Children on the Summit of Ararat
That is exactly what the Ararat ascent event was called, and it was no exaggeration. On August 1, 2025, the children of the “4 PEAKS” youth mountain club stood on the summit of Mount Ararat. This is not the story of a two- or three-day ascent (we won’t tell about the visits to Ani, Van and Kars here). It was the summary of months of hard ascents, thanks to which we managed to reach our goal.
The idea of climbing Ararat was born on the eve of the club’s 10th anniversary. The children’s dream was to climb to the summit of Ararat; the club’s dream was to climb Ararat together with the children. We all did our best to make the dream come true.
Before the Ararat ascent, we made quite a few serious ascents:
- Mount Abul from Lake Parvana (summit 3,301 m, 30 km, 1,300 m elevation gain)
- Mount Sevazhayr (summit 2,727 m, 11 km, 650 m elevation gain)
- Mantash Waterfall (16 km, 650 m elevation gain)
- Mount Qarapar (summit 3,438 m, 5 km, 300 m elevation gain)
- Mount Nigasar (summit 3,316 m, 21 km, 1,250 m elevation gain)
- Mount Tezharuyk and Amberd Lake (summit 3,423 m, 13 km, 450 m elevation gain)
- The South (3,887 m) and West (4,007 m) summits of Aragats (13 km, 900 m elevation gain)
- An overnight stay on the South summit of Aragats (12 km, 700 m elevation gain).
As a result of these preparatory ascents, we surpassed our best hiking results from before. We had specifically chosen as many ascents around Aragats as possible, because we were sure that if we acclimatized on Aragats, we would feel comparatively good on Ararat. Walking long distances also aimed to develop willpower and endurance.
After the overnight stay on the South summit, the team was confirmed: 29 participants, twenty of them children and teenagers aged 9 to 19, seven parents and two guides.
On July 29, we set off at dawn. Excitement, anticipation, worry and that restrained calm had changed everyone’s facial expression. We left Yerevan with encouraging wishes.
The first encounter with Ararat from the Bayazet side brought a wave of excitement. Of course, the view of Ararat from the side of Armenia is incomparably more beautiful.
On July 30, early in the morning, we set off from Bayazet, reached an altitude of 2,400 m by car and started walking toward the camp at 3,300 m. On the first day we walked 4.7 km and covered 900 m of elevation gain. On reaching the first camp, we forgot about the trouble of the road, including the wild horses that met us along the way and kept coming off the trail. The panoramas and the atmosphere that opened up at 3,300 m brought a big wave of inspiration. It was as if we had not been walking on rocky slopes under the scorching sun. We welcomed the sunset by dancing national dances.
On the second day, we had to reach the camp at an altitude of 4,050 m. When you look from the first camp toward the second one, it’s hard to imagine that you can reach a camp “hanging” on a steep slope, let alone spend the night there. But we did that too. It is here that you finally see Mount Sis. And it is here that you concentrate most of all on not doing anything wrong, getting ready in advance and starting to walk without the night’s sleep. Since we were not going to sleep that night, we were active until 18:30, after which we all settled into the tents and tried to sleep. That day we walked 3.3 km and covered 710 m of elevation gain.
