June - July '08 |
Hot Rock: Climbing in Iran |
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Iran is a little known travelers gem with historic oasis towns, deserted cities and beautiful mosques. The ancient Persia is also a land of dramatic contrast, from inhospitable deserts to snow clad mountains, with great opportunities for adventures, climbing and first ascents. Entering Iran after the often lengthy border formalities we will drive East via Tabriz to Qazvin and the jumping off point for an exploration of the Assassins castles.
The word assassin comes from 'Hashishiyun' which were 12th century hit men famed for Hash crazed suicide missions. There unswerving devotion to their leaders meant they were fearful enemies to silk route caravans and the crusaders.
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We follow in Freya Starks footsteps into The Alborz Mountains. She commented "The castle of Nevisar Shah stood on 3,000ft of sheer rock precipice, no more stupendous place could be found for the assassins home." Marco Polo described The Rock of Alamut as being “the assassins’ base, at a mountain with pinnacles so high that the forts on top were not visible to the naked eye.” The quality of rock on the cliffs may however, be suspect, as Don Whillans described one cliff in the area when he went to search for the assassins’ treasure as "heaps o' mud".
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Another option in The Alborz mountains area is to head into the nearby Takht-i-Suleiman mountain group, meaning the throne of Solomon. The group contains 14x 4000m mountains including famous Alum Kuh, a 4,840m peak with a 600m granite north face. Consisting of sharp textural granite the North and North West faces have several established routes including the Rost route. Variously described as being; "steep granite in the classical Yosemite pattern" (High), “vertical choss" (OTE) and “vertical granite, suitable for cliff hanging” (Iranian Mountaineering Association!), there seems to be a lot of rock in the area both for multi pitch, multi-day routes and shorter climbs on sound rock with a one day walk in. |
For those that think the air is too thick at 4000m, there is the option to have a go at Mt Damavand, the roof of the Middle East. A steady trek to the summit at 5610m, this beautiful volcano still has steam and sulphur vents near the top. Between now and the start of the expedition I will be in touch with the Iranian climbing federation for detailed route information and to get hold of any topos on the many other faces (including some bolted cliffs) that surround this tremendous and remote mountain region. |
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The walk-ins in the Alborz range give a great opportunity to meet some of the local people and see the famous hospitality for which Iran is known. After a few days wild camping we rejoin Birt and head South into The Zagros mountain chain towards the Kuh-e-Parau Massif. We will not be going into Tehran unless we have to extend our visas. Tehran does have the attraction of night-clubs, but as beer, dancing, music and even playing backgammon in public is illegal (nor are women allowed in) we will probably leave them to it.
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The only recorded climbing on the Bisotun cliffs has been by Tony Howard on the 1976 Anglo-Swiss Zagros expedition and of course the previous Hot Rock expeditions to come through here. Tony spent three days putting up a new route and said; "Despite the steepness of the pillar we were surprised to find the initial pitches to be rarely more than mild-VS due to the unbelievable friction – like climbing up vertical hedgehogs!" With plenty of potential for new routes and trekking in the area, and exploring the famous cave system nearby, there should be loads to keep us occupied at this off-the-beaten-track climbing destination.
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After a few days camping at the springs of Bisotun, we will drive to the romantic city of Isfahan. A medley of splendid mosques and bazaars, squares and palaces made famous by the Arabic saying 'Isfahan is half the world'. We will spend a day relaxing and exploring this “city of roses”, before continuing south towards the other celebrated Iranian destination: Shiraz, the poets’ city. On the way we will stop at the pillars of Persepolis, the ruined city of Darius the Great (331 B.C.) Persepolis was destroyed one drunken night by Alexander the Great and now lies in spectacular and unforgettable ruins amongst the desert. |
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| We will also visit the nearby Naghsh-e Rostam where royal tombs and carvings decorate the vertical faces and cliffs in an area where spectacular climbs are possible. From Rostam we will turn East once more towards Yazd, and there explore the potential for routes in this 150m high gorge that has "dramatic rock scenery with vertical cliffs of excellent rock with numerous good lines" (as noted by Tony Howard and co. on the Anglo-Swiss 1976 Zagros expedition). We may also take a look at the 300m face of Shir Kuh, though the scree slope walk in to the base of the cliffs sounds like quite a hike. |  |
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It should be noted that the Anglo-Swiss expedition of 1976 was looking specifically for big wall climbing and didn't even sniff at anything below 100m. There may be vast potential for developing climbs in these areas as well as some excellent bouldering. As the first climbers to visit some of these areas, it is possible that we may find completely untouched crags as good as anything in the World. If there's nothing too tempting we can move on, if there is however, we should have enough time to stay and fully explore a new area. |
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In Yazd we can explore the old town. With the ubiquitous 'wind towers' (towers that funnel desert breezes to cool homes) backed by snow flecked mountains, it's a pleasant place to while away a few hours. We can also visit the ancient 'tower of silence' complex where bodies were left out on raised stone platforms for the birds to peck clean. Passing the Zoroastrian fire altars we will move on to Kerrnan, traveling along the edge of the Dast-e Lut desert where water is so precious it is carried for many miles in underground galleries to irrigate a few acres. |
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| We're monitoring the political situation in Iran & Pakistan very carefully, as you can imagine. There are a series of options open to us depending on where the Foreign & Commonwealth Office advises against travelling to (currently just small areas of both countries.) Our main climbing areas are currently all unaffected. If you're concerned, give me a ring and I can talk you through the options in more detail. Back to top |
