Samuel Palsmeier, a recent envoy guest, successfully conquered the peaks of Aragatz, still covered in snow in the middle of summer. The following is an account of his adventure.
President of the Spitak Mountain rescue team’ Serzh Hovespyan met me at envoy on June 13th. Serzh has been a member of Spitak since 1988 when the team first formed.
We drove out of Yerevan and stopped for provisions on the way. It was a clear sunny day and the drive up to the Physics Institute at the summit of the mountain was great. The institute is a huge complex of different buildings focused on the study of particles, and it continues to function today (see www.crdfriends.org or http://CRDLX5.yerphi.am).
There are plenty of camping spots and a small guesthouse/ cafe being built opposite the institute. Serzh used to be an engineer at the institute and had connections for staying in the staff accommodation. We went for a big walk down a side canyon to sample the heavy iron mineral water and made it back to the institute in time for dinner prepared by the housing staff. Unfortunately due to altitude and nerves I didnt get as much sleep as I had hoped. We woke up at 5 am and had a quick breakfast and started out at 6am. An early start is essential as there is a lot of snow in June and it gets soft by the afternoon due to the warmer weather. We hiked up North-West across the slopes of the south peak and continued up the west side to reach a saddle between the south and the west peaks (2 hrs). The views here were fantastic as you could see all 4 summits and the crater below.
Next, we hiked across to the saddle between the North and the East peaks (2 hrs). Making a left turn at the saddle we started slogging up towards the first summit (1-2hrs). The first summit is reached by hiking. The second summit, a few meters higher, requires care in crossing a knife ridge and then ascend up a short 5th class pitch and a final ridge to reach the top. We had brought technical gear for the crossing but not an ice axe for the unexpected snow still covering the north side of the ridge. The views were fantastic and very dramatic.
We descended and returned by the same route. The weather temperature was surprisingly warm, and overall we had a great outing (10hrs!).
On the way back to the hostel, Serzh treated me to a few more sightseeing stops. This included Amberd fortress and Ohanavan Church.
Samuel Palsmeier
