Holiday Adventures

I know, I know, the holidays are no excuse for slacking on the blogging.  I feel the same way you do, but that doesn't mean that I have had time to post.  Unlike most of my friends in North America, Turkey does not give teachers a two week break at this time of year.  Instead, I was given a half day off on Christmas Eve, and we had Monday off by chance for Tarsus Liberation Day (Thank you Tarsus for being liberated around Christmas!)

What adventure did I get up to over the long weekend?  I know you are all waiting with baited breath on the edge of your seats for this one: I went skiing.

What's the big deal with that?

Well skiing in Turkey is not like any other skiing I have ever done in my life.  Let me school you in the finer points of navigating the Turkish ski slope:

1. Don't expect much--  This might seem like a no brainier.  I mean, come on, I'm from the PNW where the mountains are big and the snow is deep.  Turkey can't have much on that.  The reality is that Turkey doesn't have  much on that.  We arrived to the mountain after dark, so we did not get the best look out at the slopes.  Adam had made the comment, "Man, I don't know where we are going to ski.  That hill doesn't have much snow on it at all."  That was what we ended up skiing on.

Look at all of the awesome training obstacles... oh wait.. that's dirt.

2. Don't expect a "resort" in the strictest sense of the word-- Turkey has an interesting way of running its lifts... It's every man for himself.  To ride a lift, you buy a punch card for that lift company, which is conveniently located at the head of the lift line.  A ten punch card for the quad chair pictured above was 57 TRL (about 35 dollars).  To get to the top of the "mountain" took two punches.  For the T-Bar, pictures below, the punch cards became more economical in the 20 and 30 punch range, but lets just compare apples to apples now: 10 punches was 35 TRL (about 22 dollars).  Again, two punches to the top on this one too.

The view from the T-Bar.  The chair lift is on the left, a scant 40 meters.

So, why buy the more expensive ticket for the slower 4 person chair?  Well, because it is more expensive there were less people riding it, and the line was non-existent.  The line for the T-Bar was almost always 30-40 people deep, and cued in the "Turkish" way with elbows and squashing and pushing.  A little more money for a little less grief? That's money well spent.  And you don't need to ride the T-Bar! 

3. Don't forget the tea-- The tea break was a nice stop during the day.  In the states I would have had hot cocoa, but here it is tea with sugar.  One thing does stay the same: mountain food is expensive everywhere.  Tea in Tarsus is .50 TRL (30 cents) and at the mountain it was 2 TRL.

4. Don't believe everything the web page says--  Our hotel, a nice four star one, claimed to rent clothing as well as equipment for skiing.  As Adam did not bring his ski pants, I thought this was excellent...  You must gander at his "excellent" ski pants.
 

Hello, 1976 skiing fashion.  I see you are still alive in Turkey.

5. Don't think that the skier's code exists on all slopes-- As a ski instructor, I have spent countless hours educating people as to why sledding on a ski hill is not a good idea.  The ski rental places also rent sleds here.  Not only will you be looking out for the "toro" skiers (those who ski with their poles pointed forward ready to skewer you), you will also be dodging sleds with no brakes driven by women covered from head to toe.  That eye slit doesn't give me much faith in her ability to see where she is going.  And the Turks ski like they drive: dangerously and with little regard for lanes or right away. 

 6. Don't let this persuade you not to go--  Skiing in Turkey is at least skiing, and there are thousands of less enjoyable things to be doing with your time here.  I mean really, have you really looked at these photos?  The blue sky was amazing, the crowds were entertaining, and the lifts (once I got the more expensive punch card) were not THAT bad.  When I compare the snow conditions to what I know and love at home, this can't hold a candle, but that's not the point.  Skiing in Turkey over the Christmas Holiday made things not so lonely, and not so foreign.  

The view from midway.

All in all, the weekend was wonderful.  This is a good thing, as I will be going back to this same slope in a month with a trip from school.  I'm glad I got to get a few runs in and get my legs back before the kids saw me.  Not that I took any big diggers on the hill, but knowing the area will make me more comfortable with all of the students around.

Another thing I must mention is the service of our hotel: The Mirada Del Lago.  The hotel had great service in check-in, the beds were comfortable, the food (three square included in the room price) was tasty, they had a fireplace for reading by, a spa with a sauna, steam room, pool, and massage, and on site ski rentals.  The little man who ran the ski rentals really made me smile, and I think he was surprised to see a westerner who was grinning like a fool to be on snow.  Really, they do a good job here and if you are in Erciyes (air-jee-es), I would call it money well spent.