Going skiing? The world is your oyster - surprising places you can ski in
Going skiing? The world is your oyster - surprising places you can ski in
Thinking of hitting the slopes? For most of us when we think of going on a skiing or snowboarding holiday we might imagine going to France or maybe Austria perhaps the USA or Canada if you're got a bit more budget but had you considered Morocco, Cyprus or even Iran?
They might not be the first place you'd consider looking, but these countries and many more have popular ski resorts for instance, Spain has over 20 skiing areas, and is in fact the second most mountainous country in Europe!
My motivation for writing this article is the wonderful experience I had when I was skiing in the very aptly named ski resort of Heavenly, Lake Tahoe in the USA. While working my way down a gorgeous wide slope after a fresh dump of snow, I looked up and realised I could see the Nevada desert. It was such an unbelievable site. Later that same day I drove down from the mountains to Reno, a city in the desert. I thought this must be something totally unique in the world, but it turns out it is not!
Starting with the most extreme resort, ski holidays in Dubai? OK this is a little bit of a cheat... The average temperature in Dubai ranges from 24 to 41 degrees Celsius depending on the time of year, however Dubai does have a ski resort featuring 5 runs, one 400 metres long, a black run, and one chair lift. The resort is open all year around, because the whole thing is indoors, where it's maintained at between -6 and -1 degrees C. I'm not sure that this really would qualify as a resort, but it must be one of the most surprising places you can hit the slopes.
Up next is Cyprus, you might be thinking about gorgeous villas in cyprus - the tiny island is a hot-spot for sunbathers and winter sun holiday makers, as it's one of the hottest, sunniest spots in the Mediterranean, but in contrast it also has an active ski season with the best conditions between mid January and Mid March. The heart of this winter sport activity is Prodromos on Mount Olympus, 4,500ft above sea level.
Two principles allow for this the seasonal tilt of the earth compared to the sun, and the environmental lapse rate of temperature by altitude. The tilt means that at the peak of UK summer, the southern hemisphere of the planet is tilting away from the sun, and temperatures from, meaning that when it's summer in Europe, it's winter in Australia. The lapse rate has even more effect, for every 1,000ft up we go, the temperature drops 2 degrees Celsius, so for example, you can be experiencing a chilly -3 degrees in the ski resort of Tochal in Iran, while other parts of the country you can be bathing in the Caspian sea, enjoying 23 degree heat.
With both effects combined, it means your chances of finding a snow covered slope somewhere in the world at any time of year, are pretty high so long as you know where to look.
Other places I didn't mention yet are - South Africa, Algeria, Turkey, Kazakhstan, India, Argentina, and Chile.
Personally, these days when the cold sets in at home, I like to hit a villa in lanzarote to catch some winter sun!
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