Tochal 3850m - An Iranian resort

A snowHead

Tochal Skiing resort – Visited on 4 December 2004

Been to Tehran 5 times in the last 18 months for business purposes. In the last trip my Iranian host took me to Tochal, which is 10 minutes from the hotel.

Tochal is part of Tehran at the border with the mountain range with the North. Tehran itself is over 1000m above sea level or about the same altitude as Chamonix in France at the bottom of Mont Blanc.

Tochal is the world’s 5th highest skiing resort at over 3730m at the highest 7th station. One chairlift rises higher than the gondola station and so the highest altitude the skiers can be mechanically transported to is about 3850m. This is higher than any of the European resorts including Mont Blanc.

Iran has relatively small amount of moisture movement resulting sunny and dry skiing environment most of the time. The mountain is featureless and there is no risk of running into a tree.

The other impressive feature of Tochal is its over 7km gondola lift. The first section goes from the base station #1 to #5 and then a separate section, put in possibly due to a change of the alignment, takes the skiers to the top station #7.

During my visit #5 station did not have sufficient snow and the two lifts (one surface lift and one chairlift) were not open. Even at the top #7 station only two chairlifts were operational and a surface lift wasn’t open possibly due to low demand. I visited the large hotel restaurant at the top and found it impressively decorated. The Poma-built lift systems, gondolas, restaurant, piste bashing machines and general facilities are not that far away from the European standard. This is quite remarkable as skiing has been disregarded by the successive governments after the revolution. The lack of investment has made the development and maintenance of this resort nearly impossible. However there are signs that the resort is being slowly improved and expanded.

The cost of the day pass was US$ 5 approximately or about 1/8 to 1/10 charged by an average European resort (assuming 35 Euro).

There is no question about the snow quality at such a high and dry altitude. It was also a delight to see Iranian youngsters enjoying this international sports. A large group of young snowboarders (both sex) was seen sitting on off piste watching and participating the usual jumps and stunts, no different from those in Sweden, Swiss, French or Canadian boarders. It was also refreshing to see no sexual segregation between male and female skiers. I was asked by a couple of Iranian girls when my host and I were speaking English. From discussion Iranians find it hard to ski outside their own country.

The two operational slopes were fairly long, gradient wise possibly between the blue and the easy red standard in Europe. This will bore experienced skiers quickly but there were ample off piste opportunity. My Iranian host indicated that one can ski from Tochal to Shamshek, a more developed skiing resort 40km away. He took me to see Shamshek in a previous trip but the resort did not open.

Tochal closed at 2:30pm on the day I visited. This could be due to only one gondola down for everybody and hence modest queuing at both #7 and #5 stations. Despite doing only one more run after 2:30pm I found myself at the base station leaving the car park at 4pm. Also by the time, with the sun gone down partially, I could feel the chill at over 3800m. I didn’t have any sensation of high altitude sickess.

It is a lovely place to ski and I can confirm that the snow was visible in Tehran in early summer when I first visited the capital in June. I think Iranian skiing resorts are similar to Iranians. They are really nice when you have the opportunity to come into contact with them. The media for some reasons paints a completely different picture.

Iran is the 10th countries I have skied. Tochal is different and has its own charm. It is a resort the Iranian can be proud of. They have a lot of mountains and put them to leisure purposes is a commendable move. I just wish more skiers outside Iran can share my experience too.

A snowHead

saikee, good report and I remember it well. I only got to the middle station - pleased they've repaired the gondola all the way to the top again.
You did say Tehran was over 1000m. Quite a bit in fact. The old International Airport which is at the low point of the city is 1200m and as you know the whole place slopes gently upwards to the foothills of the Al Borz (some prefer Elburz) Mountains. I reckon my house up in Niavaran (near the Shah's Summer Palace) was at about 1800m. Once you're acclimatised it's great. When you come back to sea level it feels as though you could leap tall buildings in a single bound.

Hope you can get to Dizin on any future trips. Much more scope there - a north facing bowl. About 3,400 - 2,400m vertical descent. Or Shemshak if you like skiing the bumps.

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Tochal 3850m - An Iranian resort

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