Jebel Jais (Arabic: جبل جيس, romanized: Jabal Jays) is a mountain of the North-Western Hajar range in the Musandam Governorate of Oman and also in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. The summit has an elevation of 1,934 m (6,345 ft).[1] The summit is located on the Omani side, but a high point west of this peak is considered the highest point in the United Arab Emirates, at 1,892 m (6,207 ft) above sea level, and with around 10m of prominence.[citation needed] Since the summit is on the Omani side, Jabal ar Raḩraḩ, at 1,892 m (6,207 ft), is the highest peak in the UAE, with significant prominence.[2]
Infrastructure
On the Omani side, the mountain is largely underdeveloped, inaccessible, and far from any development, however, on the United Arab Emirates side there has been a lot of development in recent years. A 36 km (22 miles) road has been built, which hairpins most of the way up the mountain on the United Arab Emirates side.[3] Near the top of the road, there are parking places, food providers, toilets and a viewing platform. After a security checkpoint, the road continues up a few kilometers further to the world's longest zip-line and an Etisalatcell tower, as well as a large flat area used for outdoor shows and parking. New buildings are also being built along this road section, for use of the zip-line operating company. This section was completed towards the end of 2017; however, it remains closed to the public, by motorized vehicles, as of December 2019.[4] A private brick road then continues further up, to SheikhSaud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi's palace, which is situated near the UAE's highest point. The summit is then accessible by hiking, a short distance after the palace perimeter fence. The mountain is 100 kilometers in width and 700 kilometers in length. It is the highest mountain range in the region.[5]
The mountain, and the highway to its peak, feature prominently in the UAE Tour, an annual road cyclingstage race, first held in 2019 as part of the UCI World Tour. Due to the difficulty of the long, steep climb, the stage that finishes here is usually considered the queen stage of the entire UAE Tour. Previous winners of the Jebel Jais stage include Grand Tour and UAE Tour winners Primož Roglič and Tadej Pogačar.[7][8]
Jebel Jais zip-line
The world's longest zip-line opened on the mountain in February 2018. It is 2,832 m (9,291 ft) long, and users travel at speeds of up to 150 km/h (93 mph),[9][10] There are, or have been, plans in place to build a hotel, cable car, paragliding launch ramp, golf course and ski slope following the opening of the road. The cost is around $98 to $122 or €89 to €111.[11]
Climate
The temperature of Ras Al Khaimah tends to be lower than in other parts of the country. Temperatures as low as -5 °C[12] have been measured at the top of the mountain in winter. Sometimes humidity level is likely to increase during night and early morning over some coastal and internal areas.[13] The temperatures at the highest elevations on the mountain tend to be lower than other parts of the United Arab Emirates, by about ten degrees, except for spots such as the mountains of Hafeet,[14] Yibir, Yanas and Al-Heben.[15]
In January 2009 there was snow on Jebel Jais.[17] This was only the second time snow had been reported in the history of United Arab Emirates, previously having only been seen in 2004.[18] There was less on this occasion. In February 2017 it snowed again on Jebel Jais and the temperatures fell down-to -5 degrees Celsius.[12] In January 2020 a mix of snow and hail covered the mountain with the temperature dropping below zero degrees.[19]
Note: Mountains are sorted in alphabetical order, unless where it concerns ranges. The highest confirmed mountains in each country are indicated with 'HP', and those with the highest peak are indicated with 'HP', bearing in mind that in the UAE, the highest mountain and the mountain with the highest peak are different. Outcrops are indicated with 'OC', and outliers with 'OL', and anticlines with 'AC'. Volcanoes are indicated with 'V', volcanic craters with 'VC', lava fields with 'LF', and volcanic fields with 'VF'.
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