The third day, which was so connected to the second day that it was hard to separate them, was the most important day: summit day. We woke up at 00:30, at 01:00 we began to eat, dress and get organized, and at 02:06 we started walking. In the darkness, the outline of the summit of Ararat was visible, waiting for us under the starry sky. Although the summit was clear, near us, at an altitude of 4,050 m, light snow was falling. Still, we gathered ourselves mentally, physically and in our clothing, and moved forward. The children walked in such an organized way, as if it weren’t their first time walking at night. The line of people with headlamps, moving with a zigzag step on the mountain, looked like a ray of hope, after which we walked in mind and heart with one great aspiration: to reach the summit of Ararat. From time to time we spoke encouraging words to one another, sang, urged one another (within limits) to keep feeling well and keep walking… We had divided the ascent into parts: walk until the light begins to break, walk until we see the shadow of Ararat, walk until we see the white summit of Ararat and the eternal snow leading to it, and climb onto the summit of Ararat. Although it was planned what we would do if someone’s well-being went beyond the norm, it was emotionally hard to accept going down with two children. One of them went back down from 4,600 m, the second from 4,700 m. This was also a great achievement for them: a new milestone of willpower, endurance and resilience. After descending with the children, a deep silence reigned in the line for some time. With altitude (from lack of oxygen) breathing became harder, the steps slower. Here we’ve reached the glacier, here we’re putting on the crampons, here we’re taking the last steps toward the summit, here we’re all on the summit…
One is crying with joy, another can’t hold back their emotions, a third has turned their gaze to the endless horizon. We hug one another, kiss the children’s foreheads, congratulate one another, draw inspiration from the smiling eyes among the teary ones, wave the flag, take photos, catch our breath… Chaos of emotions on the summit of Ararat, because an unbelievable dream has become reality for a group of children and teenagers. I don’t know… So much great and sincere happiness, so many emotions boiling over, so much fatigue and calm at the same time. The summit of Ararat had come to life and embraced us: without wind, with warm sunshine and gentle views.
On summit day we walked 6 km and covered 1,000 m of elevation gain. Over the three days in total, we walked 21 km and gained 2,600 m.
August 1, 2025 will remain in the history of Armenian mountaineering as the day the children stood on the summit of Mount Ararat. Members of the “4 Peaks” youth mountain club, children and teenagers aged 9 to 19, some with their parents, together with the guides, stood on the summit of the symbol of Armenian unity: Mount Ararat.
This was not simply an ascent. It was a heroic step: an expression of will, dedication, perseverance and national self-awareness. It was the summary of months of long preparation, of “acclimatization” ascents, of long and difficult camps, on the way to a dream that seemed impossible. But isn’t it exactly the impossible that becomes real when children dream?
Those who climbed Ararat had, until recently, been walking our mountains with small backpacks. They had learned to fight, not to get tired, to find the strength to walk through cold nights, and to face the altitude with determination and a smile. And they carried that willpower and faith to the summit as one whole heart, proving that the spirit of the mountaineer lives in Armenian children.
This was a new victory for Armenians: symbolic, but real. Until then, no youth group had made this route up Ararat. The first was the “4 Peaks” club, with its brilliant organization and its bright, devoted, brave and beloved dreamers. With this ascent, the Armenian children not only reached an altitude of 5,137 meters, but also raised our national dignity.
Ararat, the silent witness of our past and present, “spoke” this time with sunny weather, windless and clear views. It embraced the children, as if approving their perseverance. And we adults saw once again how strong, purposeful and rooted in this land, in these mountains, the new generation is.
This was not only the conquest of a height, but of ourselves. And when the children waved the tricolor on the summit of Ararat, at that moment there was no limit, no height and no fatigue. There was only pride, the size of the endless horizon.
On behalf of the “4 Peaks” youth mountain club, this is a tribute to everyone who believes that great dreams come true when it is children who climb the mountains.
The children who took part in the ascent:
- Vardan Hayrapetyan (9 y.o.)
- Mikayel Mosikyan (9 y.o.)
- Sargis Ananyan (10 y.o.)
- Narek Arekhtsyan (11 y.o.)
- Davit Tadevosyan (11 y.o.)
- Aram Qosakyan (11 y.o.)
- Mihran Khachaturyan (12 y.o.)
- Aida Aghagulyan (13 y.o.)
- Daniel Doluntz (13 y.o.)
- Maya Mosikyan (14 y.o.)
- Arina Suvaryan (14 y.o.)
- Rafayel Petrosyan (14 y.o.)
- Sergey Aghababyan (14 y.o.)
- Marina Baghdyan (16 y.o.)
- Arina Ghevondyan (16 y.o.)
- Aleksandr Aghajanyan (17 y.o.)
- Mari Poghosyan (18 y.o.)
- Tigran Mosikyan (18 y.o.)
- Liana Tosunyan (18 y.o.)
- Aram Martirosyan (19 y.o.)
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