TROODOS has not had this much snow in over a decade, with skiers in for a real treat this year as people in the business predict this year’s snowfall will last right through until the end of April.
“It snows enough to ski every year, but this year it’s different. We haven’t had as much as this since the winter of 1992,” said Philippos Xenofontos, who has worked at the ski-lodge for the past 35 years. Meteorology department readings yesterday confirmed there were 1.40 metres of snow on Mount Olympus and 1.30 metres in Troodos Square.
Xenofontos said there were around 600-700 skiers in Cyprus. Of those, 60 per cent are foreigners. He said a large number of Turkish Cypriots were also taking up the sport and now made up at least 10 per cent of the skiing population.
“We have 300 pairs of skis for rent and 20 snowboards, but the majority of skiers come up with their own skis and only purchase day passes for the ski lifts,” he added.
The weekends were particularly busy and the ski-lodge was often out of equipment by 11am. “Everyone wants to come up and ski on the weekend and it’s very busy. Weekdays are normally quieter and made up of 100 per cent foreigners,” he said.
There are, however, one or two Greek Cypriots who are an exception to the rule and like to take advantage of the quiet weekdays for a spot of skiing. Chrysos Chrysostomou, who has been skiing for 25 years, is one of them.
“I like to come up during the week to avoid all the traffic on the weekends, as well as the long ski-lift queues,” he said.
“You can get a lot more skiing done during the week and have the slopes practically to yourself.”
Cyprus boasts four ski slopes – Sunvalley 1 Sunvalley 2, Hera and North Face – which between them accommodate beginners to advanced skiers. All slopes use T-bar lifts and are open from 9am-4pm daily.
There are also teachers on hand for lessons.
Asked about skiing conditions at the moment, Chrysostomou told the Cyprus Mail: “Today is an amazing day for skiing. It’s one of those rare days where everything is perfect. The weather conditions are perfect and the condition of the snow is perfect. I’m sure there will be other days like it because there is just so much snow.”
In fact, according to Xenofontos, skiers will be able to enjoy at least another 11 weeks of skiing.
“We’ll definitely get a full month’s worth of skiing in April,” he said. “I’m not sure about May though. I think we’ll have to have shut the lifts by then because the snow will have melted.”
But although it may make for great skiing, the snow also makes for extremely dangerous driving conditions unless you have a four-wheel driver vehicle or – better – put chains on your car tyres. In fact, four-wheel drive cars do not even protect motorists from the black ice that forms on the roads on bitterly cold days.
“Well, people shouldn’t come up here when it’s snowing,” Troodos police said yesterday, by way of advice. “We have machines that clear the roads, but you can’t always get rid of all the snow, so cars should avoid coming up here; particularly if we have issued warnings and they still insist on coming up in saloon cars without any chains.”
Nevertheless four-wheel drive vehicles have been known to skid on the icy roads and collide with other cars because they have no grip. Asked why salt wasn’t put on the roads to clear the ice, police said they did so in “some areas”, but added: “it’s still not going to clear the snow”.
“When the weather is bad, people just shouldn’t come up. There is so much snow that it’s not going to run out, so people can just come up another day.”
