The Tochal International Ski Resort in northern Tehran opened on Thursday for the autumn-winter season at a ceremony attended by Mahmoud Goudarzi, minister of youth affairs and sports, and other officials.
Managing director of the resort Seyed Mohammad Parhizkar said there are plans to expand the resort so that “it turns into Iran’s biggest and longest ski resort by next year,” reports Mehr News Agency.
A popular entertainment section at the Tochal Complex is the Tochal Telecabin which is among the world’s longest gondola lift lines with a length of 7,500 meters. It takes less than an hour to go from Station 1 to 7, the last station, by cable car. The first station includes a hotel, restaurants and sports clubs for tennis, archery, bungee jumping, skating and paintball.
The gondola lift is used for accessing ski slopes and recreational centers on the resort mountain. Beautiful landscapes, fresh air and a multitude of fresh water springs add to the beauty of the area.
There is a separate chairlift and a separate surface lift (teleski) line at the resort, for transferring skiers to the mountain slopes.
The resort is open to the public since 1978. It starts at the Velenjak valley in the north of Tehran at an altitude of 1,900 meters and ends at the last station at an altitude of 3,740 meters, near the main ridge of Mount Tochal. The main peak is a 30-minute walk from the last station.
Because of the height of the ski slope in Station 7 (more than 3,500 meters above sea level), it is covered with snow for more than 8 months of the year.
