 Poster: A snowHead
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The last five days have been cold, rainy and snowy, depending on the altitude. Almost all ski centres of the country are open and there is plenty of fresh snow from 30 to 100cm depending on the ski area. Currently the best serviced and covered areas with practically all pistes open are Kalavrita (250km from Athens) and Arachova-Parnassos (200km from Athens).
The weather today is considerably better than yesterday when I went to Parnassos. Access is with chains only. There is a metre of fresh snow around the area, although strong winds have moved a lot of it in patches. There were occasional icy spots therefore. But they were few. From the outlook higher on to the montain where lifts were closed due to strong winds, it seemed to me that a lot of powdery stuff is available either straight from the lifts today or with a little hike around. Now that according to webcams (http://www.snowreport.gr/snowcam/parnassos/) the sky is clear, it should be the best ski since last February snow storm today.
I have similar comments from Kalavrita, where a friend went to ski right after Christmas. It seems that the snowcover there can be even better.
It was cold and still is. Yesterday at the parking in Parnassos it was -9 and higher up even colder with a strong windchill factor. Who said that it is only warm in Greece...
I will try to upload some pictures from the road later today, if I have a moment. It was so cold I did not operate the camera on the slopes. Everything is from the warmth of the car on the way up (provided that I manage to get the photos on the web). Otherwise, check the following sites:
www.snowreport.gr
www.parnassos-ski.gr
www.kalavrita-ski.com
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Good report, demos. Keep 'em coming.
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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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demos
1. How extensive is the skiing?
2. Is it feasible to visit more than one area on a short trip?
Cheers!!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I went again to Parnassos on Monday for a day - this time better than the first day trip.
While it had been raining slightly in the resort a couple of days before and most of the snow on the trees further down the mountain had disappeared, the cold weather and slight snowfall on Monday made it acceptably good to ski. There was very strong wiind and lots of cloud/fog which seems to have been the curse of the last 15 days according to the folks I spoke with up in the chalet/cafe. Also the wind blew quite a bit of the snow away from the upper slopes and there were lots of icy patches.
Depending on winds all lifts are now operational and all pistes have sufficient snow cover. Off-piste does not have great amounts of snow yet, except in areas which have been protected from winds (there are a couple of such small "bowls" in the side of Fterolakka, whereas the side of Kellaria has been more beaten by winds and is slightly more icy). I did a couple of decent lines off-piste, but bad visibility made it more difficult than it should have been.
http://www.parnassos-ski.gr/photos/parnassosmap.jpg gives you a good outline of the area. One parks usually at Kellaria 1750 and takes a small four-person egg up to the chalet at 1950. From there, lifts 8 (four ppl seat) and 4 (three people seat) offer the nicest skiing. If you want to move accross the mountain, the long a slow 11 will take one to Fterolakka, where things are often a bit calmer. Fterolakka 1640 parking is a good alternative, though the two-seater chair 7 is a pain (too slow). Nice off-piste which very few people actively seem to ski is marked on the map with yellow. 6A was very good the other day and none else was tracking it apart from me. 21 is not really skiable yet as the top lacks some snow. 20 and 20A would be great later in the year, but now there are too many rocks still. Those face to the Corinthian Gulf and in later in the winter skiing while overlooking Mediterranean at 30 km is quite good fun. Mind you, it's not that challenging, but it keeps you occupied at least!
If things continue normally, the base snow for the winter is now solid and will remain nicely until the end of season in March. This is a good start for the season.
As for the second question, mountainaddict, the answer is yes - though not easily. You could imagine combining Parnassos and Kalavrita in about four days. Unfortunately they are separated by the Corinthian Gulf, so you would have to either return through Athens or drive to Delphi, then Anti-Rio, Rio and from there onto Kalavrita, if you started off from Parnassos. Alternatively, one could do Karpenissi (smaller) and Parnassos. Best is probably just to choose one of the two larger ski centres and stay for three or four days. One company offers a decent, though not cheap, cat skiing option. So those who don't want to trek too much but want to get off the beaten tracks, Pappos is the name of the ski school and company.
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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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demos, Good to hear something about the Greek skiing!
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It was cold and still is. Yesterday at the parking in Parnassos it was -9 and higher up even colder with a strong windchill factor. Who said that it is only warm in Greece...
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I was already convinced Greece can be cold... I lived for almost a year in Thessaloniki, and saw more snow downtown on 1 day then fell over the whole winter back in the Netherlands.
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Those face to the Corinthian Gulf and in later in the winter skiing while overlooking Mediterranean at 30 km is quite good fun. Mind you, it's not that challenging, but it keeps you occupied at least!
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Still fancy visiting some friends in Winter and go skiing a bit too 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Ronald, if you are going to Thessaloniki to visit friends, then a trip to Kaimaktsalan is in order! That you probably already know.
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I guess this proves the point that skiing is not exclusively and Austro-franco past time for those in the know.
