Mountain·Iran

Alam-Kuh

4,848m

Alborz

Alireza Javaheri · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Elevation: 4,848m
Prominence: 1,827m
Relief: 1,930mabove the lowest point within 5 km
Steepest slope: 66°within 1 km of the summit
Snow at the summit: All yearSee month by month ↓
Summit: 36.3753°N, 50.9608°E

Mountain in Iran

Alam-Kuh is a mountain in the Alborz (Iran). Its summit stands 4,848 m above sea level. Its prominence — how far it rises above the highest saddle linking it to a taller summit — is 1,827 m.

From the lowest point within 5 km (2,918 m), it rises 1,930 m. The steepest side is the north-west face: 34° on average over the first kilometre. In places the ground near the top reaches 66° — terrain for climbers, not walkers.

The nearest town is Kalārdasht, 24 km away at 1,144 m: 3,704 m below the summit.

Alam-Kuh for skiers and climbers

Two scores out of 10, built only from open data — every part is shown. They describe what the mountain offers, not how safe it is.

Hiking & mountaineering

6.7/10

Difficulty to the top

Alpine climb

Most path sections around the top are T6 on the SAC hiking scale. Glaciers around the top.

Indicative only — never a safety assessment. Conditions change: ask local guides and check the forecast.

1.2/2.51 waymarked routes and 35 path sections nearby
0.2/1.51 huts and shelters
2.0/23,704 m of ascent from the valley
1.4/1.51,827 m of prominence
1.5/1.56 months with summit afternoons above −5 °C
0.3/1via ferratas, climbing and glaciers

Ski score

—

No ski runs within 12 km in OpenStreetMap.

How these scores are made

Ski (where OpenStreetMap has skiing within 12 km): up to 4 points for the length of downhill runs (300 km or more = 4), 1.5 for the number of lifts (40+), 1.5 for the vertical between lift stations (1,500 m) and 3 for the snow season — a month counts when the estimated mean temperature at the height of the ski area is −1 °C or lower and snow falls or lies there (NASA POWER, 2001–2020). Hiking & mountaineering: up to 2.5 for waymarked routes and paths, 1.5 for huts, 2 for the ascent from the valley (2,000 m), 1.5 for prominence (3,000 m), 1.5 for the season (months with summit afternoons above −5 °C) and 1 for via ferratas, climbing and glaciers. OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: where few things are mapped, a score can be lower than reality.

Plan your visit

Stay, climb and get there

Car hire in IranDiscover CarsSee

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

Snow

When there is snow on Alam-Kuh

At the summit, snow all year round. Month by month below, at different heights on the way up.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Summit4,848 msnow all year round	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month
Halfway up2,996 msnow from November to May	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month
Kalārdasht1,144 mno snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow

Snow on the ground all month
Snow some of the time
No snow
This month

Estimate for a normal year: average temperature and precipitation from NASA POWER, carried to each height, in a simple model of snow building up and melting. In a given year snow can come earlier or stay longer. It does not replace the local snow and avalanche bulletin.

Summit weather

Alam-Kuh, month by month

Not a forecast: long-term averages (1991–2020), carried up to the summit. The orange line is where an average afternoon reaches 0 °C; above the dashed blue line it freezes even at dawn.

On an average July afternoon the summit reaches about 5 °C; on January nights it falls to about -26 °C. In 8 months of the year it stays below freezing at the top even in the afternoon. In July the 0 °C line climbs to about 5,600 m, above the summit: the top thaws on an average afternoon. Across the region, May is the driest month (19 mm) and October the wettest (143 mm).

