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tously found out his email address. The travel itinerary is<br />
done, the flights are booked and the physical preparations<br />
for high alpine touring are underway.<br />
Mount Damavand reaches a height of 5,671 m, and our<br />
other touring goals are situated betwe<strong>en</strong> 3,500 m and 4,200<br />
m. Naturally, our plan meets with skepticism and ev<strong>en</strong> disbelief<br />
among fri<strong>en</strong>ds and family! “IRAN? Are you crazy?<br />
ISIS is over there”! We remain nonetheless undeterred from<br />
our undertaking and take a chance on adv<strong>en</strong>ture!<br />
colorful ski Jacketts, we stand out like the proverbial sore<br />
thumb. Only the parakeets at the shah’s palace are as colorful<br />
as we are. The Iranian people are happy to see tourists<br />
and we frequ<strong>en</strong>tly hear “welcome to Iran”. We sp<strong>en</strong>d the<br />
day in Teheran <strong>en</strong>joying the confusion and eating kebabs.<br />
It’s the eve of the Iranian New Year and it seems like all 14<br />
million citiz<strong>en</strong>s of Teheran are out and about. After a short<br />
night we start out for the mountains. Our first stop is Dizin,<br />
the largest ski area in Iran.<br />
Heavily packed with ski equipm<strong>en</strong>t, crampons etc. we fly<br />
from Munich via Istanbul to Teheran. Upon landing at<br />
Imam-Khom<strong>en</strong>i Airport we are positively surprised by the<br />
fri<strong>en</strong>dliness of the Iranian border officials. We are greeted<br />
as planned by our Guide Milad and tak<strong>en</strong> to our hotel.<br />
We reside in the former Hilton that has, due to the standing<br />
economic embargos, se<strong>en</strong> better<br />
times. The rooms however, are large<br />
and clean and the view over Teheran<br />
is very impressive. We are situated at<br />
1600 meters and directly behind our<br />
hotel is Mount Tochal, at 3.600 meters.<br />
After a short night, Milad picks<br />
us up for a city tour. He organizes two<br />
taxis that take us through pouring rain to the bazaar. The<br />
traffic in Teheran is hard to grasp for rule abiding Germans.<br />
Everyone seems to drive however and wherever he wants<br />
and three lanes fit five vehicles side by side. We survive the<br />
ride and plunge into the turmoil of the bazaar. With our<br />
„Iran? Are<br />
you crazy?“<br />
Dizin lies 1 ½ hours north of Teheran and is well loved by<br />
the locals. On the way to the mountains we meet Mohammed<br />
and Hadji, our cook and who would turn out to be the<br />
heart and soul of our trip. Mohammed lets us choose our<br />
lodging. Either we check into a hotel like regular tourists,<br />
or we stay in a “Local House”. We decide on the later variation<br />
whereupon we first take off for<br />
skiing and Hadji searches for accommodation<br />
for the next few days. The<br />
ski area is by European comparisons<br />
small and clearly laid out with just two<br />
aged gondolas with Milka and Nescafe<br />
adverts on them and several chairlifts<br />
and T-bars. The <strong>en</strong>tire area lies completely<br />
above tree line so that looking up we spy a wide op<strong>en</strong><br />
vista. Tickets are quickly purchased and for the first time,<br />
we plunge into the Iranian snow. The terrain is varied and<br />
we find several fun runs ev<strong>en</strong> though the snow at times left<br />
something to be desired. From one mom<strong>en</strong>t to the next,<br />
20. THEMA<br />
20. REPORT IRAN<br />
PAGE | FREEHEELER.EU<br />
| FREEHELLER.EU // FREERIDE &TELEMARK
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