Blog: Action woman

Skiing in Cyprus

The warmest day of this year so far and yet within an hour and a half of leaving Catalkoy, I was actually walking on snow!
The Cyprus Ski Club is located on Mount Olympus in the Troodos mountain range in south Cyprus. The green corrugated sheds that constitute the ski hire and café aren’t exactly Val D’Isere or Chamonix, but that doesn’t take away the excitement of the crunch of snow under your boots or the swish of skis gliding past.
I had set off on my latest Action Woman adventure with four friends, none of us had been skiing for a number of years and Lorraine, who took on the role of photographer wasn’t going to ski at all. It was my first time on skis for seven years, so it was with a little trepidation that I was going to don my ski gear again. We decided on a pre-ski beer to give us some courage before purchasing our ski passes and hiring equipment.
Although the sun was still shining up on the mountains, the change in air temperature from a couple of hours ago was surprising, but then we were over 1700 metres higher. Salopettes, ski jackets and gloves were definitely required and it wasn’t long before the memories of feet encased in ski boots were revived.
Resplendent in our ski outfits, we made our way to the beginners slope ski lift – Aphrodite - for those with knowledge of skiing you will appreciate the apprehension of realising it was a T-bar lift. For those with no such knowledge, it is effectively a bar on a piece of rope, looking like an upside down T. Bearing in mind there is a queue of people awaiting their turn, you have to shuffle into position, your feet having been extended to 1.7 metres long with the aid of the skis; you have two poles to try and balance while grabbing the T-bar, which you share with another person and all the time trying to keep your skis from crossing either each other or those of your neighbour. With your half of the T resting under your buttocks, you are then dragged to the top. After so many years the first time on the T bar was pretty stressful and it was with relief Mark, my T-bar neighbour and I reached the top of the slope successfully.
Now that I had got there, could I remember what to do? Yes, I know it should be like riding a bicycle, but for a brief few moments I was standing at the top of a relatively gentle slope wondering what on earth I was doing there. Then I took the plunge and gingerly moved off. I remembered the good old snow plough, not the most elegant of positions (imagine being severely knock-kneed and pigeon-toed with feet 1.7 metres long), but always reliable and started down the slope. Yes I could recall what to do and slow, although somewhat clumsy parallel turns ensued and before I knew it, I was at the bottom and queuing for the lift again.
The Aphrodite ski life services three short runs of about 150 metres each, all slightly different in gradient and width and ideal to restore confidence to the long time non-skier or a newcomer to the sport.
After about an hour we decided it was time for a spot of lunch and made our way back to the café for a sandwich and a beer and sat outside in the sun, admiring the views.
I had a few worrying moments before returning to the T-bar queue, a visit to the toilet is never that easy in ski gear at the best of times, it’s not helped when the material of your salopettes gets caught in the zip as you try to do it up. I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue skiing exposing my belly as I hurtled (ok slight exaggeration) down the slopes. Much to Lorraine’s amusement, I struggled to free the offending material back at the table (believe me, it would have been impossible in the toilet cubicle with ski boots and bulky ski clothing) while uttering a few expletives, but I finally won the battle, enabling me to return to the slopes without getting frostbite on my stomach!
Despite threatening looking clouds out to the south, the weather remained predominantly sunny except for a few low clouds that restricted our view for a short time and the four skiers amongst us continued to ski the Sun Valley I slopes, making it more interesting by varying which route down we took.
The ski lifts run until 4pm, but by 3.30pm we decided to call it a day, the snow was starting to turn a bit sugary, which makes it difficult to turn and therefore the sort of condition that causes broken bones. That along with all the children taking ski school persuaded us we’d had enough for one day.
We had considered trying one of the longer runs, but talking to other skiers decided against it, as they had started to become patchy with rocks showing through the snow. They really needed another snowfall to improve the piste quality.
Although you wouldn’t want to spend a week skiing the Troodos mountains, it is a fabulous day out and there are plenty of hotels nearby for those wishing to spend a couple of days exploring all the runs or taking lessons. And if nothing else, there’s the thrill of being in snow in Cyprus.

Cyprus Ski Club details
There are four downhill runs, two beginner, one intermediate and one advanced, they range in length from 150 metres to 500 metres and there is also one cross country run which is 370 metres long.
The season runs from November through to the end of April – snow conditions permitting.
The cost of the ski pass is Cyp £12.50 for a full day, or Cyp £8.50 after 1pm. Day hire of skis, boot and poles is Cyp£8 or Cyp£6 if you have your own boots, snowboards are also available at Cyp£10.
The ski lift opens at 9am and the last ride up is at 4pm.
There are three ski schools, they all offer lessons for individuals or groups for adults and children, a private lesson for an adult is Cyp£20 whereas a group lesson is Cyp£8 per person.
To get there from the north, once across the Kermia border, follow the signs for the Troodos, you will pass through the villages of Kokkinotrimithia, Akaki, and Peristerona. At the next village, Astromeritis take a left at the traffic lights and the mountains are straight ahead. After the village of Kakopetria, the climb starts getting steeper, the scenery during the climb is spectacular. There is a sign for snow chains at one point, but the roads were completely clear and chains would only be necessary following a recent heavy snowfall.
There is a web cam site available, which is continually updated so snow conditions can be checked at anytime: www.skicyprus.com/skicyprus/cam

Cyprus Ski Club history
The Cyprus Ski Club (CSC) started in the 50s, when a group of friends would make the tedious climb up the mountain on skis with skins strapped to the bottom, then remove the skins and ski down. Eventually entrepreneurial Ranulph De Glanville (grandfather of England rugby player Phil) took a Ford car motor engine, built a concrete platform and created a basic ski lift, which increased the popularity of skiing in the Troodos, the remnants of this first ski lift can still be seen.
Following independence, the Ski Club developed with a ski Federation under the auspices of the FIS and had four regional clubs competing in various competitions.
Lifts operated by the British army were used until 1968, then the first lift owned by the CSC was built, three other lifts were added over the following 20 years and a total of nine trails were opened.
Since 1963 Cypriot skiers have participated in international competitions, including the World Championships starting in 1978 and the Olympics since 1980.
For more information go to: www.skicyprus.com

by Claire on 15:26 on 8th May 2007