Iran: climb on Mount Damavand
About the journey
After two years i wanted to do something in high mountains. And after the plans to South America and later Tajikistan failed i needed to pull up a back-up plan, which was Damavand. The mountain is a volcano, without glaciers a one can therefore climb it solo. With Iran issuing now visas on arrival one doesn't have to plan the trip too long in advance.

Travelperiod: 7/2016

Photoblog
dropped at Polour village, first view of snowcapped Damavand
dropped at Polour village, first view of snowcapped Damavand
flowering poppy at 3000m and Damavand in the back
flowering poppy at 3000m and Damavand in the back

After the intro day in Tehran i headed by bus towards northeast and was dropped in a village called Polour at the foot of Damavand. With combination of hitch-hiking and 4x4 jeep hire i made it to Damavand Base Camp at 3040m on the same day.

next day morning in the Base Camp (3050m)
next day morning in the Base Camp (3050m)
climbing from base camp to high camp
climbing from base camp to high camp

Next day was about to get up from Base Camp to C1 at 4250m. With heavy backpack it took me almost 5 hours to reach the objective of the day.

made it to C1 (4250m)
made it to C1 (4250m)
summit day, sunrise at 4800m
summit day, sunrise at 4800m

My plan was to give the summit a try without extra day spent in the high camp, so next day at 5AM I started the climb. At 5200m my body started to fight with the altitude and the speed of climb dropped.

at approx. 5200m
at approx. 5200m
close to fore summit at 5500m, main summit with sulphur gases in the back
close to fore summit at 5500m, main summit with sulphur gases in the back

Above 5400m the sulphur gases are bit disturbing (the smell really isn't nice) and one should try to avoid them. Final steep sand slope was neverending, but finally i made it to the summit rocks and reached the top at 5671m. It took me long 5 and half hours from C1 to the summit.

summit of Damavand, remnants of what once was a crater
summit of Damavand, remnants of what once was a crater
at 5671m, highest volcano in Asia
at 5671m, highest volcano in Asia
descending the big hill
descending the big hill
back in C1 with Damavand rising above
back in C1 with Damavand rising above

After a good half an hour at the top i made my way on the long descent. I reached the high camp later in the afternoon and decided not to rush, but stay one more night up there and finish the descent to the valley only the following day.

look back to Damavand while descending to the valley
look back to Damavand while descending to the valley
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