Elburz Mountains Ski Tour

Tehran · Iran

Challenging10 daysAsia~£2,500 est.

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Overview

The Alborz wall north of Tehran hides one of skiing's great secrets: reliably deep, dry continental powder on 4,000 m mountains, ninety minutes from a capital of nine million. Dizin, Iran's largest resort, has lifts to about 3,600 m and off-piste bowls that would be tracked out in minutes in the Alps and stay untouched here for days. Touring objectives stack up along the range — Tochal directly above Tehran's northern suburbs, big open lines in the Shemshak backcountry — and over it all stands Damavand, at 5,610 m the highest volcano in Asia, whose south-side ski descent is a two-to-three-day crampons-and-skins project from the village of Polour. The riddle to solve is logistics, not snow: most nationalities need a visa arranged in advance and rules for independent travel change, so most skiers come through an Iranian mountain agency that handles permits, transport and the Damavand huts. Persian hospitality does the rest — expect to drink a great deal of tea. December to March is peak snowpack at the resorts; April brings the spring corn window on Damavand. About £2,500 covers ten days with guiding, Dizin passes and Tehran transfers.