This season is my first visit to Tochal and I've to admit that I'm truly impressed with the spectacular energy and view of the piste.

First, I'll start with some general info, to get to the Tochal piste you'll have to use the cable car located in the northern part of Tehran (Velenjak). You'll have to pass 3 stations named Second Station, Fifth Station and finally Seventh Station which is where the piste is located and I've no idea why the stations are named like that, maybe it's because of the distance between each station. From First Station to Second Station takes about 7 minutes, from Second Station to Fifth Station takes about 13 minutes and from Fifth Station to Seventh Station takes about 13 minutes resulting in a total time of 33 minutes (while going up I really love enjoying the view as Tehran gets smaller and smaller).

At the piste there are a total of 2 chair lifts. One of them is for getting to the summit of Tochal (advanced) and the other one for getting to the Seventh Station (beginner, this is where you start after getting off the cable car).

As of today (Jan 2013) the price of tickets are 8$ for weekdays and 9$ for weekends and the working hours are from 8am to 3pm for weekdays and 8am to 4pm for weekends.

Pros of Tochal piste: Cheap ticket price, unique trip from the First Station to Seventh Station by cable car (one of the longest in the world), amazing view all around the piste and a hotel located down the piste at about 3500 meters which is quite a feat.

Cons of Tochal piste: A very long queue in weekends and also sometimes in weekdays, cable cars must be refurbished, no entertainment at all near the piste and there are no jump ramps, half pipe and fun box for professional skiers and snowboarders.

Overall, after considering price, location and quality, Tochal piste is a very good option, from now on each year I'll travel to Iran just to ski as much as I can and also take advantage of other perfect touristic locations over there such as Kish Island (South of Iran) for its great weather during winter and northern part of Iran for the beach (Caspian Sea).

P.S. If you are a foreigner and want to visit Iran, just forget about all the stereotype news that you get from the mainstream media about Iran, you'll be impressed with the warmness and attitude of the people over there and for sure, it'll be a trip to remember.

Best wishes,
Mehdi