MT. Damavand Ascend and Tehran

Check-in to your hotel. As travelers arrive with different airlines and different times, the first day will be free but you will meet your tour guide in the afternoon for a brief introduction in order to give you the necessary information and having a chat, checking your equipment and preparing for the next day departure.

Early morning (around 6 A.M), you will be picked up from your hotel driving to Raineh village (base camp) which will take about 2 hours. From there our 4WD vehicle will take us to Damavand south face second camp called Goosfand Sara (3000m). Hiking will start from the second camp to the third camp (Bargah Sevom or Shelter 3) in 4250m altitude. Hiking time is between 5 to 6 hours depending on the ability and speed of the group. There will be a good opportunity to socialize with other hikers and climbers who are usually in the shelter (total ascend 1250m). We will make our camp there and take a rest, have dinner and overnight stay at camp. (B, L, D)

This is a very important high altitude acclimatization day. We strongly believe that rushing to climb up to the peak is unsound and unwise. So this day is spent getting used to the high altitude, but we will not go to the summit. We will hike from the shelter to a frozen waterfall which is at about 5000 meters and return. This will take about 6 to 7 hours and will be very suitable for our purposes. (B, L, D)

Early morning wake up. After breakfast (around 4 am), we will start climbing from 4200 m to the top 5610m. This day will be the hardest one since we will push for the summit which usually takes about 6 to 7 hours. We will enjoy the amazing view of Damavand volcano. The terrain is difficult, with loose rocks and scree and the weather can change at any time, so please be prepared for anything even snowfalls in the middle of summer. Some 500m below the summit we come across the aptly named ‘Sulphur Hill’ (Dood Kooh) where we can see the evidence of the mountain’s turbulent pass amongst the volcanic era and sulphurous fumes rising up from the earth. Making the final ascend to the top we hope to reach the summit around midday, affording us an opportunity to enjoy the breathtaking views before the clouds cover the peak (conditions permitting). From here, we then begin descending to our 3rd camp, a journey of some 7 hours that should bring us back to the camp on time for dinner. Total Walking Approx. 12 hours. Ascend/descend 1521m. Dinner and overnight stay at camp. (B, L, D)

Descending to second camp (Goosfand Sara). The total descending time would be approx. 4-5 hours, 1250m. We then rejoin our 4WD vehicle for driving back to Raineh from where we continue back to Tehran. If we have time in the evening, we will drive to Larijaan natural hot spring bath to leave the tiredness in the hot mineral water then will be driven to the hotel in Tehran. (B, L, D)

The last day would be free to exchange photos and/or walking around for shopping. Midday would be checking out of hotel. If you are flying late night you can leave your luggage at Adventure Iran office and have a free time in the city. (B)