Mount Ararat route names: match each label to its source and date
A route name is shorthand. “The south route” or “the north-west side” only means something once you know who wrote it, when, and from where they approached the mountain. This page lists the route labels found in the sources used by Ararat Info and explains what each one refers to. It is a guide to vocabulary. It does not describe how to climb, rate difficulty, or say which approach is open.
Labels in the current official description
The Ağrı Governorship’s page on Ağrı Dağı, checked on 14 September 2026, uses these labels:
- Güney rotası (south route). The Governorship calls it the most comfortable and most frequently used route to the main summit in terms of communication, transport, safety and climbing.
- The Doğubayazıt–Topçatan–Eli Çiftliği line. The page states that ascents of the main mountain are made only along this line and only from the face of the mountain that lies within the boundaries of Doğubayazıt district.
- Kuzeybatı güzergahı (north-west route) of Little Ağrı. The page states that Little Ağrı is climbed only by its north-west route.
The same page describes, in rounded figures, a first camp at 2,800 m reached from Eli after a walk of seven to eight hours and a second camp around 4,200 m. Those numbers are the page’s own description, not surveyed camp positions or a schedule.
The page is dated 14 September 2020 and cites a book published in 1995. It shows how the authority described the approach on the day it was read. It does not show which arrangement applies on a future date. Current rules and permissions are covered on permits and access.
Labels in nineteenth-century accounts
Nineteenth-century accounts name a route by the face that was climbed and the place the climb started from. James Bryce summarised the early ascents in 1878:
- North-west side, from the monastery of St James (St Jacob). Friedrich Parrot’s route in 1829: from the monastery on the edge of the Arguri chasm, a camp at a place Bryce spells Kip Gholl, then long snow terraces on the north-west side to the summit. Bryce thought it was followed only once after Parrot.
- South-eastern face, from Sardarbulakh. Hermann Abich’s successful ascent in 1845 went up this face from Sardarbulakh. Bryce adds that Chodzko’s survey party in 1850 and an English party in 1856, which came from the Turkish side, climbed the same face.
- South-east side, from Aralykh. Bryce’s own ascent in September 1876.
See climbing history for the people and dates behind these labels.
Summary of labels
| Label as written | Source and date | Starting point named | What it describes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Güney rotası (south route) | Ağrı Governorship, page dated 14.09.2020, read 14 September 2026 | Doğubayazıt, Topçatan, Eli | the most used route to the main summit, as described by the authority |
| Kuzeybatı güzergahı (Little Ağrı) | Ağrı Governorship, page dated 14.09.2020, read 14 September 2026 | not stated | the only route the page gives for Little Ağrı |
| North-west side | Bryce 1878, on Parrot 1829 | St James’s monastery, Kip Gholl | Parrot’s line over the north-west snow terraces |
| South-eastern face | Bryce 1878, on 1845–1856 ascents | Sardarbulakh (for Abich) | the face used by Abich, Chodzko and the 1856 party |
| South-east side | Bryce 1878, his 1876 climb | Aralykh | Bryce’s own ascent |
Why labels from different eras should not be merged
The modern “south route” and the nineteenth-century “south-eastern face” both point towards the southern half of the mountain, but the sources do not say that they follow the same line. The nineteenth-century parties started from St James’s monastery, Sardarbulakh or Aralykh; the Governorship’s route starts in Doğubayazıt district and passes Topçatan and Eli. Treating the two labels as one route would create a claim no source makes.
The same caution applies to names of camps. A camp described by its height, such as 4,200 m, is a rounded label. Two texts that both mention a “4,200 m camp” are not evidence that they describe the same spot.
How to use a route label in your own notes
- Write the label exactly as the source gives it, in the original language if possible.
- Record the source, its date, and the starting point it names.
- Keep historical labels and current official labels in separate lines.
- Check current access with the competent authority before treating any label as an available route, and read terrain descriptions on route and terrain.
Place names used above are explained in the terminology index.
Sources
- Ağrı Valiliği, Ağrı Dağı (page dated 14.09.2020, citing İ. Alpaslan, Her Yönüyle Ağrı, 1995). Checked 14 September 2026.
- James Bryce, Transcaucasia and Ararat, 3rd ed., London: Macmillan, 1878. Internet Archive. Read 14 September 2026.
- Friedrich Parrot, Journey to Ararat, translated by W. D. Cooley, New York: Harper and Bros., 1846. Internet Archive. Read 14 September 2026.