I'm thinking about climbing Damāvand in July or August 2008. One of the ideas is to do a solo climb. Anyone got any experience with this mountain?

Any information would be appreciated.

Climbed it solo in 2004. Straight-forward enough. Obvious route.

I tried a winter ascent of this beautiful volcano last December from the south face. I only made it up to Bargah Sevom (4100 m). There was a lot snow that year, so breaking trails took forever. Anyways, I ended up tearing a ligament on the way down.

It is not a technical climb, and in the summer it is not difficult to do, just the usual constaints of weather, high altitude and you may encounter high sulpur fumes on the upper section of the mountain. The trail is relatively easy to find in the summer, and you'll also see quite a few other climbers as it is a popular peak.

If you're considering doing the South face take a cab from Tehran to Rayneh village. The cab ride take about hour and ahalf and is not expensive.

Good luck and enjoy this beautiful country.

How would you describe the situation in Iran. Would a Belgian have any problems travelling the country, and I'm not talking language issues.

I've been to the middle east before, but not that much east.

There was a cool article in last months ("powder magizine"i believe) featureing Andrew Mclean and GVD -- tearing it up over there.

Powder magazine? Ok, can't find anything on their website and I don't think I can get the mag in Belgium.

check my trip diary, I have some detail about my climb
to Damavand in summer
of 2001.

http://nikolas.kroupi.gr/iran/

Nikolas

The Iranian people are very warm and hospitable. You should have no trouble at all.
As for the politics, it's just govenments bad mouthing each other off. Just politics!
Many foreign nationals go to Iran, never heard of a bad experience. Just my 2 cents.[/img]

Nice to hear, my parents weren't too excited with the idea. Which obviously means they tell every single person you know. Which in turn resulted in a lot of people telling me it was a bad, no really, a really bad idea.

I am going there in three weeks, skiing the south-face with my heavy telemark-equipment . I have rented some services from www.damavandiran.com , like transport and cooking, and i must say they appear very professional so far. Visa was no problem, in little more than a week i received it in the mail. Being tourist in Iran is supposed to be a very pleasent excperience with warm and friendly people, and there are many Scandinavians in the skiresorts around Tehran.

Cool! Recently did some tourskiing in Austria, but I'm hoping to get up there in spring or summer. Just feel like walking up.

Just checked out the possibilities of getting there by train from Turkey. It's really cheap, but it takes 66 jours and 20 minutes, so I'm guessing I'll fly in .

I'll be very happy to hear about your experiences in four or five weeks!

WouterB wrote:Cool! Recently did some tourskiing in Austria, but I'm hoping to get up there in spring or summer. Just feel like walking up.

Just checked out the possibilities of getting there by train from Turkey. It's really cheap, but it takes 66 jours and 20 minutes, so I'm guessing I'll fly in .

I'll be very happy to hear about your experiences in four or five weeks!

Will do! Got the most recent weather report there now, -48 C and strong wind, i`m freezing allready

Well I'm guessing since you are from scandinavia, that you have some decent winter clothes. But still, add some wind to that and yes, you'll be freezing. Oh well, time for a warm bath.

Iran is my country so I may describe it better.



This volcano is an alone summit so it's a windy one. There are generally 4 routes to the peak. south, west, north and north-east. In winter it's extremely cold and almost only the south rout is suitable to climb. last week a goup of my friends had try on it. the weather temp was -50 C at first night. the south route is not that steep but sulfur gas may affect your breathing at about 5000 m.
August is a good season to climb this peak. this summer I failed to climb through south route due to bad weather but I climbed west route well.
usually mountaineers climb it in 2 days but there are a few ones who climb fast (and light) but it's not recommended for this summit. it's also not recommended to climb solo on an unknown summit in a foreign country.
there are some glaciers in routes. I think google earth may help you (you can find it at +35° 57' 19.00", +52° 6' 33.00")
By the way I've provided a map of ِِDamavand to install on a cell phone (must support J2ME) that maybe useful. (download) and you can use this english sketch map too
there are some GPS track files available if using a GPS.
anyway, if you have any more questions about it, feel free to ask it.

regards.

