Zagros ski tour|Zard kuh ski tour information| Iran tour operator

Iran ski touring information

Zagros Ski Tour information

Zagros ski tour or Zard kuh ski tour is one of the most famous and oldest of Iran ski touring tours. This Iran adventure tour is so attractive due to its closeness to historical city of Isfahan, one of the most spectacular cities in the world. The beauty of Zagros Mountains is everyone's talking. Snowfall in the Zagros Mountains varies widely each year. Some years there is little snow and some years there is so much snow that you can ski in the streets. The best time for Zagros ski tour is from mid-January to mid- March.

Before starting the Zagros ski tour it is better to contact with an Iran tour operator or an Iran ski touring guide and be aware of snow condition. If there is a little snow inMountain Zard Kuh, there will be definitely a lot of snow to ski in the Alborz Mountain range around Tehran or around the Dizin ski resort .

In Zagros ski tour you can have flight on Imam Khomeini International Airport, near Tehran, from most countries. From there to Isfahan, you can arrive in Isfahan by car in around 5 hours or you can fly to Isfahan city`s Airport from Turkey or Dubai. There are inbound and outbound flights from these countries to the tourist city of Isfahan daily, which is the best flight to Iran for the Zagros ski tour.

Actually, Zagros ski tour is not just an Iran ski tour. It is a combination of Iran cultural tour and Iran adventure tour. It is better to consider 3 days for Isfahan tour and 1 day for visiting central desert of Iran near Isfahan city. In addition to enjoy skiing in Zard Kuh Mountains, you will be familiar with Iranian art in the field of historical handicrafts of Iran and orient Ancient Architecture. You will also feel the Iranian tribe people and their cultures closely; if not there are a lot of snow and mountains in the world!

First of all, we have to say that at Zagros ski tour, like all other Iran ski touring tours, you will need a 4*4 car to carry your skiing equipment easily and commute side roads in ice conditions without any trouble. Remember that you will need a car every day at the Zard kuh ski touring tour.

Iran ski touring information

Zagros Ski Tour first day

It was winter 2013 when Amanda from France sent an e-mail asking to come to Iran with her husband for a Zard kuh ski tour. we guided them to fly to the Isfahan airport, and other things were up to us. Although we had many tours in spring and summer, it was my first ski touring tour to Zard Kuh Mountains. I asked some information from friend and moved with my co-worker from Tehran. we booked a hotel for Anna and her husband. They arrived in Isfahan at night and had a small drive around in the morning. We reached them till noon.

First we headed towards Shahrekord city, 105 km west of Isfahan, and it took about 1 hour and 30 minutes. This way was a highway that continued to Sureshjan, 40 km after Shahrekord city. From there, we continued the crossing road to Farsan. Farsan is the beginning road of the Zagros Mountain range. In the snowy winters, I climbed the mountains of this area for Iran ski touring tour along with foreign tourists. It was two-lane mountainous road after Farsan and continued to small and mountainous town of Kouhrang. It took about 6 hours and we arrived in Kouhrang.

Chehelgerd town is one of Kouhrang’s neighborhoods. Kouhrang is located at a height of 2230 m above sea level. The inhabitants of this city are mostly Bakhtiari Lur, which is one of the oldest Persian groups. The other part of Lur people has nomadic lives. They live in Zard Kuh and Zagros Mountains in summer and then they go to the of Iran’s southwestern plains in winter. Singing and reading poems by the Iranian great poets are among the traditions of Lur people. Also, Lur people know playing local music such as fiddle and Sorna, because these are part of their ancient culture.

Kouhrang has a simple hotel and motel. It has a small population in winter. It is better to buy your own food from Isfahan. Ordinary foods such as bread, fruit, and snacks are also found in Kouhrang. The water is drinking water. We had booked a motel for this tour. After that, I used local houses on all tours, which was easier and more intimate.

In that winter, there was a bit snow in all Iran Mountains, so that ski resort of Kouhrang was closed due to little snow. This 1500 m-long resort has the usual facilities and an old ski resort, which I do not think will be amazing to you.

After having dinner with Amanda and her husband, we decided to move from Kouhrang at 7:30 am. That night we checked all the skiing and avalanche relief equipment. Though, after years of conducting Zard kuh ski tour and discovering more than 18 routes on the various peaks of the Zard Kuh Mountain, we can say that avalanche risk level is level 1-. But we never consider a peak to climb before we reach the Zard Kuh Mountains . The fact is that every time of the Zagros ski tour is suitable for some paths with respect to the snow volume. Before we start climbing, we always check the mountains with the help of topographic maps and most importantly all our experiences.

In the morning, we drove around a bit and headed for Sheikh Ali Khan's famous waterfall. We completely introduced the Zard Kuh Mountains to Amanda and her husband. They were totally absorbed with the beauty of Zard Kuh Mountains and were busy photographing. In the opposite side, it was Zard Kuh with an altitude of 4221- m, which was the second highest peak of the Zagros Mountains after Dena Mountain with an altitude of 4435 m over sea level, and there were many mountains near Zard Kuh, including Mount Haft Tanan with a height of 4180- m and Shah-e Shahidan with a height of 4078- m.

But for the first day of the Zard kuh ski tour we chose another summit which we love very much because it always has powder snow. After we went to Sam Sami area, we first crossed the village of Marv Del and after an hour we reached Sam Sami Circle. We arrived and parked the car by the road.

