www.dailystar.com.lb Iran may not be the first country that springs to mind for a skiing holiday, but it is steadily gaining the reputation as a "killer destination" - in the positive sense of the term - by those in the know. Tired of cliched resorts, irregular snowfall, long lift queues and restrictions on off-piste access, powder hunters from Europe and North America are beginning to trickle in to a country most think of as an inhospitable patch of desert.

"As far as pure skiing is concerned, Iran easily holds its own compared to Europe and North America," explains Bob Mazarei, a Swiss-based skier at the forefront of the modern international telemark, freeride and adventure skiing scene.

"The altitudes in which many of the Alborz ski areas are set almost guarantee excellent powder. Well-traveled skiers are familiar with this. And from all accounts the powder is as good quality as anywhere in the Rockies.

"Your typical American skier," says Mazarei, "would never believe this was possible" - hardly surprising given that fewer than 500 U.S. nationals visit Iran each year.

Iran has dozens of peaks over 4,000 meters, hundreds of kilometers of untracked mountains and - best of all - a guarantee of first-rate snow and plenty of sunshine throughout the winter and early spring.

The tallest peak, the 5,671 meter Damavand, has for several years been attracting skiers making two- and three-day slogs up the dormant volcano and highest mountain in the Middle East for the reward of three kilometers of vertical descent.

"Damavand is a perfect ski mountain," says Mazarei, the senior European editor of the popular webzine telemarktips.com, who climbed and skied the peak in 2001.

"Beyond Damavand you have huge expanses of unexplored mountains between and far past the ski resorts in the Alborz, dozens of peaks just waiting to be explored with skis. Would-be classics sitting, waiting to be etched by expert ski mountaineers.

"Seeing empty mountains, miles and miles of them, in the Alborz and further south in the Zagros, makes me salivate. ... The potential is huge."

But even though he describes Iran as a "killer destination" for adventure skiers, there are also easier options.

A 20-minute telecabin ride from the northern suburbs of Tehran can place a skier at close to 4,000 meters, ready for two kilometers of vertical descent, often in untracked powder.

Lift tickets are also cheap.

"In Verbier, Switzerland, where I live, a lift ticket costs about $45. Dizin, in Iran, a powder paradise and something like the 20th highest ski area in the world, charges $5 a day," says Mazarei.

Iranian resorts such as Tochal, and Shemshak and Dizin further north of the capital, are "big on fun but simplistic in terms of infrastructure," ideal for skiers who like to say "'Screw the ritzy infrastructure, I can bring my own lunch, just give me cheaper lift tickets.'"

Backcountry skiing in all its forms - randonnee, telemark and snowboarding - is rising.

Sales of equipment geared toward those heading off piste are growing in Europe and North America, in contrast to the relatively stagnant market geared to lift-served, resort skiing. These include such things as "skins" that stick to the bottom of skis, enabling skiers to get up a hill without a lift, special bindings and avalanche-safety devices.

And when fully equipped and able to ski without needing lifts to get uphill, skiers who prefer to "earn their turns" are also looking for destinations far away from the crowds, glitzy resorts and the often unpredictable snow cover of the established winter resorts in Europe and North America.

"While no one knows the actual numbers, it is obvious that backcountry skiing is on an unyielding rise," says Mazarei. "Advances in modern ski equipment have a lot to do with the new popularity in accessing the backcountry."