0 °C on an average afternoon 0 °C at dawn the summit

Month	Summit high °C	Summit low °C	Kalārdasht high °C	0 °C line (m)	Rain & snow (mm)	Wet days	Sun h/day
January	-18	-26	6	2,110	66	10	3.9
February	-16	-25	8	2,340	66	10	4.0
March	-11	-21	13	3,090	63	10	4.8
April	-7	-16	17	3,810	52	8	5.9
May	-1	-11	23	4,640	19	5	7.7
June	3	-8	27	5,270	21	4	9.2
July	5	-5	29	5,600	31	4	8.2
August	5	-5	29	5,570	39	5	8.1
September	2	-8	26	5,090	91	8	6.8
October	-4	-13	20	4,240	143	10	5.5
November	-12	-19	12	3,070	130	11	4.0
December	-16	-24	8	2,380	80	9	3.7

Estimate: the NASA POWER climate of a ~55 km cell (average height 1,567 m), adjusted to the summit by −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Rain, wet days and sunshine are those of the region. Mountain weather changes fast — always check a local forecast. ★ = mildest months at the top.

Relief

The mountain in profile

Two cuts through the summit, 16 km long, from the 30 m Copernicus elevation model. True scale: no vertical exaggeration.

West – east

South – north

Steepness by direction

Average slope of the first kilometre from the summit. The orange petal is the steepest side.

Around the mountain

Huts, lifts and trails around Alam-Kuh

Counted around the summit in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. The satellite plate shows 14 × 14 km.

N 5 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 14 × 14 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

1mountain huts and shelters
مجتمع کوهستانی ونداربن
—cable cars, gondolas, chairlifts and rack railways
—ski areas
1waymarked hiking routes
—via ferratas
—climbing crags and routes
10named glaciers
یخچال خرسان, یخچال هفت خان, یخچال علم چال, یخچال سرچال and 6 more
1viewpoints
ابتدای پاکوب مرجیکش
3campsites
دشت حصارچال, کافه کرن
—hotels, B&Bs and chalets
—restaurants and cafés

How hard are the paths?

35 path sections within 5 km, by SAC hiking scale (T1 easy walk … T6 difficult alpine).

T6 difficult alpine hiking

Towns at the foot

Kalārdasht24 km · 1,144 m

OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: a low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. Places © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Photos

Seen by climbers and visitors

Glacial lake in Alam Kuh by Hadi Karimi — Hadi Karimi · CC BY 3.0

Alam Chal glacier panorama Hadi Karimi — Hadi Karimi · CC BY 3.0

Recent years

How each month compared at the summit

Afternoon high at the summit (estimate). The first row is the reference, the 1991–2020 average in °C; the years show only the difference.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1991–2020 average	-18	-16	-11	-7	-1	3	5	5	2	-4	-12	-16
2020	−1.0	−0.2	−1.3	−2.3	+0.8	+0.4	−0.6	−3.2	−0.8	−0.5	−0.3	−1.4
2021	+3.5	+2.8	−0.4	+3.6	+1.0	+2.2	+0.4	+1.1	+1.5	−2.0	−0.5	+3.1
2022	+1.2	+1.7	−1.4	+2.8	−1.9	+1.8	−1.1	+0.1	+2.3	+2.2	+2.2	−1.0
2023	−0.5	−1.1	+2.9	+1.8	+0.3	±0.0	−0.4	+0.9	−0.4	+0.9	+4.6	+4.1
2024	+2.9	−0.4	−0.5	+0.9	−1.4	−0.3	−0.5	+0.5	−0.7	−0.8	+1.2	+0.7
2025	+1.6	−2.5	+0.9	+2.7	+1.8	−1.1	+0.5	+1.6	−0.6	+2.3	+5.0	+0.9

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Nearby

More mountains nearby

5,628 mDamavand

Iran113 km away

About these numbers

Names, elevation, prominence	Wikidata (Q3696208) · CC0
Relief, 3D view, profiles	Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Climate	NASA POWER, 1991–2020 · CC BY 4.0
Around the mountain	© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Images	EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beaches

Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit

lakes

Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit

mountains

Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.You are here

waterfalls Cascadyas

Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit

islands

Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit

rivers

Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Coming soonVisit

canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit