The best ski resorts in Turkey
The idea of going to Turkey to go skiing only at first glance seems strange. In fact, it turns out that there is a lot of snow, and ski resorts are no worse than the beach and also work on an “all-inclusive”. We’ve chosen seven places that are easy to say, “It’ll do!
Erciyes
Lanes: 55 km
Season: December to end of March
The largest skiing area in Turkey is located on the slopes of a double-headed stratovolcano, whose peaks rise above the Anatolian plateau to almost 4,000 meters – the ancient Cappadocians considered the mountain sacred. Due to the high altitude and climate here for real snow, the tracks are long and varied, some of them have certificates FIS to hold international competitions. The conditions of the resort allow you to ski off the slopes too, and for fans of jumps and tricks there is a small fan park. In Ercijes a good infrastructure, many hotels, restaurants, stores and cafes. On weekends, however, can be crowded, and sometimes because of strong winds, some of the elevators are closed, but on those days you can spend time in the hammams or go on an excursion to the historic town of Kayseri, located just half an hour away.
Bonus: A ski holiday can be combined with a trip to Cappadocia. Only 70 km from Kayseri is the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Goreme National Park with its famous bizarre tufaceous cliffs and cave towns.
Ejder-3200
Season: December to March
Slopes: 65 km in two ski regions
A couple of years ago Palandoken and Konakli, the two main resorts of Eastern Anatolia, shared a ski pass and thus a new unified ski region was born, the first in Turkey. As a matter of fact, Eder Peak with the majority of downhills is a little bit lower than the 3200m pinnacle, but still the terrain here reaches the heights comparable with the Alpine ones, the longest of which is 12 km long – a record for Turkey. The resort inherited from the Universiade 2011 excellent infrastructure, well-developed terrain, and 200 snow guns – no wonder that it is here that the Turkish national ski team holds its training camp. Palandoken is bigger and cooler, Konakli is smaller and more comfortable, in the near future they are going to be connected by a system of ski elevators and ski-basses, as well as to join the company of the neighboring place Kandilli with a large biathlon center.
Uludag
Season: December to March
Trails: 28 km
“Uludag translates as “huge mountain”: compared to the surrounding hills, the 2,543-meter-high peak does seem enormous. According to legend it was from the top of Uludag that the ancient gods watched over the course of the Trojan War. Now here is a picturesque national park and a great resort for fans of relaxed skiing: comfortable, wide and gentle slopes, most of which have green and blue markings, mild climate and nice views with snow-covered Christmas trees. There are plenty of cafes and restaurants near the lower stations of the ropeways, and the hotels have hammams and wellness centers. And even the tap in Uludag flows mineral water, which comes there from springs nearby.
Kartalkaya
Season: December to March
Trails: 20 km
Founded in 1978, the resort on the hilly hills of Kogorlu in the province of Bolu is still small, but in recent years has been actively developing, and in a very right way. Recently, for example, there is a snow park, designed and built by Austrian shapers. Kartalkaya is located on a good altitude, so there is guaranteed snow and very decent length of slopes by Turkish standards. Still, the local slopes are more suitable for those who are just learning to stand on the skis and boards or want to put the younger generation on them. For beginners there are all conditions – training slopes, schools, instructors, and in the rental centers you can not only take the equipment, but also a set of proper skiing clothes.
Sarykamysh
Season: From December to the end of March
Trails: 21 km
This nice family resort in a pine forest is “our” in some sense: for some time the whole region was part of the Russian Empire, and during World War I there was an important battle with the Ottomans. The Russian troops were victorious, as evidenced by the memorial obelisk and a Russian-style hunting lodge built for Nicholas II. Now Sarykamysh is a quiet and peaceful place, it is a great training ground for beginner skiers. The tracks that descend from the peaks of two-headed mountain Dzhibiltepe are not complicated at all, without scary twists, sharp turns and narrow places, but at the same time are long enough not to be boring – there is a six-kilometer descent, one of the longest in Turkey, and snowboarders can practice half-pipe.
Bonus: 54 km away is Kars, which is the setting for the novel “Snow” by Orhan Pamuk. Sights include historical buildings from the Urartian, Ottoman and Byzantine periods, as well as the ruins of the ancient city of Ani, the capital of the Armenian Ani kingdom.