Hi !
I can see that neghafi has covered it all pretty much and has posted usefull info but if you wanna get more information about your trip here is some stuff that i know :
there are a couple TR right here in SP about climbing in iran and particulary DAMAVAND. i have two reports and probably gonna add another in a couple weeks since i'm planing a winter ascent on the mount. well i have a love for the NE route so my TR's would be usefull if you wanna climb via NE.
about the costs i think you'd be better to do it on your own because if you wanna do it through a company they'll charge you about 500-1000$ just for the climb or for one or two days of lodging. climbing from south would be pretty easy considering that during the summer peak season there are a hell of climbers going up and down the mount and sometimes it even feels kinda over crowded in there!!!!
you can get a cab right from airport to ploor "plur or plor !" for about 50-100$ there you'll find the iranian mountaneering federation building . if you get there late in the day it's better to spend the night right there in the Federation Building. you'll probably have to pay about 10$ for a night." expenses are kinda higher for foreigners " any ways from there you can find a ride up the mount which will get you to about 3000m. "this is a pretty rough road with kinda rougher vehicles !! takes about 1 hour maybe alittle more or less . the drivers would charge you about 10-20$. if you haven't got to ploor too late you can get the ride and sleep in 3000m, this way you are 1 day ahead." from 3000m camp "called masjed that mean mosque" you can join a group of climbers and hike up with them. no technichal climb at all and actually it's a nice and scenic path . this path will get you to the highest stablished camp and shelter on this side of the mount which is called Bargahe sevvom. most of the time specially in weekends"iranian weekend thursday and friday" its crowded. the hike taked about 3-6 hours depending on your pace. i recommend you climb slow and spare your body some time to acclimatize well and stay in shape for the summit attempt. drink well and replace water and minerals of your body since you'll be sweating alot because you will be hiking in the lower altitudes that are warmer. there is also an option of sending your loads with mule to Bargahe sevvom which would cost you about another 10-20 $. when you get to Bargah try to drink alot and keep your body active "walk around or even maybe a hike up without back pack but dont tire your self" because it's a much better way to acclimatize than sleeping!!. if you wish some privacy you should bring your own tent and erect it in one of the tent spots in the area. if you are bringing your tent you should consider bringing a water proof "proof not resistant!" since it probably is gonna rain during your presence in there. no need for fancy tents though.it's not himalaya . durable in wind , completely water proof and roomy, these are what you'll need in there. for summit attempt you'll probably leave the camp early in morning about 3am . again there will be climbing parties that you can join in. and again its more like a hike up not a technichal climb. but it doesn't mean that its gonna be easy since you'll be traveling in high altitude for a long time and you gotta gain ahell of altitude until you get to the summit. you'll need some stuffs "mostely clothes and snacks and liquides". and after you get to summit and you did all of the jumping and screaming and what else you like to do on a summit you can get down step by step like you have climbed. the way from summit to last camp is a gravel ski so it's gonna be a fast descend but be carefull not to twist an ankle or injure a knee. it's gonna be a nice party for your boots though . oh one more thing is that federation is gonna charge you 50$ as summit fee ! good news keep coming wooooooooooooooooow i've writen a lot !!!! Anyways this was a brief info about what you are planing to do.. but i'll be going there anyways and you can come with me. it's not gonna be fancy with me! but you'll get what you want and i guess it's gonna be more fun about the expenses if you stay with me you'll cut from expenses since i like to do it with minimum budget! still you'll have to pay for your own expenses but you wont need the money for the company or guide. we'll be traveling as friends. but whether you want to do it through a company or on your own or with me you can always depend on me any kinda help or information that you would need. drop me a line and i'll be happy to help and gain a new friend!!
HAVE FUN BUDDY