 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi everyone, long time lurker but first time poster here.
My wife (snowboarder) and I (skiier) are currently on a year long trip around Europe in our van, currently in Northern Greece and heading over to Turkey for the winter. Our plan is to mosey along the south coast for a month or so and then make our way back across via various ski areas throughout the country (Palandoken/Sarikamis/Davras/Kartalkaya/Erciyes/Uludag). I was just wondering if anyone has got any experience of the following, though Ihope they're not too niche!
1. Staying in a van in any of the above resorts (we're all winterized with a heater etc)
2. Skiing with a dog in any of the above resorts (we've got a backpack for her as she's small just not sure whether lifts would allow her!)
Info about the resorts does seem pretty thin on the ground, found a couple of blogs which have been posted on here in the past which have been great but not answered everything I've been trying to find out!
Cheers 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@samwichardson, Hi, I spent 3 years in Turkey and can tell you that they're not big on Camping in the mountains in the Winter! Plus it rains (a lot) on the South Coast between Nov and March. None of the ski resorts really justify a stay of more than a day or two and you'll probably need to stay in the nearest town to have access to any public facilities for showers and the like. Plus, once off the main roads you really need a vehicle with proper all terrain capability in the winter.
I would really recommend that you park the van at an airport and hop on internal flights on a ski safari. The dog can travel on the plane internally and usually ski carriage is free. We used to hop on and off Sun Express, AnadoluJet or Pegasus for some pretty cheap flights to resorts, stay a couple of nights and head home again. There is very affordable accommodation in most resorts.
If I really had to recommend ski trips I'd say go to the Kackar Pension near (4 hours!) to Erzerum and go Touring. Great set up and wonderful hospitality. They pick you up from the airport! https://www.facebook.com/kackarpansiyon08
Or suck it up and go up to Gudauri in Georgia which gives you the chance to have a night or two in Tbilisi as well.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Turkey been on my list for yonks
Watching with interest.
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"Starli", author of the Inmontanis blog and frequent poster on Alpinforum, regularly drives all the way from S Germany to obscure ski resorts all over Europe, and made it to Eastern Turkey once. He writes in German, but a Google search + translate should give you some useful info about Turkish resorts! And don't discount Greek resorts in a good year.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@RedandWhiteFlachau, thanks for the response! Do you know why they're not too keen on camping in the mountains? We have friends in the country at the moment and everywhere else they seem more wild camping/van-friendly than other European countries so it's a pain if they're not so accepting in resorts!
Unfortunately our budget doesn't allow for flights and accommodation and kinda goes against the idea of us driving around everywhere in our home. But fortunately we have a shower in (well actually out the back doors) of our van so I think the only facilities we'll need are lockers as we don't have room to dry out our gear. We have considered extending our trip east by going through Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan so maybe we will see what it's like in Georgia too! Also thanks for the tip on Kackar 
@Mike Pow we are blogging our trip at www.polarsteps.com/thymeandtide - if you keep your eyes peeled on there then we'll end up doing a pae of info on each one. We're also considering doing a couple of YouTube videos as it's been so hard to find info (though with my skills they'll be lower quality than all the fancy ones everyone seems to be so good at!)
@balso, I have actually just finished reading his blogs! Makes me pretty excited to explore all these little resorts. We are in Greece at the moment but sadly no snow, drove past the centre in Pelion the other day, there was a very very very light dusting on Olympus yesterday.
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Sun 14-11-21 12:06; edited 1 time in total
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@samwichardson, Hi. Your polarsteps link comes up with "user not found".
A few years back we planned to do something similar to yourselves when I retired. But Brexit scuppered "Vanlife" plans for a lot of people in the UK. Do you hold European passports? If not, how are you managing the Schengen 90/180 rules? And did you have any problems getting insurance cover on your van for an extended trip?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@GeorgeVII, Yeah my bad, as @pieman666 pointed out the comma added itself to the URL, sorted now! (thankspieman666).
Yeah Brexit has thrown a bit of a spanner in the works, neither of us are EU passport holders so we're tied into the Schengen shuffle rules. It's not too bad I just think we probably would've stayed for longer in some places. We've been going since 6th September so now coming up to our end in Schengen. I guess it's good in a way as we probably wouldn't have ventured across to Turkey if we didn't have to get out after 90 days, but at least we can use Turkey to recharge. I think we'll also cross some other non-Schengen countries on our way back over, then head out to Morocco towards the middle of 2022 to hop out again!
Bringing our dog also came with challenges but that's a whole other story!!
I would definitely say that you shouldn't let it put you off, it requires a little more thought but actually it's not too bad. Nice to be forced to go to different places and it's definitely an experience.
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@clarky999, saw this the other day - incredible! Now can I do it with a dog on my back 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| samwichardson wrote: |
@Mike Pow we are blogging our trip at www.polarsteps.com/thymeandtide - if you keep your eyes peeled on there then we'll end up doing a pae of info on each one. We're also considering doing a couple of YouTube videos as it's been so hard to find info (though with my skills they'll be lower quality than all the fancy ones everyone seems to be so good at!)
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Bookmarked
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This was Fabian Lentsch ski tour of the middle East in a converted fire truck
https://www.redbull.com/gb-en/films/snowmads-1
Georgia probably has better skiing than turkeyand if you plan to visit Palandoken and Sarikamis not much further. I think the Turkish visa is 90 out of 180 days so may also help out with that.
Iran is another option (absolutely fantastic country I can't recommend enough to visit beside the skiing anyway) - although can be a little complicated depending on your passports.
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You know it makes sense.
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@boarder2020, thanks! Yeah we're considering Georgia just depends on how we get on in the rest of Turkey time-wise.
We looked at Iran as we had a sudden thought of driving to India the other week. It seems we wouldn't be eligible for a visa on arrival being from the UK, can only get them from the embassy which of course we didn't even think about doing when we were at home, doh!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@samwichardson, Thanks for the reply. The 90 in 180 issue is a real pain and I'm glad that you've found a workaround. The loss of spontaneity and flexibility that we had really galls me. Between ski trips, in-laws in Portugal and a sister living in Greece it's quite easy to hit the buffers.
Safe travels.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| samwichardson wrote: |
@boarder2020, thanks! Yeah we're considering Georgia just depends on how we get on in the rest of Turkey time-wise.
We looked at Iran as we had a sudden thought of driving to India the other week. It seems we wouldn't be eligible for a visa on arrival being from the UK, can only get them from the embassy which of course we didn't even think about doing when we were at home, doh! |
Last time I went to Iran I got my visa at the Embassy in Istanbul. They bought in restrictions on Brits travelling without a guide though so was thinking that will be your issue more than getting a visa but I'm not up to date on the requirements any more.
I don't know what your longer term plans are, but the Pamir highway is not so far away and a great road trip. Lots of good hiking in Kyrgyzstan once it's summer. Getting to India is not so simple, but Karakorum highway down from China through Pakistan to the Lahore border crossing would make for an epic journey.
If you do get out to Kyrgyzstan or Tajikistan drop me a pm and I can help you out with things.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Heading to Turkey 03-13 January
Can’t wait
Combination of cat ski and resorts
Will report from the road if possible
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Quote: |
Will report from the road if possible
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Sounds great Mike Pow. Will look forward to the reports.
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