Yale Bulletin and Calendar

December 1, 2006|Volume 35, Number 12|Two-Week Issue

Lew Nescott Jr. (right) poses with his Iranian guides at the summit of Mt. Damavand. The Yale employee says the climb "was an experience of three men from different faiths sharing in a moment of goodwill."

Climbing Iranian peak was
'exercise in citizen diplomacy'

During a climb in October when he was just 300 feet from the summit of Iran's 18,602-foot Mt. Damavand -- the highest peak in the Middle East -- Lew Nescott Jr. found himself in a precarious position.

Nescott, a senior research analyst in the Office of Development, was breathing hard in the oxygen-thin air near the mountain's peak and was challenged by high winds and sub-zero temperatures when he slipped on loose, ice-covered rocks and slid nearly 40 feet before coming to a stop.

Any sudden movement on his part could have resulted in sliding even farther on the icy terrain, possibly causing serious injury or death.

Nescott called out to one of the two guides who were climbing with him on Mt. Damavand, a dormant volcano in Iran's Alborz mountain range. He was able to pull himself up by interlocking arms with the guide. He then made his way over to the second guide, a master mountain climber who secured Nescott with a rope and encouraged him as the two together traversed the remaining 300 feet to the summit.

Nescott was grateful to reach the summit, but would not have thought the climb was a failure if he had not made it to the top of the mountain.

"I viewed my climb as an exercise in citizen diplomacy and goodwill," says the Yale staff member of his trip to Iran. "It was not just about reaching the summit."

Nescott decided over a year ago that he wanted to climb Mt. Damavand but was originally denied a visa to get into the country, which is on the U.S. government's list of unsafe places to travel. Undeterred by the warning, Nescott eventually secured a visa while working through two tour companies, the Seattle-based Alpine Ascents International Inc. and the Tehran-based Caravan Sahra Co.

"I'm curious by nature, and I wanted to do something as a citizen other than feed off the reports that we're given on CNN or through other sources -- to literally go beyond the headlines," says Nescott, a graduate of the Yale Divinity School ('80 M.A.R. and '86 M.Div.) who has worked in the development office since 1991.

"Although we hear that Iran is a dangerous country, I felt prompted to investigate on my own. I also got a bit tired of the simple, 'flattened' view of the Middle East, in which nations and peoples are all labeled as 'Arab' for the sake of geographical and political convenience when, in fact, each country in the region is unique," he adds.

For the Yale staff member, one of the most enjoyable ways to learn about another country and its people is to trek through the parts of it that are less popular with tourists, including its mountains. He first began climbing mountains about six years ago, after taking a trip to Washington state with his wife, Mary.

"Mountain climbing started to appeal to me during a time when life felt more like an obligation than a joy," says Nescott. "I started climbing as a way to clear my head, to regain perspective."

In Washington, Nescott took a training course in Mount Rainier National Park. During a two-day climb there, less than half the students in the class made it to the 14,410-foot summit. Nescott was among those who did.

"Climbing is tough and adventurous and it forces you not to take anything for granted," he says. "Everything assumes greater importance when you climb: you have to pay attention to the people who are climbing with you, and you must listen to them carefully because you could end up being responsible for each other. You eat for fuel so you can function; you sleep so you can function; you hydrate so you can function; you breathe differently. All of the things we take for granted, including every step taken, matters when you are climbing."

Since his ascent of Mt. Rainier, the 52-year-old staff member has also climbed Mt. Adams in Washington state and Mt. Elbrus in Russia, and he has made a number of winter training treks on Mt. Washington and other mountains in New Hampshire's Presidential Range.

In Iran, Nescott spent several days acclimatizing in the Alborz Mountain range before camping out in a shelter at 14,764 feet on the eve of his trek to the summit. A storm began brewing that night, bringing howling wind. Trying to beat the storm, Nescott and his guides had to climb the remaining 4,100 feet in just 10 hours.

At the top of Mt. Damavand, Nescott says he experienced a sense of achievement that was as much about friendship as it was about reaching a mountain's peak.

"I reached the top with two Iranians -- one who is among only 15,000 Jews living in Iran and one who was born into the Muslim faith," says the Yale staff member. "I am a Christian, practicing the Orthodox faith into which I was born. So the climb was an experience of three men from different faiths sharing in a moment of goodwill."

While in Iran, Nescott kept a blog of his trip in which he described both his climb and his impressions while visiting three major Iranian cities: Tehran, Shiraz and Isfahan. The New Haven Register, which ran a story about the trip prior to Nescott's departure, sponsored the blog. In his blog entries (http://iranclimbnhr.blogspot.com), the Yale staff member tells of the country's severe environmental challenges, high unemployment rate, an exodus there of skilled and educated citizens, and an inability of many Iranian citizens to access news and information because of "closed newspapers, locked websites and confiscated satellite dishes [illegal in that country] that could carry the BBC and CNN into living rooms."

In spite of Iran's problems, Nescott writes in his blog, "there is beauty in this land and grace in her people."

While visiting some of the country's archaeological, architectural and artistic treasures, Nescott spoke to a cross-section of Iranian citizens about their country's political climate.

"The Iranians I spoke with tell you that they are Persians -- not Arabs -- who love their country," Nescott comments. "From what I could discern from these conversations, they don't hate the people of the United States, although they may not hold the U.S. government in high regard, in part because of the sanctions, which they still talk about. When I asked them whether they thought a restoration of relations between the United States and Iran was possible, most said they thought it will happen, but felt there will have to be an acknowledgement on the part of the United States of its history in the country, particularly the CIA-driven coup in 1953," which returned Iran to a monarchy by installing Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi as its leader.

Many of these Iranian citizens, notes Nescott, also expressed displeasure with the current regime of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but feel that their country has a right to pursue its controversial nuclear enrichment program.

A former volunteer for VISTA, Nescott has combined some of his travel abroad with humanitarian efforts. He made trips to Russia and Israel to provide humanitarian service, and in 2003, spearheaded a drive on behalf of his national church to procure medical supplies for hospitals in Iraq. Nescott then traveled to Baghdad to distribute the materials.

The Yale staff member hopes to return to Iran for a trek through the Lut Desert, one of the driest places on Earth, to learn about its habitat and geology. He is less definite about his future mountaineering plans, but says he may someday climb Alaska's Mt. McKinley, the highest peak in North America. In any case, Nescott acknowledges that the itch to "go vertical" will hit him again soon.

"In the days following a climb, and the endless preparation and pain that inevitably go with it, I often ponder 'retirement,'" he wrote in his blog. "But I also know that on a clear day in early February, I'll look out my window at the blowing snow and wonder, where next?"

-- By Susan Gonzalez

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