The ascent of Damavand took around 9 1/2 hours from hut to summit. I was fortunate to have acclimatized very well and felt brilliant storming up the 35-40 degree hard ice. The mountain gently smokes sulphur from a large summit crater and we dodged this to enjoy some brilliant views from the rocky mound on the top. The descent was a little easier, a fast 40 minute ski back to the hut below.
The approach to Damavand took two days. We first walked and skinned from the roadhead to spend our first night in the mosque at 3200m. The second day we climbed steadily up to the main camp at 4200m - a cold but well built hut which we were fortunate to have to ourselves for much of the trip.
We spent our first full day in Iran acclimatizing on the nearby peak of Gol-e Zard (which means yellow flower). It was great to get out and onto the snow although clear skies and warm temperatures had considerably softened the snowpack and we turned back a little before the top.
