when Untamed Borders was the first company to run a commercial ski trip to Iraq in partnership with VI Kurdistan, a local tourism and adventure travel company. Untamed Borders has returned every year since 2016, taking international guests to compete in the Iraq Ski Rally, part of the Choman Winter Festival, sponsored by VI Kurdistan.

The Iraq Ski Rally is an event that celebrates backcountry skiing by joining together international skiers with local Iraqi Kurds to compete in a fun and friendly tour of the Zagros mountains of northern Iraq. The rally event is an informal race that includes skiers of all abilities coupled with a winter festival involving dancing, sledding and Kurdish food. The first Iraq Ski Rally took place in February 2018 as an experimental event in the town of Choman, a small mountain town in northern Iraq along the border with Iran. More than 20 skiers participated, coming from Australia, United States, Switzerland, Denmark and Slovakia, along with a large contingent of Kurdish skiers. A second event in 2019 brought bigger local crowds and founded the Choman Ski Club.

After a two-year hiatus due to Covid, the third Iraq Ski Rally took place in February 2023. Organizers brought refugees from the Darashakran Refugee Camp and built upon the success and lessons learned of the first. The team designed several runs down the mountain sides from the headquarters of VI Kurdistan. About fifty local skiers joined the international guests, the refugees and the Choman Ski Club for two full days of skiing the Zagros mountains.

THE REGION:

At first glance, Iraq is an unusual location to host a backcountry ski race. While the snow-covered mountains of the Kurdistan region have long been used by shepherds and farmers, ski touring in the region is an activity that dates back to the 1950s. Choman is located about two hours away from the Kurdistan capital from Erbil and four hours north of Baghdad. The area is an important agricultural and cattle breeding region in the shadow of the Hallgurd-Sakran Mountain chain. It also attracts many tourists due to the wide range of tourist facilities such as summer resorts, parks, rivers, green pastures and waterfalls.

Some key tourist sites include:

Mar Behnam Monastery: During the 4th Century CE, King Senchareb of Nineveh commissioned the building of this monastery as an act of atonement for having killed his son, Behnam, and daughter Sarah for converting to Christianity. Behnam, was eventually sanctified, hence the title Mar, a title of sainthood in the Assyrian language. He and Sarah’s bodies were buried in a crypt at the monastery. The site quickly became a beacon for Christian pilgrims throughout the region.

Bahdinan Gate: This beautiful arched gate is all that remains of the fortress the ancient mountaintop town of Amadiya once was. It is estimated that there was a stable settlement at this site thousands of years ago, part of the Assyrian Empire. It is also said to be the birthplace of the Three Wise Men, the Biblical Magi

Lalish Temple: The village of Lalish dates back thousands of years, and it is believed the temple was first used by the ancient Sumerians and other early Mesopotamian civilizations. Most Yazidi followers make a pilgrimage to the small mountain village at least once in their lives. Yazidis believe in one God, who brought the world into being and then handed it over to the care of seven angels.

Iraqi Kurdistan is an autonomous region located in northern Iraq and is officially governed by the Kurdistan Regional Government, with the capital in Erbil. The establishment of the Kurdistan Region dates back to the March 1970 autonomy agreement between the Kurdish opposition and the Iraqi government after years of heavy fighting. However, the 1991 uprising of Kurds in the north and Shia Arabs in the south against Saddam Hussein, Iraqi Kurdistan's military forces, the Peshmerga, succeeded in pushing out the main Iraqi forces from the north and created the basis for Kurdish self-rule. Kurdistan was once again plunged into violence in 2014 with the spread of ISIS in the region. The Peshmerga forces have been able to defeat ISIS and retake many of the Kurdish cities they occupied. At present, the situation has stabilized and Erbil, and the areas north of it, are safe or tourists.

Given the tumultuous and violent history of this area, the region lacks ski infrastructure, equipment and knowledgeable skiers, however, locals locals love to play in the snow in the winter and there is significant interest in skiing. Untamed Borders and VI Kurdistan hopes to continue to build upon this shared love of winter with the Ski Rally and the Choman Ski Club.

TRIP DETAILS:

There will be a maximum of 12 people on any trip arranged by Untamed Borders with the help of VI Kurdistan. Some trips have less. This small number allows for greater security, flexibility and access to local people and places. Each set itinerary trip is individually designed to coincide with local events or to visit the area at the best time of year. In addition to fixed itineraries, Untamed Borders can arrange all kinds of bespoke trips.

Currently, Untamed Borders provides annual trips to the Zagros mountains for skiing using specialist local guides, who aim to provide authentic and original experiences for guests. Guides introduce guests to the people of the areas they visit because they are friends. They speak the languages and know the history because it is our collective history and they want to share it with the rest of the world. Untamed Borders believes that peace and understanding on a world scale can only come when people of different cultures meet and interact.

MISSION:

Untamed Borders aims to add positive benefit to the areas it visits. Both companies ensure that, whenever possible, the money spent goes directly to the people of that region by staying in locally run hotels and using local drivers and suppliers. Small scale tourism might not change the world, but every path starts with a single step.