“Why do people go to the mountains?”. This is one of the questions that everyone has ever had, the answer is right there: The slogan of Armland is not in vain: Dreams come true in the mountains! Try to reach even one of the lowest peaks once, and your feelings will also become indescribable, as mine is at this moment. And if you are accompanied by a well-trained team and guide, it will become an integral part of your life.
In the mountains, safety is important to me, although dangers can never be predicted, but it is always necessary to be prepared for them. And Armland is the guarantor of my safety in the mountains. I was convinced of this after several dozen hikes, in which Ararat occupies its most important place, being the most serious with its height of 5000m+.
Ararat was a dream-goal that I kept secret and cherished for years, the realization of which was among the impossible. However, in 2022 On August 13, standing on the top of Ararat, I realized that when the right people appear on your path, even their simple presence becomes an indispensable source of motivation on the way to the realization of an insurmountable dream. Any 5000+ altitude requires serious training, which was achieved with Armland after 1 year of climbing many peaks. Our guide Artyom Martirosyan, who had indescribable psychological and physical training, constantly gave us instructions during the ascent in order to keep the fighting spirit high in the group.
When you are at such a height for the first time, you may not be able to orient yourself and assess your strength correctly, choose a team to whom you can trust your life in the most extreme moments…
I never dreamed or aimed to climb Ararat. But when I started hiking three years ago and got to know my homeland better, everything changed. Patriotism is a whole different world from 3000+. As I successfully conquered each peak, almost every time I was greeted from a distance by a very powerful gravity, a very old and majestic “Old Man” of 5165m height. At one point, the desire to reveal him was so great that it was impossible to endure. I decided and registered immediately. The highest peak of the Armenian highlands was waiting. The expectations and emotions were so high that I hardly noticed any discomfort. The desire to collect memories made everything ideal.
We started the ascent from 2200 m and after spending 2 nights in the camp we reached the eternal snow, after which the most interesting and emotional moment begins. At this moment, I can only distinguish that at that moment you believe that human abilities are unknown and infinite.
Although they say the last word belongs to the mountains, but at that moment you feel something else. You have overcome enough to enjoy the dawn in the mountains, you have overcome yourself. And at the end you are rewarded with bright sunny weather to make the impressions even more complete. It all changes how you feel about yourself. You understand that you can do more. Your character is formed and changed, promotes self-knowledge and self-organization. It doesn’t matter where you’re going if you don’t know why you’re going there.
At the moment, my life is divided into two parts: before and after Ararat!
You can talk about Ararat forever, I have admired Ararat since I was a child, I dreamed that one day I will stand on the white agate of that glorious mountain. While listening to a well known and to me the most beautiful poem of Yeghishe Charents about Ararat («Ես իմ անուշ Հայաստանի») I felt that sooner or later the time would come and I myself would stand on top of Ararat and spell these lines.
In 2016, when I started my first hike with the ArmLand hiking club, I had no idea that they were my first steps leading to the top of my dream. Having overcome the rugged mountains of my country with ArmLand, I decided to overcome my dream 5165m as well.
As each kilometer of the road to Ararat shortens, the number of my heart beats was doubling. On the responsible and difficult path, our team turned from individuals into a family, due to which we united and overcame 2200m, 3200m and 4200m. At around 2:30 in the morning, we started our steps to the top of Ararat, to look at the real homeland from the lost homeland and strengthen our values.
Ararat became a peak of self-knowledge, self-expression and self-discovery for me, I’m sure for my teammates as well. There are peaks that had a reversible role in my life, the main one of them is Ararat.
