Ascent of Mount Vardablur, or Wolf’s Ears

• peaksam April 9, 2024October 4, 2026

What were you busy with on April 7, 2024? I hope you had a beautiful day with the colors of motherhood and beauty. And would you like to know about our strong ascent?

On April 7 we had planned to climb Mount Vardablur, yes, the very mountain also called Wolf’s Ears. If this information didn’t tell you anything, try to remember the peak that is visible from the city of Yeghegnadzor and stands out for its appearance, resembling the ears of a wolf, a dog or a similar animal. That was exactly the summit we had to climb. We set off on the road at 7:30 in the morning. The sky was cloudy, but not rainy: an ideal place for walking. We were going by bus and trying to predict from what altitude there would be snow on the mountain. Already in Yeghegnadzor it was clear that we would walk most of the way without snow, and the difficult part, the steep slopes, we would cross in snow. From the village of Zedea, our group of 19 people started moving forward, hearing the opinion of one of the village grandfathers that “the children won’t be able to climb”, but our motivation and belief in our strength were very high.

The village of Zedea is presumed to be older, as evidenced by its khachkars (cross-stones) and tombstone inscriptions in Greek letters, from which it can be assumed that Armenians and Greeks lived here, after which Armenians resettled from Nakhichevan found refuge in this village. According to Stepanos Orbelian, the village of Zedya already existed in the Middle Ages in the Vayots Dzor district. There are no other details about the history of the village.

Let’s return to the hike.

It truly was a difficult hike, since overcoming steep slopes is hard in itself, and here half-melted snow had also piled up. And together these two caused slipping. But we managed, by helping each other, with humor, chatting non-stop during the difficult ascent and drawing more strength from adrenaline, to reach the Wolf’s Ear and become just like it 🙂

In the end we walked 11 km and covered 850 m of total elevation gain. Not bad, is it?

When we got back to the village, one of the children raised his voice: “That man said we wouldn’t be able to climb.”

We’ve always said that believing in your own strength, and especially when your loved ones also believe in that strength, always leads to the goal. Don’t underestimate children.