Gear4Guides on a field trip to Iran: a not-so-obvious winter sports destination.
It is early January. Ski plans have yet to be made for this season; it is time to get specific and book. We are again looking for a trip in which we can combine good skiing with visiting a new country and culture. There are still a lot of exotic ski destinations on our wish list. We grab the atlas and start looking. Combined with www.cheaptickets.nl we run through the options. Georgia, India and Lebanon, among others, are on the shortlist. Another top destination has also been on our sights for years and is secretly at No. 1; Iran! Even G.W. Bush has officially added this country to his own shortlist.
When we tell others about our plans we are declared completely crazy. For most, Iran conjures up images of burkas, strict ayatollahs, anti-Western demonstrations, kidnappings, bombings or even Taliban and Al-Qaida. We find out how little the average Dutch person (including ourselves) actually knows about Iran. Added to this is mounting speculation about an imminent US or Israeli attack on Iran. For a moment, doubt seems to strike. Would we really do this? Are we perhaps running unnecessary risks here after all?
Travel reports on the Internet pleasantly surprised us about the super warm welcome in this country. But much more importantly; it seems that on 4000+ mountain peaks of the Alborz Mountains there is fantastic light powder snow every winter. Through the Internet we track down Thomas Erdbrink: he is a Middle East correspondent and works from Iran for NRC. Thomas has lived in Tehran for 5 years (married to an Iranian beauty) and also gives us some good tips. He appears to snowboard regularly in Iran and knows the ski resorts well. If we decide to go, he would like to join us for a day of boarding. Now, of course, we get excited again. Just when there is so much media attention on Iran, we do want to try out the Iranian powder snow. 2 return flights Amsterdam-Tehran are immediately booked with Iran Air.
After 5.5 hours of flying, we arrive at Tehran’s rainy airport around midnight. So now the adventure really begins! We grab a cab and drive through the pouring rain to Hotel Naderi. The Lonely Planet’s “authors choice” is now past its prime but fortunately the night watchman still opens.
We wake up early in the morning and decide to explore the neighborhood around our hotel. At first glance, Tehran is a huge metropolis with an awful lot of traffic. A lot of women with chadors and the men walk in clothes similar to our Western standards. We can walk around totally undisturbed and no one seems to pay attention to us. Through Iman Khomeini Square, we walk past a bank to exchange money. It is not possible to withdraw money or pay by credit card in Iran so you have to carry everything in cash. The change goes smoothly but the bank employees do not understand what we have come to do in Iran. It has been a month since Westerners last came to exchange money. We answer that we come to ski, which they like to hear. As multimillionaires we come out (€100= 2,000,000 Iranian Rials). Later that morning, we meet Thomas. He’s busy so won’t go straight into the mountains with us but he has arranged for a cab driver. According to Thomas, Said is a reliable driver and just as important, he is about the only one in Tehran with snow chains.
After a magnificent 2.5-hour drive through the barren Alborz Mountains, we arrive in Dizin. Said parks his cab in the huge almost empty parking lot and we check into the only hotel in Dizin. This is the largest ski resort in Iran. It was built about 30 years ago during the time when the pro-Western Shah was still in power. Since then, the Shah has given way to Islamic Republic of Iran and, as a result, the area has fallen into considerable disrepair.
It starts to snow so we decide to make a nice last run because around 3 p.m. the elevators close (unfortunately). Vice police are also working on the day’s final run. They must ensure that everyone adheres neatly to the dress code. Women, in particular, must have their hair covered at all times. Until recently, Dizin was a kind of last sanctuary where the regime did not have much control. They are now trying to turn this tide by giving the vice squad ski lessons. We ski down with them, at least we think so, but we soon lose them because they can’t ski. Over breakfast, it turns out that we are not the only Westerners; we meet a Russian, a Swiss, Norwegians and French. The following days we make fat descents with the our friends from Norway and Switzerland. The conditions really became perfect: clear blue sky and Iranian powder snow about 25-30 inches deep. What more could you want? From the highest point of the ski area, we can finally see the highest peak of the Alborz Mountains: the 5,600-meter-high volcano Damavand. Really awesome! Since the elevator closes at 3 p.m., we decided to hire a guide with our “local” friends. This takes us to a ridge at 3200 meters before descending to Hotel Gajereh at 2300 meters. We tackle these 900 altimeters through fat powder snow that we “mark” with 6 fresh tracks. At the end of this beautiful descent everyone dreams of a delicious pot of beer, but alas we are in Iran so we must make do with a cup of tea.
