Cyprus-Forum.com

[Kate&Lee]

Hi,

Has anyone ever been skiing in Troodos for the day?. We are complete beginners and though we would have a try. Can you please advise
Which resort is best (I have found 3),
How much it costs,
What that includes
and if there is anything we need to take.
Alternatively if anyone can recommend a website so I can contact them direct.

Thanks
Kate

[Sotos]

I hope you know there is no snow in Troodos now. It only has some snow in winter and I don't know if every winter it has enough snow for skiing. Recently it doesn't snow much. This site should have the info http://www.cyprusski.com/

[murf62]

If you've never been skiing before, it will entertain you for an afternoon or so. Anyone who has been skiing before though will simply not bother with Troodos. There are only 3 pistes and they are very icy most of the time which makes for difficult skiing to say the least, especially on the planks they hire from the shop there.

[juliesewell]

Best to go in the morning. Think they open about 10am and the hire of equipment is very cheap.
There are always instructors around and they can give you lessons if you want them. The nursery slopes aren't usually icy.

We did a couple of days in Glenshee having a full morning of lessons and learned enough to be able to climb up the hill, make a plough and slide back down. Came to Cyprus a year or so later and messed about on the nursery slopes.

A few years later we booked a Learn To Ski week in Borovets, Bulgaria and had an absolutely fab time. Since then, we've gone back up Troodos in Feb and had a day on the slopes using the ski tow. It's not a big slope by any means but you still need your wits about you as you come down. The nursery slopes cross the main run and when you see the trees on either side of the run with mattresses tied to them, it gives you a bit of a "wobble"

All in all, if you fancied a day out - I would ski in the morning, then take lunch in the square and decide if you want to go back for the afternoon... It's a lot of hard work at first, particularly if you're not competent enough to go on the tow. So you may find a half day is plenty, followed by a nice souvlaki in one of the restaurants in Troodos square!

Enjoy!

[Kate&Lee]

Thank you all for your responses. I was thinking of going in January. How cold is it there, what sort of clothes should I wear?

regards
Kate

[orokliniservices]

not usually much snow in january, you're looking at end of february for snow that is if we have any kind of winter like last year. snow in the mountains, enough for skiing is very unpredictable and you shouldn't book a holidayover to cyprus with the hopes of catching some skiing lessons as there might not be even a flake of the white stuff up there when u arrive. If you live here just keep checking the web cam on the web page SOTOS included, that will indicate how much snow is there.

[mad-dog]

Thank you all for your responses. I was thinking of going in January. How cold is it there, what sort of clothes should I wear?

regards
Kate

you will be skiing so have a wild stab in the dark about what to wear

[cyprusgrump]

Thank you all for your responses. I was thinking of going in January. How cold is it there, what sort of clothes should I wear?

regards
Kate

you will be skiing so have a wild stab in the dark about what to wear

[juliesewell]

We brought salopettes and ski jackets, gloves hats etc.

If you are new to skiing and won't be using the tow lift, it will be hot work sidestepping up the slopes. We found the salopettes kept the end that kept falling in the snow dry! But, got much too hot with the jackets after a while and ended up taking them off.

But - it's a big shock to the system going up the mountain from the sun by the sea. We saw one girl up their a couple of years ago in cut off jeans and flip flops, she was absolutely freezing! They had travelled from Paphos and her young brother and dad went off skiing for the morning, leaving her and her mum sitting in the cafe trying to keep warm...

Wear layers so you can remove when you get hot but put back on again once you stop skiing as it gets chilly very quickly.

The weather can change quite rapidly too... you could be in sunshine one minute, then if it rains lower down the mountain, you will get squally snow showers up top.

February is definitely the best time for snow.

Unfortunately, the Ski Cyprus webcam hasn't been up and running for almost all of this year - it got hit by lightning in a bad storm in January - but, this is the link directly to the webcam just in case: http://www.skicyprus.com/SKICYPRUS/cam/default.asp

[Antreis]

The webcam on North Face is working.
Two slopes are currently open and the other two will probably open in the next few days since new snow is expected.
Two links: Official Ski Club site http://www.cyprusski.com and for photos http://cyprusski.fotopic.net/