From there we started skiing. In this winter, when there was little snow on the Iran Mountains, the summit of Sam Sami had a very good snowfall. We were approaching the summit with a 30-degree slope. It took about 5- hours to reach the 3820- meters height Summit. After that we started skiing and in less than half an hour we arrived to the place where the car was parked .Amanda that had really enjoyed the skiing, said that she found Iran's sunny sky very attractive and that Chamonix weather was cloudy most of the time.

We don't like the food of those motels and restaurants. We always tell the Iran adventure tours to cook a different traditional food for tourists every day because Iran is rich in culinary culture and this can be as interesting to you as an Iran adventure tour especially after a day of skiing. That night the chef cooked a traditional Lori meal.

Iran ski touring information

Zagros Ski Tour second day

Today we will go to the highest peaks of the Zard kuh Mountains. The day before, we found out that Amanda and her husband were in good physical shape so I decided to take a brisk climb up the Great Valley of Clonchin with the height of 4180 -m. In fact, no Iran tour operators climb The high peaks in Zard kuh ski tour, because they are too far from the start of the route; besides you have to cross the Kouhrang River most days of Zagros ski tours, which is very time consuming because you would have to take off your ski shoes and then put them on again all the way, however we found a good way to solve this problem. Most Iran ski touring guides do not climb further than the height of 3300- m.

We left early in the morning and headed for the Sheikh Ali Khan waterfall and then continued downhill to reach the river where the river is very wide so the water depth is much lower. We crossed most of the waters by jumping but one of them was a bit deeper and our shoes got wet. Actually there was another route that had some bridges across the river but it was so far away that we preferred to have our shoes wet than to walk a few hours down the slope, we also had to climb up hills of about 20- m several times. Few people pick the path that we picked but it was very enjoyable and of course an amazing Iran adventure tour. After about 8- km we approached the beginning of Clonchin Peak and the slope was getting steeper and higher until it reached 30- degrees in the middle of the valley.

We had hard climbing and the snow was stiffer. Other Iran adventure tour operators would start to get back by the time they reach the middle of the valley. But that day we decided to break a record. The wind started to be annoying in the high altitude. Finally, by 2.30- we had reached the height of 3950-m near the peak of the Clonchin. For years, skiers of the Zard kuh Iran ski tour have come here but there were only a few skiers who stayed long enough due to the mountain's hard circumstances. There were only 200-m to the top of the Clonchin Peak left when we decided to go back. Skiing up to the plain was fun, but it was not easy to cross the plains, however watching the beautiful scenery had us so much amused that we didn't realize how we got to the river.

The water of the river was increasing and we were too tired jump. Amanda said I wanted to wash my pants and shoes while she was calmly walking and whistling in the river. My colleague was in a 4*4- car for a long time waiting across the Kouhrang River and was really worried about us .He said, “I had no hope in your coming back and wanted to do something to help you. Look! The poor girl is getting wet!" It still wasn't completely dark. We had traveled 29 kilometers that day and climbed 2400m. This was one of my most memorable Zagros ski touring days. At night, we showed pictures of our stubborn climb to other skiers and they were surprised. Amanda and her husband were both tired but they were also very happy and proud of their Iran adventure tour that day.

Iran ski touring information

Zagros Ski Tour third day

On the third day, the last day of our Zard kuh ski touring, we went to Sheikh Ali Khan's waterfall and we crossed there. The road was closed because of the snowfall so we started skiing. After Sheikh Ali Khan waterfall, there is a famous snow cave. The snowfall is formed as a result of an avalanche and the crossing of the river underneath it in the form of a tunnel in the summer. In the summer it remains the same as a tunnel. We continued heading to the snow cave. After crossing it, we left the road and started to climb the peak of Sheikh Ali Khan. When you look at the summit from the beginning of the route, you assume you will climb it within half an hour, but it took 4 hours. Up from the summit, all of the other summits of Zard Kuh were perfectly visible. We sat there for an hour watching the Iran Mountains while drinking tea and then we skied up to the cars and after that went to visit Sheikh Ali Khan waterfall. The kids had picked and dried the herbs in the summer, and we bought some of them for a traditional Iranian dinner. Amanda and her husband enjoyed the vegetable based dinner.

Iran ski touring information

Zagros Ski Tour fourth

Return fron Chehel gerd to Isfahan

Our Iran ski touring with Amanda had ended, though we could have stayed in Kouhrang for another three days to enjoy the Zagros SKI tour. Today we were going to visit some of the most spectacular towns on the way of Isfahan. First we went to Dime spring which was full of pure water. In the spring, a lot of tulips grow nearby, but now it's just snow and snow.Then we moved to the village of Deh Cheshmeh, where there was a very large spring which itself was as big as a river. This fountain has been very important throughout history and has been channeled from here to remote villages. On a rock at the top of the fountain the rules and regulations for using the fountain were written on a stone and people were obliged to follow it back then. Then we returned to Isfahan. With Amanda and her husband, we spent three days in Isfahan enjoying the unique attractions of this beautiful city.

Zagros ski touring tour tips:

If you are just planning to come to Iran for an Iran ski touring tour, Alborz Range in northern Tehran and. around the ski resort is best suited, using an Iran ski touring guide familiar with the area.

There are many routes for Touring skiing in Zagros but not predictable before entering the area.

Turkish Airlines, Dubai and Bahrain fly daily to Isfahan international airport.

Suitable months are from late January to March..

4 day Zagros ski touring tour is very ideal.

Take three days to visit Isfahan city

Crossing rivers is a big challenge.

Prepared by : Iran horizon team