Mountain Network is Holland’s largest brand of both climbing gyms and guided alpine adventures. I’d worked with this company before, shooting some trips in the French Alps. When they asked me to climb Iran’s highest mountain, I knew this would be a little different.

My assignment for this trip was to document the experience of the travellers, with the photos being used to show possible future customers what the experience is like.

The trip included a three day trek through an absolutely stunning valley right in the middle of spectacular mountains and some acclimatisation climbs. The final climb to the peak of Mount Damavand (5610m) took four days and saw us narrowly dodge a thunder storm on our way back from the summit.

You may wonder about the somewhat yellowish look on the summit: this was caused by sulphur gasses constantly exuding from this sleeping volcano. Yes, it actually smelled as foul as it looks.