Winter Flashback: Climbing Halgurd Mountain in Iraq

At just over 3,600 meters in elevation, Halgurd Mountain is one of the few snow-covered peaks in the Middle East that is worthy of summiting. In January, I took a group of eight colleagues on an overnight winter trek in the Zagros Mountains, 170 kilometres northeast of Erbil, Iraq.

- Qasim Ribwar Hewa And David O’hara

My favourite time to climb Halgurd Mountain is during the wintertime when days are short and the ground is covered by fresh snow. Hiking with a group in the mountains can be treacherous, so we hired a local guide in Choman to lead us. Driving the last five kilometres from Choman to the base of Halgurd is slow on snowy, mountainous roads with no other traffic and takes us 35 minutes. The scenery is stunning, but because of the snow,the road is closed. We park the cars and lug all the gear to our camp.

I reflect now with a smile at the thought of our group of weekend adventurers carrying 20 kg backpacks and hiking through the snow in Kurdistan about 10 kilometres from the Iranian border. Part of the challenge was the lack of mountain-ready meals available, so we carried heavy canned food and cooking gear from home. It took us five hours to get from the cars to our campsite.