Egypt's most successful community tourism initiatives over the last five years.