On Thursdays and Fridays, Dizin is a madhouse. After all, on those days, Iranians have weekends. Good to consider in advance. Only on those days are there substantial lines at the elevators. At the ski pass office, we meet an Iranian who turns out to have lived in Apeldoon for 15 years. Together with his wife, he spent 2 months on vacation in his native country. He invited us to Karaj in the evening to meet his in-laws and have a bite to eat. After all, it is the weekend. Karaj is a metropolis about a 2-hour drive from Dizin. It is absolutely worth it.
When we enter the home of Amir’s in-laws, it is suddenly apparent that the control of the Iranian regime goes all the way to the front door. The women walk in short skirts, no one has a headscarf on, and Dad shows us the latest Italian women’s fashion through his illegal dish. If we want, Amir can also arrange for some whiskey somewhere. Meanwhile, according to good Iranian custom, we sit down to devour a plate of fruit. We are also introduced to his brother-in-law: the local JVC dealer. He wants us to stay for a drink, automatically we think it will be our first alcohol in Iran. Until one of his aides comes in with a tray full of packets of fruit juice with a straw; very funny!
Around different themes of different countries, you can eat delicious food there. It is already quite late so we decide to go back to Dizin. A cab is arranged for us and after we get into the cab Amir briefly instructs the driver: he must drive carefully with his friends from Holland. Very “annoyingly” it begins to snow on the way, and after a police check we arrive in Dizin around 02:00.
When we wake up, it is still snowing. This is our last day in Dizin. We make a few more nice runs through the fresh powder: Due to the heavy snowfall, hardly any elevators are open so we soon call it a day. We check out and our cab driver Said drives us to Tehran.Thomas has invited us to spend the last 2 nights with him and go to Tochal together on Saturday. He lives in a beautiful apartment with a magnificent view of the city and the Alborz mountain range. We walk around the neighborhood shopping center and fill up the jeep’s tank some more. Gasoline prices are a lot lower than in the Netherlands only €4 for a whole tank!
Early alarm clock rings and Tehran awakens as we watch the sun rise over the city on the 27th floor of the apartment complex. Tochal can be reached via Tehran’s northern suburbs. After an hour’s drive through Tehran’s rush hour, we arrive at Tochal, get elevator passes and board the elevator. After some 7.5 kilometers and two intermediate stations further, we arrive at 3,964 meters where there is thick powder and the sun is shining! There are four elevators and a hotel here, and it’s all relaxed. After some nice runs and a bowl of soup in the restaurant, we really have to conclude that the Iranians are missing some opportunities here. There are so many opportunities to set up a cool ski area here, but it will never happen under this regime.
Harmen has been wanting to check out the Bazaar all week so we grab the cab and venture to Down Town Tehran in the middle of rush hour. The cab driver gets pretty crazy with the traffic especially when he can’t get a parking spot at the Bazaar. At the Bazaar, we are accosted by the first carpet salesman and invited to join him. Tehran’s Bazaar is awfully big and you can buy anything and also get lost. After an hour of walking around, we’ve seen it and find our cab again. Thomas, meanwhile, is at the opening of an exhibition by a Dutch-Iranian cartoonist Farhad Foroutanian, where we met with him.
Before we fly that night, we will have a bite to eat at a good restaurant. On Thomas’ recommendation, we order the fattest steak on the menu. Along with the fresh fries, this does make for the best meal of this week! Since we don’t have a cab to the airport until 02:00, we crash on Thomas’ couch one last time. After watching the DVD “Borat,” it really is time to leave. We say goodbye to Thomas and after an hour we are behind customs waiting for our plane. It really has been an awesome week that we could not have imagined beforehand. Given the amazing skiing, top snow and awesome Iranians, we will definitely come back here again! Inshallah.
