The second International Rock Climbing Festival, organized by the Iranian Mountain Federation and Iranian Alpine Club, took place in mid- October on the magnificent ca 2,700m Bisotoon. This mountain in western Iran, near the city of Kermanshah, has a vast, complex 1,200m limestone wall on the southeast face, variously reported as up to eight kilometers wide. There are approximately 60 routes, leaving plenty of space for additions. The rock is outstanding: generally sound, well featured, and almost uncomfortably abrasive. Several huts are situated on terraces a little above half-height on the face, suitable for two-day summit routes, though many established lines descend from partway up the wall.

The first route on the southeast face was Abarmard, put up in March 1969 by Ebrahim Babai, Kiumars Babazadah, Gholamhossain Vahabzabeh, and Bijan Sadeghi. There is no guidebook, so foreign climbers will be largely reliant on locals—a good source of information is the “climbers’ cafe?” below the cliff.

The first international festival at Bisotoon took place in 2010. In October 2012, around 100 Iranian climbers hosted 52 foreign visitors, the vast majority French. (There is a long tradition of climbing here by the Groupe de Haute Montagne.) Australians, Danes, Germans, Italians, Slovenians, Swedes, and Swiss were also represented. Current economic sanctions, part of an effort to discourage Iran’s nuclear program, make obtaining a visa more or less impossible or those holding only U.K. or U.S. passports.