"... the hottest dance of my life"

Through endless canyons and over sandy plains, past military checkpoints and hot grenades, Christian Schiester’s path took him right across the peninsula of the Sinai. After 73 hours, 16 minutes and 24 seconds or 501 kilometers the Austrian extreme runner reached his goal, the Gulf of Suez, on the eleventh day.

‘It’s really hard on you mentally,” said Christian Schiester upon his return from Egypt, trying to give some insight into his adventure in the Sinai. ‘To turn your back on civilization at the beginning and to head out into the desert on your own. Without knowing where you’re going and what to expect – except for heat and the almost overwhelming plains of rock and sand.’

In Nuweiba, on the east coast of the Sinai, the journey began, heading northwards to the entrance of the Colored Canyon, where he was awaited by the caravan and nature’s impressive play of colors in the clay-red boulders and also impassable terrain with countless crevices and heights. Over sand and pebbled territory the path then took him south west to Mount Catharine. Every step over the rocks buried in the sand was a challenge; after stumbling twice the extreme runner carried on with a pained face. Mount Moses (2.283 m) and Mount Catharine (2.637 m) were the most strenuous and coldest stages. After sundown the temperatures on the peaks dropped to minus 5° Celsius. During the day, at over 40° degrees, the descent took Schiester to the west coast where, after 11 days, he elatedly reached his destination of El Tor. His first comment: ‘In many respects, that was the hottest dance of my life to date!’

Despite the trials the Austrian’s trek was a positive one. ‘I didn’t have any stamina or muscle problems. I was able to go to my limits again and again, physically as well as mentally. The training in the sauna definitely paid off.’ As well, the material Schiester took got the best use: three pairs of shoes, six pairs of socks, various head lamps, three rucksacks, as well as a sleeping bag and a camping mat were tested for the upcoming Desert Cup. The optimal equipment has now been chosen. The 41-year-old was able to pick up valuable tips from the Bedouins regarding nutrition. Dried dates and a special millet gruel will be part of his daily diet in his upcoming desert adventures.

‘It was a successful test, the fruits of which will become clear at the first races. But the experience and the spiritual moments I had in the Sinai belong only to me. It was really unbelievable to see how much I was able to achieve with very little and still perform well,’ the two-time father explained. When asked about other experiences in the desert, Schiester was a little secretive. ‘I can only say this much: At one point we had to hide from a military patrol. We abseiled ten meters down with a rough tube made friends with some nice, armed opium farmers and slunk through the restricted military zone that was sprinkled with grenades. So it wasn’t only the desert that got our pulses racing.’

For the extreme runner the break following his return to wintry Austria won’t be very long. ‘As soon as I’ve gotten acclimatized to the snow and cold I’ll be starting with training again.’ In his hometown of Mautern, Schiester has hours of Nordic skiing to look forward to, trips to the mountains and deep snow running before he takes off for his next desert adventure: the first Desert Cup (250 km in six days) in Atacama, Chile.