Two volcanoes. Thin air. Sulphuric gases. Higher than any mountain in Europe. Our Iran 2011 overland expedition took us to Mt. Sabalan and Mt. Damavand. The two highest volcanoes in Iran, at 4811 and 5671m respectively, are both higher than Mt. Blanc.

Iran is an absolutely amazing destination. The most friendly people you can imagine, and some incredibly beautiful landscapes and places. And pretty much entirely free of other Western tourists. We counted a total of six other people we suspected to be Westerners during our 12 days in the country.

Mt. Sabalan is located in north western Iran, in the province of Meshkinshahr Ardabil. We stopped our Landcruiser in Meshkinshahr to ask further directions, as the road signs were not intuitive (at least not without reading Farsi). Nobody spoke English, but an extremely helpful goldsmith closed his shop and took us to his friend, an English teacher. The English teacher in turn interrupted his class to explain to us the directions onwards. Then we had to teach the class for a few minutes, before the goldsmith himself guided us out of town. After exchanging emails and being invited for dinner upon return from the mountain he reluctantly let us go. I have never experienced hospitality like this before.

Below are some photos from Mt. Sabalan.

So, after Meshkinshahr you have to go to Lahrood and then to the mineral springs at Shabil. Shabil is at about 2700 m.s.l. and there is a big parking lot there, where lots of old, beat-up Landrovers await to drive you up to Base Camp. It is possible to buy something to eat here, but it is better to buy supplies in Meshkinshahr.

After managing to agree with some of the Landrover drivers to take us to base camp the following morning we had something to eat and went  to sleep. It is possible to pitch your tent next to the parking lot for a nominal fee. But we rented a room (completely void of all fixtures, except for a thin floor carpet and a dangling light bulb) at something that resembled a restaurant just before the parking lot. They served fresh fish from their own pool. Fish farming and short travelled food at a new level.

At 06.00 the following morning we woke up a couple of Landrover drivers (they all sleep in their cars) before finding the one who was supposed to take us up to Base Camp. In hindsight, it would probably not have been a bad idea to walk up, in order to better acclimatize and avoid altitude sickness.

The mosque at Mt. Sabalan base camp. About 3600-3700 m above sea level.

Unfortunately the weather turned on us, and we had to turn around after a few hours of walking, at about 4.000 – 4.100 m.s.l. The fog became so think that we couldn’t see more than a few meters ahead of us.

We decided not to spend another day hoping for better weather, and after a very refreshing bath in the hot springs at Shabil, we jumped back in the car and set off for Tabriz, Teheran, and our next climb: Mt. Damavand.

The Damavand mountain is shaped a bit like Mt. Fuji - but is significantly higher

At 5.671 m.s.l. Damavand is higher than both Elbrus and Mt. Blanc, and the highest mountain in Iran. Some sources indicate that the mountain might in fact be some meters lower, but the official figure is still 5.671. Unfortunately my GPS ran out of battery before reaching the summit so I didn’t get to check myself.

There is a pretty good source on climbing Damavand maintained here.

We had called ahead and had a guide (actually two) meet us at the Polour camp (2.250 m.s.l.) where we slept over. Early next morning we drove to the Saheb al Zaman mosque (Camp 2) at 3.020 m.s.l.), and started walking from there to Bargah (Camp 3) at 4.200 m.s.l.) We spent about 4,5 hours going up at a very moderate pace. The thin air was very noticeable as we went to sleep at Bargah. The acclimatization we did at Sabalan obviously was not enough, and Lars had some problems the first night.

While Lars was trying to regain control over his body I meet a deeply spiritual Iranian with a big moustache, who wanted to tell me all about the “love philosophy”. His English wasn’t all that good, but I think if I understood him correctly the world will go under in 12 years. He seemed a bit saddened about this prospect, but spent his time in the mountain to reflect, meditate and worship the mountain.

The next day we just walked to 4.700 m.s.l. and spent the rest of the day relaxing. The views are pretty much unbelievable at this altitude, and we were much more lucky with the weather than at Sabalan.

Third day we got up at 3.40 am, and started walking at 5.00 am. After three or four hours it was starting to get tougher, and the high altitude headache was starting to creep forward. We were going extremely slowly, both to avoid altitude sickness, but also because Lars had some serious shortness-of-breath. But we all got to the top at about 13:00, after eight hours of walking. Just near the top there is some sulphuric gases that can be quite unpleasant when you are having trouble to breath in the first place.

Lars and myself at the Damavand summit after 8 hours walking. Tired, but happy.

At the top I suddenly got a new surge of energy, and climbed on the rocks, took lots of photos of the view, the crater and the other people there. Tired, but happy. After 30 minutes or so we start walking down again. So tired at first break that both Lars and myself almost feel asleep. But as we approached the shelter at Baragh the head started to clear and the body felt better.

We spent another 3,5 hours going back to Baragh from the summit. We had some chocolate, pineapple in a can and something to drink, and readied the body to walk another few hours down to Camp 2.

We were back at the Polour Camp at about 22.00, after approximately 15 hours of walking that day. It is incredible how quickly you forget the pain, and only remember the sense of accomplishment. At Polour Camp all the beds were taken – as it was the Iranian weekend (Thursday night), and we had to sleep on the floor. But that didn’t matter. We got a short shower after midnight, and then crashed and slept like we’ve never sleepen before.

The infrastructure around Damavand was surprisingly good, especially the Polour Camp and the shelter at Baragh were of a high standard. Every weekend lots of Iranians from Teheran try to climb the mountain. It would be possible to get to the top in two days – according to our guide he could climb from Baragh to the summit in less than three hours, but most people would probably be advised to spend three days.

It seemed that Sabalan was actully more difficult to climb, in that there were more big boulders and volcanic gravel, while Damavand had a more established and distinct path.

A truly magnificent climb. Check out some of the photos from the climb;