Jebel Jais Flight: The World's Longest Zipline

May 27, 2019 Matt Breen

Measuring a colossal 2.8km, this mountain zipline isn’t for the faint of heart

Scroll down, and you’ll find video footage of my trip down the Jebel Jais Flight, all the way from start to finish. For an extra fee at the tickets desk, you can request a GoPro camera is attached to your helmet .

A drive through the mountains

If there’s one thing that’s likely to jumpstart you after a seven-hour flight - and about two hour’s sleep - it’s a ride on the world’s longest zipline. My group and I had barely been in Ras al Khaimah for more than a few hours before our driver, Bilal, arrived at our hotel to collect us. Before long, we were driving through the stark, surreal terrain of the Jebel Jais Mountains. We passed by man-made fish farms, the second homes of wealthy Emiratis and goats. Lots of goats.

The road leading through Ras al Khaimah’s mountains is a brand-new via ferrata , completed earlier this year. Bilal explained a sudden downpour of rain had damaged the highway about a month previously. But it was hurriedly repaired, he explained. Without a functioning road, tourism would suffer immensely. My ears popped as we gained altitude. We drove past a pagoda, where Bilal told me that locals (himself included) would occasion gather with friends to enjoy a barbecue, escaping the stifling heat. of down below.

Jebel Jais Flight

I didn’t manage to get an photos of the zipline in its entirety: it’s pretty hard to make out, a thin line tracing an arc across a ravine. But as either platforms, you really start to appreciate just how long it is. Every now and again, we’d see two figures hurtling through space, connected to the wire with a harness.

At the tickets desk, we dropped our bags, signed (with trepidation) a waiver form, and picked up our helmets and harnesses, which we wore in a weird kind of orange-coloured smock. Flattering, they ain’t. We were also given wristbands that had numbers written on them; mine 30,281. (A nice way of allaying any health and safety fears: it signified that 30,280 people had successfully - and safely - made their way down the zipline. Also, fun fact: the very first person to go down the zipline was Sheikh Ahmed bin Saqr Al Qasimi, the son of the of Ras al Khaimah’s ruling sheikh.)

Then, we piled into a minibus that took about eight of us up to the platform, offering sweeping views of the mountains and the valley that the zipline crossed.

The man running things on the platform was a friendly, funny Egyptian. ‘Hello everyone,’ he said. ‘I’m here to make sure you get to the other side… Of the zipline.’ There were a few nervous-sounding chuckles. I took a look over the edge of the platform, and at the sudden drop into the valley below. Suddenly, this became very real. I felt my heartrate quicken.

People were dispatched in pairs, their screams hanging around after they vanished from sight. Then it was my turn. Getting into an awkward kind of push-up position, I and my fellow zipline partner were trussed up, with weights added to our harness. ‘Okay’, said the rigger. ‘Three… two… one… Release.’

Here’s my route down the Jebel Jais Flight, filmed on a GoPro camera attached to my helmet.

I think the video does all the describing necessary - but what I will say is this. After the initial ‘oh-fuck-oh-fuck-oh-fuck-I’m-falling-through-space’ feeling, it’s actually an almost serene experience. Watching the rocks move under you as you soar in true Superman style through space is incredibly cool. My advice to anyone in two minds about it is to summon your courage, and do it, if just for the buzz you feel afterwards.

The Jebel Jais Mountains are worth a trip in themselves: you’ll find the heat far less intense up here, which is why hiking and cycling trips are held here during the winter months. The picture below gives you a view of Rak City on the coastline, blurred by the haze of the desert. If I have one regret, it’s that we didn’t have time during our trip to do as the locals do, and have a barbecue up in the mountains. Maybe next time. MB

To book tickets for the Jebel Jais Flight, head to jebeljais.ae. Tickets from 341AED (£73, $92).