Skiing in Iran?

Iran as a world travel destination…much less a ski destination? Iran may be touted in the media as being the axis of evil, but if there’s one thing I know to be true about the media and that’s that they love shock value. I’ve also learned from experience that wherever you go, people are people so why should it be (sorry…grew up in the 80′s). Anyhow, as I was saying, at street level and one on one, people generally treat each other with respect and friendliness. It’s when things are elevated above the personal level that things get all messed up; that and when people do things they know they shouldn’t like wander around drunk at 3 a.m. Aside from following common sense, there’s little you can do to really insure your own safety or security. You could just as easily die in a car crash on your way to work as you could in some sort of random and violent attack (like having your head hacked off on a Canadian bus). All that said, I’m reluctant to let life pass me by due to some fear that has been packed and sold to me by fox news.

I learned from my ski trip to Kashmir that the more dodgy a place is, the less crowded it is. Something about concertina wire and unexploded ordinance keeps people off the slopes. For this reason, and the fact that ski areas in Iran get heaps of snow I am seriously considering a ski trip to Iran next winter. Soon I will be committing to a season pass at Jackson Hole and I’m extremely excited about the new tram, dubbed tramsformation so that is my primary “travel” destination for the upcoming winter and if the snow is good I’ll stay but one wonderful advantage of living the life of a nomad is that I’m not tied down to any one place. I have no possessions or domicile linking me to any particular piece of land so if the snow in Jackson Hole disappoints – it’s off to Tehran for me.

Iran has 14 ski areas. Most foreign visitors to Iran are drawn to one of two of Iran’s main ski resorts. Dizin is described as being suitable for beginning to intermediate level skiers. Dizin is approximately 1 1/2 hours (condition dependent) outside of Tehran and boasts the best facilities of any ski resort in Iran and 3117 vertical feet of skiing. Shemshak, with a less vertical (1641 ft.) is described as challenging and suitable for expert skiers. It has fewer lifts and is a smaller area than Dizin but closer to Tehran (about 45 minutes).

There are a few hotels near both areas and ground transport is readily available to both resorts from Tehran. So if you’re tired of the comfort of Chamonix or the party scene in St. Anton or the ski traffic in Colorado – why not join me on a ski trip to Iran?