UKC

I don't know if its good form to link to your own stories or not, but...

Last year I went to Iran to ski Damavand - their highest mountain. I've written up a little story about the trip and thought some of you might enjoy it. If you're looking for a fun, adventurous trip somewhere a bit different then I can't recommend Iran enough. It is super safe, the people are so happy to see you there and the mountaineering potential is huge.

http://www.67hours.co.uk/mountaineering/damavand

In reply to 67hours:
Cheers. Enjoyed that. And the video.

And as far as linking to stories goes, I think there should be more of it...and I think people should be encouraged to write up more trip reports and put them on the forum. Good reads and good info to inspire and inform our dreams!

The ski touring forum I use for NE Italy includes a "photo reportage" section which, together with the "trip report" section, are the most active parts of the forum and provide invaluable info for trip planning. In case anyone's interested:
http://thetop.it/
http://forum.thetop.it/viewforum.php?f=9&sid=f70a8c89965a62d6282d84253ac1ee...
Assiduously moderated, complete with index in alphabetical order, divided by region, to help people with their trip planning.
Mods?

In reply to 67hours:

That's really useful and interesting. Having toured in Armenia this year, I was looking at putting a tour together for Iran to the south. With the embassy in London now open again, the visa issue MAY be more straight forward. I was in touch with an Iranian outfit who put a package together of 14 days with plenty of skiing/day tours plus some cultural bits and the price was really attractive ...eg in comparison with a week in the Alps. Unfortunately, I may have to delay until 2018. Nearer the time, I may be in touch!

In reply to 67hours:

Great account, this is a trip I would love to do

In reply to earlsdonwhu:

Thanks all!

For those of you interested in going - do it!! Here is a link to the company (Shirin) who organised the trip logistics: http://persianpursuits.com/

Happy to answer any questions if you want to know any more.

In reply to 67hours:

It's a great trip, I went in 2011.

Don't forget, if it's an issue for you, it does make travel to the US subsequently trickier.

In reply to 67hours:

did everyone get visas easily enough with a UK passport

In reply to alasdair19:

Yes, we got them in Vienna. Shirin flew to the embassy there with our passports to collect them. I think there was a delay and she had to make a phone call to Tehran to check what the holdup was but they came through shortly after that.

As John says though - it makes travel to the US hard now - no more ESTA I think I need an interview in London to go there now!

In reply to 67hours:

Hopefully, if you're planning on going, get it sorted early... And hopefully they'll see "skiing" as a legitimate reason!

Also, a big form, and a chunk of cash.

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2016/01/251577.htm

In reply to 67hours:

I think on the London Embassy website they say that about 93% of Uk citizens applying for a visa are successful.

In reply to 67hours:

I really enjoyed that, and hope the diplomacy continues to progress. As an aside, as an overland UK traveller I applied for and was offered an Iranian visa about 10 years ago. Being younger, I didnt appreciate that I would have to take a guide who'd never leave my side, and pay all his costs for the duration of the trip. Proved too expensive so I didn't bother.