How extensive is the lift system in these resorts? My local mountain - or hill range has snow (Brecon Beacons) but it would be one hell of a climb to ski. I can't wait until the next ice age when those down hill gentle walks become nice cruising red runs.
But how realistic is a ski holiday to Greece?
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one more thing - are there an English language versions of these sites?
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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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It all depends on how you see things. It's not the French Alps, but it's not a little thing either. Unfortunately[/img] the English information on the sites is very limited. The snowreport.gr is updated once/week (Thursdays) in English, but the daily data is always in Greek.
The lift systems are reasonable, though often they are quite old and slow. If you are off-peak (read not weekends), it's very good any time really. Greeks mainly ski on weekends and therefore you don't need to worry so much about school holiday times or similar, unless it's Clean Monday weekend (descent to lent) or very early Easter. I take that you are not interested in Christmas holidays here for skiing. And if you were, I could not really seriously recommend them.
If one is serious about ski holidays in Greece, then the best bets are, in my opinion of course, Parnassos/Arachova, Kalavrita and Kaimaktsalan. Of these, the last is the Northernmost and the highest of all and is supposed to have the best snow, but I have never skied there in February/March, only at Christmas time. Parnassos is the largest of them all - you saw the map. Kalavrita is quite pleasant, and has an almost equally impressive scenery as Parnassos. Kaimaktsalan, which is about 7 hours by car from Athens, or 2 hours from Thessaloniki, is rumoured to have a good late winter ski (told by locals). So much so that I have seen pictures of fresh powder skiing in late April with more than knee-deep light snow.
The other two usually have the best snow in February, but this is very much guess work. One should really move quickly on basis of weather information and book according to the recent dumps. Last year, I was skiing in our backyard in Athens (http://youtube.com/v/E2OTDduPcJU&feature=channel_page), and those days there was more than a metre falling in Parnassos. If you could organise your holidays relatively freely, you might well be able to do a good holiday here. However, if you need to book a month in advance, it will be risky.
A couple of pics on the way up this December:
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The last week was rainy - and snowy. Kaimaktsalan in the North of Greece has now more than a metre and a half of snow. Below is the current snow status per ski centre. There are no valid figures for Kalavrita, but I hear from those who were there last weekend that snow is good and plenty.
Base MiddleTop
Kaimaktsalan 70 100 150
Pisoderi 90 100 120
Karpenissi 90 90 90
Geronto 80 80 80
Pilio 60 65 85
Vasilitsa 60 70 80
Parnassos 60 60 70
3-5 Pigadia 50 50 50
Trodos 40 40 40
Vitsi Kastoria 35 35 40
Mainalo 20 25 45
Elatochori 20 30 40
Chryso Elafi 20 30 40
Seli 20 30 40
Falakro 20 20 30
Metsovo 25 25 25
Pertouli 15 20 25
Lailias 10 15 15
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Temperatures are cooling again after a four or five days or milder weather. There are good new snow dumps since last week, including Parnassos with some 20cm fresh snow and more is expected from tomorrow on when the next rain front is supposed to hit the country.
It looks as if by the weekend we should have almost 30 cm of more fresh snow in all major ski resorts. Fingers crossed.
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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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During the last 36 hours Kalavrita has got 45cm new snow and Parnassos 20-35cm depending on the altitude. Top of the mountain snowcover is now well above one metre in both locations and almost a metre down at the base.
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During the last 36 hours Kalavrita has got 45cm new snow and Parnassos 20-35cm depending on the altitude. Top of the mountain snowcover is now well above one metre in both locations and almost a metre down at the base.
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You know it makes sense.
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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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Parnassos stinks
Vasilitsa is the best ski resort in Greece with lots of tones of pow
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Poster: A snowHead
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lepidas, Welcome to Snowheads!
Can you guarentee me that? Guess not; no guarentees ever in snowland
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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lepidas, Most here won't be able to read Greek (I do though, to some extend... Lived in Thesniki for close to a year)
The funny thing is... Parnassos has 10/15/15 bottom/mid/top and Vasilitsa has nothing at all left from that report.
Snow forecast lists some stunning pictures with absolutely mad amounts of snow for some greek resorts...
Definetly will return to greece to ski... It is on my "Unusual places to go skiing list" Along with Scotland (which is unusual from mainland europe, not for the scots )
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I went to Parnassos 7 or 8 years ago for a couple of days, and was pleasantly surprised by the skiing there.
Probably wouldn't want to spend more than that there skiing, but its easy to combine with a trip to the ancient temples at nearby Delphi, the stunning monasteries on top of amazing rocks at Meteora, Athens, and so on.
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I will say it once more time.Parnassos is the best advertised ski resort in Greece,but it's not that with the best snow conditions.I live 2 hours away from Parnassos but I prefer to travel 6 hours to go to Vasilitsa
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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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You can say it as many times as you like , but I was staying at my Father-in-Laws place in Delphi so to have this 15 minutes away made a little more sense to go here than anywhere else.
The snow was excellent the days I was there, which was over New Year a few years ago.
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FAQ
definately one for the list!