Mount Aragats: East Summit Ski Run

Type: Backcountry or Sidecountry

Ucom and VivaCell-MTS networks are almost always available within the village of Aragats all the way to the East Summit of Mount Aragats. In case of an emergency, call 911, a service which is available all throughout Armenia.

To start skiing on the slopes of the East Summit of Mount Aragats, you need to set off to the Aragatsotn province. The nearest settlement is the village of Aragats (1,970m., 6,463ft.): this is where the hike begins.

The East Summit Ascent runs over a series of small hills that overlook deep gorges on the right-hand side and stretch up to ‘merge’ into the Eastern Summit. When following this ski run, you'll enter the surroundings of the summit of Mount Aragats.

From the top, the ski line drops back down the final steep couloir section of the ascent and continues south to level out across the road where the hill falls away to your right (south). Here, the ski line turns left (east) to follow parallel to the ascent, where you'll keep your speed for as long as possible to return to the starting point.

Mount Aragats is considered to be the highest peak in all of Armenia (4,090m., 13,419ft.). It is an isolated shield-like massif of about 200km in circumference. Together with its fan-shaped slopes, it covers approximately 4,000 sq. m, situated simultaneously in both the Aragatsotn and Shirak provinces. Aragats used to be one of the world’s largest volcanoes. It has a gigantic 400m-deep crater, 3km in diameter, and is comprised of a total of 4 peaks, the highest of which is the North Summit (4,090m., 13,419ft.); the West Summit is the second highest (3995.3m., 13,107ft.) and is followed by the East (3,908.2m., 12,822ft.) and South Summit (3,887.8m., 12,756ft.).

Traveling between the East Summit of Aragats and Yerevan, you can visit the Armenian Alphabet Monument, Saghmosavank, Hovhannavank.

The best time to ski on the slopes of the East Summit is January through April. Yerevan is 84km away from Aragats village, so the road there takes approximately 1h 25m and costs 9,000 AMD (by taxi).