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Where it's at
If you want to rub shoulders with Iran's high society, head
for the slopes. If you are a 'nouveau riche' Iranian there
is no better place to be seen than skiing the Alborz Mountains
around Tehran. And even if you are a not-so-rich tourist,
fear not - a lift pass costs around $10 a day, and hiring
kit is easy and cheap.
Resorts and facilities
Dizin is the most well-known ski resort, located about
two and a half hours drive from Tehran. It is well equipped
with a hotel, tennis courts, hiking, cycling and horse-riding
facilities, and nice sunny weather. Dizin was established
as a resort in 1969 and is a bit of a grey concrete affair,
with no nightlife, but the snow is excellent, due to the altitude
and the north-facing slopes. There is plenty of lovely powder
and off-piste fun to be found, a decent half-pipe and a dedicated
snowboarding community, and all served by twelve lifts, which
are high-tech and trustworthy.
The on-piste scene
The season in Dizin runs from mid-January to mid-March, but
there are fifteen less famous resorts in Iran - some of which
stay ski-able until mid-May. Shemshak - where people
have been skiing since 1958 - is close to Dizin, and offers
more of a challenge to experts and mogul-lovers, compared
to Dizin where the pistes are best for beginners and intermediates.
Mt Damavand is the place to go for cross-country skiing.
The on-piste scene in Iran has been described as a barometer
on which to measure the strictness of social codes. At the
moment, women can compete equally, and as the Revolutionary
Guards don't patrol the snow, women's dress is a little more
relaxed, but this hasn't always been the case. There once
was a moral patrol, the punishment for skiing with the opposite
sex was 30 lashes or a $200 fine. The sexes had to queue separately,
and at times women were required to wear a version of the
chador which would whip around behind them as they skied.
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