Iran, first descent-city for those in the know

Iran may not be the first country that springs to mind for a skiing holiday, but it is steadily gaining the reputation as a "killer destination" -- in the positive sense of the term -- by those in the know.

Tired of cliched resorts, irregular snowfall, long lift queues and restrictions on off-piste access, powder hunters from Europe and North America are beginning to trickle in to a country most think of as an inhospitable patch of desert.