Conclusion of the Year / We are 7 years old

On the 17th of December 2019, our annual event “Conclusion of the Year” took place in “Elite Plaza” business center. We are 7 years old.

Again we were concluding our year, which was unique and full of new ascents and discoveries. 

This year’s event was dedicated to mount Ararat, as the central topic of our event were the people who ascended Ararat with us. By the way the number of the participants who had made an ascent to Ararat with Armenian Geographic was bigger than in any other groups. During the event we’ve also presented the program of the ascents to Ararat for 2020.

The opening speech of the event was given to the vice president of “Armenian Mountaineering and Mountain Tourism Federation” Suren Danielyan. It has been already 7 years that Armenian Geographic is partnering with the Federation.

This year Armenian Geographic was presented with a certificate from The Ministry of culture, youth affairs and tourism of The Republic of Artsakh for the care and protection of historical and cultural heritage. We are very grateful for your appreciation.

Delica Tour to Hadrut Region

After the opening speech we started to sum up our year. We’ve started from the first and most interesting hike of the year. We came up with a new name for our off-road tours and named them “Delica Tours”. On the frames of these tours we visited Khandzadzor village in Hadrut region of Artsakh. This hike differed from the previous ones, as our aim wasn’t reaching a peak of the mountain, as we have already climbed the highest mountain of that territory – Dizapayt. This time we were aiming to discover this remote village, communicate with villagers and children living there. In short, we wanted to become a part of their everyday life. Afterward we watched a small video about our journey to Khandzadzor made by Sipan Grig.

Real Tavush

The next significant hike that we spoke about was our hike to Movses village in Tavush region. Movses village is one of the frontier villages of Armenia, but the people living there say that it is not just a village on the border, but it’s a guide of the border. When our friend Andranik Poladyan invited us to their village we’ve got the idea to organize a hiking trip there. For the idea of this unforgettable hike we gave Andranik Tigran Varag’s  book “Mountains of Armenia”. Afterward we’ve watched Sipan Grig’s video that was made during our hike in Real Tavush.

“Mountainous Island”

Afterward the director of Armenian Geographic project Tigran Varag spoke about the project. He presented one of the greatest achievements of this year – his bilingual book “Mountains of Armenia” . He also spoke about his next book “Mountainous Island” which will include the mountain ranges of Armenian Highland and their highest summits.

While on the subject of our discoveries we spoke about our next journey to Artsakh. This time we have visited Khashatagh region, where we were aiming to climb Mount Tovmasar. It was the last distinctive mountain of Artsakh mountain range that we hadn’t climbed yet. The short video about Tovmasar reveals everything that is on the “backstage” of our overnight hikes.

Sasun

Next was our most important discovery in the territory of Historical Armenia – which was the ascent to mountains Tsovasar and Sukavet. This was also the most long-awaited hike of the year. We have met the name of mount Tsovasar in many books, and that’s the name which we mostly associated with Historical Armenia and Sasun. That was the reason that our group was waiting for the moment when they will contemplate the Mount Maratuk and Sasun from the top of Mount Tsovasar for the whole year. The second goal of this hike was Mount Sukavet. Mount Sukavet, according to some sources, is considered to be the highest point of Haykakan Par mountain range. And we celebrated our ascent to Sukavet by dancing an Armenian dance on the top of it. Afterward we’ve watched Sipan Grig’s video about our unforgettable journey.

The Awaited ascent of Mount Bardogh

An equally important to the ascents of Tsovasar and Suakvet was our ascent to the top of Mount Bardogh. Our team first saw this mountain in 2014, but the idea of climbing it appeared only in 2018. And this year we were finally eager to accomplish it. One day our guys just decided to follow their dream and after some days they were standing on the top of mount Bardogh. This ascent was also remarkable as we were the first Armenians who stood on the top of the Mount Batdogh over the last 100 years. And as after the first ascent there was a great interest towards the mountain we decided to repeat it. And after some months we were again standing on the top of Mount Bardogh.

Conclusion of the Event

Again returning to the name and subject of our event we want to mention that this year Armenian Geographic joined the Ararat Challenge organized by “Aurora” forum. And Maria Hovsepyan talked about the forum in short.

At the end of the event we’ve watched Luiza Vardanyan’s film “Sunrise from Mount Ararat”, which was telling about the ascent of one of our groups.

We finished our event with the ceremony of presenting the certificates to the participants of Ararat 2019.

So we are 7 years old and despite all our achievements and conquests, our greatest achievement remain the people whom we have found during our hikes, the ones who inspire us to reach more and also the ones who are just following us.

Thank you for your belief and support.

See you in the mountains!!!

Photos by Sipan Grig

Hiking and Trekking in Armenia