Ski Tour Extension

Skiing Today in Iran

Iran has two mountain chains: the Alborz Mountains and the Zagros Mountains. Our trips to the Alborz Mountains offer many peaks over 4.000 m. The highest lift rises to 3.960m and offers a vertical from 1.000-2.000m. As if this wasn’t enough, the terrain is excellent for ski touring, and we can reach fantastic skiing by taking short walks from the top of the lift.

Situated in the Alborz mountain range near the peak of Damavand (a giant dormant volcano 5,600 meters high), the Dizin ski resort is Iran’s highest altitude. Coming in at 3,550 meters (almost 14,000 feet) and getting around seven meters of snow yearly, Dizin is the largest ski resort in the Middle East.

Located in the northern mountains of Tehran in the Gajereh region, Dizin is approximately 115 kilometers (1.5 hours) away from Tehran and roughly 71 kilometers from Shemshak. Dizin’s location offers the most extended ski season in Iran, lasting from the beginning of November through late May, while its size offers skiers many ski trails. There are difficult patches with moguls and little hills for jumping, a straight steep slope jumping and a beginner’s course from which one can watch other skiers perfect their acrobatic skills.

Shemshak is located 57 kilometers (45 minutes) northeast of Tehran. The ski season here is slightly more variable and typically ranges from the end of November through the beginning of April. One will find Iran’s best skiers on these pistes as Shemshak hosts the nation’s most challenging and steepest slopes. While this is not a place for the timid, Shemshak continually draws many foreign and domestic tourists because of its varying weather and proximity to Tehran. During the winter, the ski trails are lit with amber lights providing an exciting and beautiful scene that gives skiers the freedom to ski well into the night.

Often referred to as the birthplace of modern skiing in Iran, Ab Ali is also home to Iran’s first mechanical ski lift (installed in 1953). Located 75 kilometers (1 hour) east of Tehran and with a relatively short ski season, from the end of December to the end of March, Ab Ali is no longer known solely for its slopes. Thermal spring water (high in calcium bicarbonate) is bottled and shipped around Iran. The Imam-Zade Hashem Holy Shrine, among other tourist attractions, helps to distinguish this region from Iran’s other ski areas.

Mount Tochal is a mountain in the Alborz range and a ski resort adjacent to metropolitan Tehran, Iran. The hill has a 12 km long ridgeline. The highest peak, also called Mount Tochal, is at an elevation of 3,964 m (13,005 feet)

Pooladkaf ski resort, the second international ski resort in Iran, is located in the South of Iran, 85 km from Shiraz and 15 Km from Sepidan. It was established in 2002. The ski resort’s elevation is 2850 meters from the sea level; the peak, however, is 3400m. There is a gondola lift with a length of 2100 m and also surface lifts. The hotel restaurant is under construction, but there is already a tiny guest house, one restaurant with traditional foods and fast food beside the resort and one coffee shop at the gondola’s top station. In the village nearby, called Komehr, there are also some accommodation facilities like a motel and some villas with reasonable facilities.