First winter ascent of Damavand via Gruesome Yakhar Valley

The Gruesome Yakhar Valley of Mount Damavand!

The winter route unlocked!

Yakhar even in summer days is a dangerous challenging route! This valley once was the bed of a great glacier of Mount Damavand.

Falling rocks and almost unpredictable avalanches had kept Iranian fearless risk taking climbers away for decades! Corridors all were bed for avalanches which were capable of pulling rug and swallow every living hungrily! In absence of avalanches you have to walk among towers that like old castle defenders always were ready to throw rocks at trudging soldiers!

Hiking and climbing this valley in the summer was a great honor for any climber!

Last year for the first time in the history of Iran mountaineering a team of climbers struggled to win this challenging winter game. After days of climbing and struggling, a river of snow granules streaming down from the top astonished the climbers! It was beautiful, wrote the leader climber! We had seen never such a thing in our home mountains. But this beauty put an end to their game! It was burying the climbers tent all the night and finally sent them back.

Iranian Azeris always in Iran are known as doing everything for the first time! The capital of their motherland, Tabriz is honored with the name of The City of The Firsts! Azeris always do what is came to Iranians as impossible to do! As in science, education, mode life, in war as an iovators of the way to crash enemy, and anything you may think of to get a nation up and go!

In the history of Iranian mountaineering Azeri climbers proved that as in any aspect of life of Iranian multi-ethnic nation they are to save this honor even in climbing history of the country.

Azeri climber Azim Geychisaz now is the first Iranian who is going to enter 8000 climbers club.

And now again Azeri climbers eaed the honor of being first climbing team that climbed Mount Damavand from gruesome Yakhar Valley!

Monday Moing, December 21, 2015

A team of 6 determined young climbers, members of an Azeri pioneer club of mountaineering, Tabriz Alp Mountaineering and Skiing Club, convoyed by their friends and fellow-climbers, left Tabriz and drived to Camp Polour to climb Damavand Mount via gruesome Yakhar Valley.

All climbers came to say goodbye to them! Everybody was worry but sure that this team of young but highly experienced climber will make it.

Azeri climbers stayed and rest the same night in Camp Polour. The next day, they moved to Gazaneh with a car to start their very hard but great job.

The First Day

Tiring hiking on heavy snow finally stopped climbers to make the camp I on the very top of Estelleh-Saar at 3000 m altitude to recover and rest.

The Second Day

The team went on climbing through the valley and set the camp II at 4000 m altitude.

The Third Day

Fog and snow inside the valley stopped the climbers inside tents to rest and wait for a stable weather conditions and chance to go on climbing.

The Fourth Day

00:30 at the very begiing of the fourth day, the weather was stable and good enough, so the summit team started their last move toward the very end of the valley. Meanwhile the supporting team stayed in Camp II waiting to make sure of their safely leaving the valley toward the summit.

At 08:30 the summit team was climbing the Southe Corridor of the Yakhar Valley.

At 14:00, the summit team called!

The most dangerous zone of the Valley, the Corridors was ended and the so-called Snowy Roof had been left behind! The team had ended the hardest part.

12 hours of climbing! They had done a very tiring job all the night and the day, so they set up the Camp III at 5200 m altitude. The summit team for the day 5 was to have a climbing day without danger of avalanches and less difficulty!

The Fifth Day December 26, 2015, at 12:00 Noon

The summit team stepped on the top of Damavand and prostrated before God and thanked Him for the great chance of doing a great job!

So, the will and ambition of these young climbers unlocked the Yakhar Valley in 2015 winter to make a new tuing point for honoring Tabriz and Iranian mountaineering.

The Members of Yakhar Climbing Team:

Hojjat Azadi, Leader

Said Salem Del, Second Leader

Ramin Eskandar Jafarzadeh, Technical Assistant

Gader Moradi, Technical Advisor

Aidin Salem Del, Procurement Officer

Mohammadi Farshbaf, PR

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