Henry Iddon: Mount Damavand and the Axis of Ski-ville
In 1996 Henry Iddon wrote to the British Embassy in Tehran to enquire about the skiing in the country, but it wasn't until 2011 that the opportunity arose to visit Iran and Mt Damavand (5671m) on a skiing mountaineering trip to the highest volcano in Asia. Damavand is the symbol of Iranian resistance against despotism and foreign rule in Persian poetry and literature.
Meanwhile by 2011 Iran had been described by US President George Bush as being part of the Axis of Evil. During the trip the team were stropped by the police, visited by a mysterious balaclava wearing member of the British security service, ate the tastiest tomatoes imaginable, visited the Tehran branch of Debenhams, bivied in a mosque and skied knee deep fresh powder under a perfect blue sky.
Time Wednesday 15h February 7:30pm
Venue Cafe, Outside Hathersage
The Alpine Club is the only national club for alpinists and is the world's first mountaineering club. For a century and a half its members have been at the leading edge of worldwide mountaineering development and exploration.
The club is well known for hosting regular lectures on a wide variety of subjects. Outside are proud to be one of only three hosts, including the official clubhouse, for these lectures in the country. The Hathersage cafe, the club's Northern venue, hosts an evening lecture every month.
The Alpine Club also produces a range of guidebooks to the European Alps which can be found here
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