Mohammad Oraz Died in Pakistan

According to IRNA, a renowned Iranian mountaineer, who was injured while climbing Gasherbrum I (8068 m), died in a hospital in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad early Sunday, September 7, after one month of unconsciousness.
Mohammad Oraz, 33, was among a group of 12 Iranian mountaineers, who were trying to ascend Gasherbrum I in the Pakistani northern area of Skardo, bordering China.
The Iranian Expedition which had left Tehran toward Skardo in late June was established camp IV at 7300 and was expecting good weather for final attack toward the peak.
Oraz and another of his colleagues Moqbel Honarpajouh were at the altitude of 7,900 meters, only 168 meters away from the 8,068-meter Gasherbrum I peak when an avalanche hit them. The avalanche brought them 600 meters down. Oraz received serious injuries and was shifted to Islamabad by a Pakistani military helicopter.
Moqbel Honarpajouh, 19, received minor injuries and was discharged from the hospital last week after medical treatment.
The Iranian ambassador, Mohammad Ibrahim Taherian, last week visited the injured Iranian mountaineer in Shifa International Hospital and inquired about his health.
He praised the Pakistani military for quickly shifting the mountaineers in a helicopter soon after the incident. He also thanked members of the Pakistan Federation of Mountaineers for their help during the incident.
Oraz was climbed five 8000-meters since 1998; Everest(1998), Cho Oyu (2000), Shishapangma(2000), Makalu(2001) and Lhotse(2002). Oraz` body will soon be shifted to Iran for burial, said the Iranian embassy in Islamabad.

IMZ News Department
September 7, 2003

(Oraz page)

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IranMountainZone Expedition Summitted Mount Ararat

IMZ expedition summitted mount Ararat (5165m) in Turkey in September from the south face.
The expedition which comprised of 15 members including climbers of LMI Co. left Tehran on August 30 and summitted the peak on September 2.
It is worth mentioning that 12 summiteers of the expedition attacked the peak from camp 1 (3200m) on September 2 at 2:00 and reached the peak at 11:15 without usual camping at camp 2 (4200 m).
It was the first expedition of IMZ to Mount Ararat.

IMZ News Department
September, 2003

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An Iranian Expedition to summit Chaprot peak in Karakoram

A team of four Iranian climbers summitted Chaprot peak (6100m) in Karakoram in June. The team members left Tehran on June 11 and passed through cities of Taftan, Quetta and Rawalpindi during their journey toward Gilgit in north Pakistan.
“After passing throughout desert, we entered the glorious valley of Naltar …” Said Hussain Nazar instructor and summiteer. “We made three camps and summitted the peak from north-west route on June 21”, he added.
Hussain Nazar, Armin Mojahedpour, Ali Afshar and Mehdi Moosavi traveled more than 10,000 km earth route in their 17 days long trip. It is worth mentioning that it was the first Iranian expedition to summit Chaprot peak.

IMZ News Department
June, 2003

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Third National Free Ice Climbing Competition

Third National Free Ice Climbing Competition held at HassanDar valley in Roodbar-e-Ghasran region near Tehran on Friday June 20. 25 climbers participated the competition where Climbing committee of Iran Mountaineering Federation arranged it in two round. Mohammad Saboori from Arash Climbing Group of Tehran won the competition and Davoud Rekabi from Zanjan, Maysam Taqipour from Qazvin and Majid Mirzaei Zad, Omid Amohammadi and Amir Sadeqi all from Tehran stood afterward.
Attendance of Young climbers was worthy of attention in place where Ice climbing has a short history in Iran.

IMZ News Department
June 20, 2003

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Bike8000 − Italy to K2 by mountain bike

An ambitious journey to K2 base camp is being organised by the mountain bike group of the Italian Alpine Club’s Section of Este to celebrate the first ascent of the World’s 2nd highest mountain. The journey will take place between June and September 2004 and the organisers are inviting other groups to join them for sections of the journey through Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and China. Claudio Coppola, the leader of Bike8000, said: “We are a group of Italian Alpine Club members and in 2004, from June to September, we'll organize a mountain bike expedition, called BIKE8000, from Italy to K2: next year, the 50th anniversary of first ascent, realized by an Italian expedition, leaded by A.Desio, in 1954. To keep this anniversary we want to cycle from Este, near Venice in Italy, as far as north base camps of K2 and Everest and then finish our travel to Lhasa (Tibet-China). Our aims are to:
1- Realize a hard sport performance (the route is about 12000 km long).
2- Meet young bikers from countries on our route and cycle with them.
3- Document all the mountains of Alpine-Himalayan Range.
4- Raise money for UNICEF.
“Our group will be composed of 8 people, plus a driver, an interpreter, a cameraman and a minibus for luggage transport. We invite you to form a team of young bikers, lead by an adult for safety, and join us, in the section of our journey held in your country. It will be very fine to realize a bike ‘chain’, so that at every boundary young biker teams, before leaving us, will pass an ideal witness to the following group of young people and so on as far as K2 and Everest base camps! We'll cross Austria, Slovakia, Ukraina, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and China. Unfortunately , we can't bear your expenses, but we are sure that is not a problem for mountain bike enthusiasts.”

For more information see http://www.bike8000.it (written in English and Italian)

Reference : www.UIAA.ch
May 2003

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The best Iranian Climbers in Master Cup 82

23 people of the best Iranian climbers gathered to compete in Master Cup 82 in Enqelab Sport Complex of Zanjan on May 15 and 16.
The competition was held in both difficulty and speed to select National Climbing team among the best climbers during last year.
9 people among 18 ones passed the first round of difficulty competition which held on Thursday morning. Where final round held over a 5.13b route over the artificial wall of Enqelab sport complex on Friday noon. Amir Pirveisi the winner of Shaghayegh climbing cup and Rock climbing competition of Iran Mountaineering Clubs in the previous year, won Master Cup 82. Hassan Javadian stood afterward and Mohammad Jafari Gold medal winner of Asian Youth Championship in 2002 ranked three.
In the speed competition, which held on Friday morning, Hosein Saif from Isfahan ranked one and Reza Pilpa and Hamidreza Toozandejani both from Khorasan stood afterward.
It is worth mentioning that Master Cup 82 was performed by Competition Climbing committee of IMF with cooperation of Zanjan Moutaineering council.

Photos and complete report

IMZ News Reporter
May 16, 2003

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News Archive : 1381 (Solar Calendar, 21 March 2002 - 20 March 2003)