Skiing Greek style
8th February 2011 | Konstantinos Valtadoros, Greece.
Last modified on July 8th, 2024
Yes you can ski in Greece and the season is well under way after a poor start. PlanetSKI reports from a place more associated with sand than snow.
Well, we have finally had the first decent snow here in Greece.
19 of the 22 ski resorts in Greece, are partially or totally open for skiers and snowboarders.
The lack of snow during December, and most of January, led to huge waiting lines once the lifts finally opened.
In two dumps of snow we had about 70cm.
We all got a bit impatient but now the snow is here .
Thousands of snow-fans went to the mountains during Saturday and especially Sunday and the waiting times exceeded 30minutes in some lifts.
But it was worth it.
The best conditions are at ski resort, Vasilitsa, where the snow depth varies from 70cm at bottom till 125 cm at the top of the mountain.It is where I went to make some turns.
After a couple of days of powder the weather turned; thick fog and snowstorm, all over the mountain.
The poor visibility, made skiing-snowboarding quite difficult, and off piste dangerous.
However there was an upside; no more than 20 persons, at the upper part of the resort.
Unfortunately the fresh snow resulted in slopes full of bumps, and outside the slopes, it was quite difficult to board or ski safely.
The is one of the most blessed as regard as weather.
First choice for snowboarders with fresh powder, nice terrain, possibility to ski and board among trees, and generally a huge area to “play”.
However the resort definitely needs a “refresh”.
Especially at the upper part, a project of lifts replacement is necessary, for the resort cannot handle the weekend crowds.
There are excellent conditions in North Greece, for powder ski-snowboard during weekend though there has been a bit of fog.
The snow conditions have been pretty good in almost all of the other 19 resorts, even in South Greece.
Unfortunately on Sunday a young skier at the resort of Metsovo went outside the black slope and died after crashing into a tree.
R.I.P. for the unlucky fellow.
Not your typical Greek scenery
Greek ski slopes
Deserted slopes
Konstantinos Valtadoros
Last Autumn Konstantinos Valtadoros wrote a full review of skiing in Greece so if you want to find out more about it and see some pictures then check out his story.
We also have a feature up on the ski resorts of the Czech republic from our reporter there, Filip Grygera.
Who says we don’t cover the globe here on PlanetSKI?!
For the spirit of the mountains
