Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Turkish Ski Resorts
So, the goal this year is to ski all of the Turkish ski resorts. According to my research, that involves going to 10 different locations, but here's the hitch. In Turkey, and this is the first place I have ever been where this is the case, each hotel owns its own resort, and you can only ski the pistes of THAT hotel. So, in one ski area, there may be 3 different resorts to ski. Strange, I know. Anyway, after this weekend I'll have two resorts down, and we have booked our ticket out to near the Iranian border for the third. (Don't worry Mom and Dad, it's still a good 6 hours to Iran...no chance of us accidentally crossing the border, I'm fast on my skis, but not THAT fast).
I now present you, The List.
First, Kartalkaya. The closest resort to Ankara of worth, and a place we have already been to twice.
Next door, we have another hotel, and another mountain, which we have NOT skied yet. Dorukaya.
Kartalkaya/Dorukaya is only two hours away, and is a pretty good resort, but also 2 hours away is Ilgaz. Now, most people say it's not as nice, but the lift prices are WAY cheaper, and I'm interested in the backcountry potential. We go here this weekend.
Another map of Ilgaz:
Down the road a bit, outside of Istanbul is the very trendy and posh Uludag. I believe there are also several sets of pistes here, but I'm not sure. Here is the one map I have found.
Also near Istanbul is a new resort that gets good reviews, Kartepe.
Another map of Kartepe:
Over towards the Mediterranean, in fact, only an hour away from the ocean is Salkikent, a resort where you could ski in the morning, and swim in the Med. in the afternoon. Rad.
On the road North from Salkikent, back towards Ankara is Davras...a promising resort with lots of snow. I found two maps of Davras.
Southeast of the capital, looming over the wonderland of Cappadocia is the magnificent Ecyries...a huge volcano with a ski resort pasted to its side. Again, I found several maps of this area, including the duly impressive photo/map below:
All of the former resorts are within a weekend reach of Ankara, but far off on the Eastern border, near Iran are some resorts that (at least according to rumors) hold vast amounts of deep powder and long, European-style runs. We've booked our tickets for Paladoken in two weeks:
And, although the maps don't look that impressive, Sarikimis/Cibiltepe is supposedly VERY good for the pow-dah.
Of course, the ultimate option would be to go with one of the two Heli-Ski operations that work the mountains in the Northeastern corner of the country. You know the phrase, "lake-effect snow" yeah, it refers to the dumps places like Buffalo, New York get. Well, in the Kackar mountains, south of the Black Sea, they get "SEA EFFECT SNOW" Not bad. But, I'll need a lottery or a sponsor to go out with these guys, prices start at $9,000 for a week.
Sponsors? Please.....
I now present you, The List.
First, Kartalkaya. The closest resort to Ankara of worth, and a place we have already been to twice.
Next door, we have another hotel, and another mountain, which we have NOT skied yet. Dorukaya.
Kartalkaya/Dorukaya is only two hours away, and is a pretty good resort, but also 2 hours away is Ilgaz. Now, most people say it's not as nice, but the lift prices are WAY cheaper, and I'm interested in the backcountry potential. We go here this weekend.
Another map of Ilgaz:
Down the road a bit, outside of Istanbul is the very trendy and posh Uludag. I believe there are also several sets of pistes here, but I'm not sure. Here is the one map I have found.
Also near Istanbul is a new resort that gets good reviews, Kartepe.
Another map of Kartepe:
Over towards the Mediterranean, in fact, only an hour away from the ocean is Salkikent, a resort where you could ski in the morning, and swim in the Med. in the afternoon. Rad.
On the road North from Salkikent, back towards Ankara is Davras...a promising resort with lots of snow. I found two maps of Davras.
Southeast of the capital, looming over the wonderland of Cappadocia is the magnificent Ecyries...a huge volcano with a ski resort pasted to its side. Again, I found several maps of this area, including the duly impressive photo/map below:
All of the former resorts are within a weekend reach of Ankara, but far off on the Eastern border, near Iran are some resorts that (at least according to rumors) hold vast amounts of deep powder and long, European-style runs. We've booked our tickets for Paladoken in two weeks:
And, although the maps don't look that impressive, Sarikimis/Cibiltepe is supposedly VERY good for the pow-dah.
Of course, the ultimate option would be to go with one of the two Heli-Ski operations that work the mountains in the Northeastern corner of the country. You know the phrase, "lake-effect snow" yeah, it refers to the dumps places like Buffalo, New York get. Well, in the Kackar mountains, south of the Black Sea, they get "SEA EFFECT SNOW" Not bad. But, I'll need a lottery or a sponsor to go out with these guys, prices start at $9,000 for a week.
Sponsors? Please.....
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