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Greece

By Sean Radich

Overview:

When you think of Greece, I’m tipping you’re thinking of warm holiday beaches, exotic islands with whitewashed villages overlooking deep blue seas, and of course the ancient ruins of the Acropolis. But, did you know that Greece is covered in huge mountains, with Mt Olympus topping out at 2917m above sea level, and that there are in fact twenty or so ski resorts dotted up and down the mainland, and that the ski season typically runs from December through April!

Greece is a large country located on the Mediterranean Sea in south eastern Europe on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula. It is bordered to the north by Albania, Macedonia and Bulgaria, and across the Ionian Sea to Italy in the west and Turkey in the east. The famous Aegean Sea is to the south and east of the mainland and contains almost 2000 islands. Greece has a population of 11 million, with over 3 million living in the capital, Athens, located on the south east coast. The second largest Greek city is Thessaloniki on the coast in the north of the country, and if urban legends are true, the third largest Greek city is in fact Melbourne, Australia (due to so much post-war Greek migration). Greece has been a member of the EU since 1981 and uses the Euro as its currency.

Greek is the national language, and is written in a both upper and lower-case greek script, which only has some passing resemblances to Latin (western) lettering in its upper-case form. English is fairly widely spoken in Athens and tourist centres, but much less so in rural areas, where the ski resorts are located. The Greek Orthodox Christian religion is the overwhelming primary religion of Greece (97% of the population).

Whilst Athens is a bustling and modern metropolis, a lot of Greece seems to be stuck in a bit of a rural time warp. A lot of the towns and villages that don’t cater to tourists are fairly run down and crumbling and much of the country runs on a very agrarian economy – ie, in your travels you will see lots of tractors on the road, and farmers cutting firewood, or herding goats across roads.

Greece consists of a mountainous mainland jutting out into the sea at the southern end of the Balkans, the Peloponnesus peninsula (separated from the mainland by the canal of the Isthmus of Corinth). Four fifths of Greece consists of mountains or hills, making the country one of the most mountainous in Europe.

Snow and Weather Conditions in Greece:

Greece has the quintessential Mediterranean climate with plenty of sunshine, mild temperatures and a limited amount of rainfall. Due to the country's geographical position, its rugged relief and its distribution between the mainland and the sea, there is great variation in Greece's climate. The winters are mild in lowland areas, with a minimum amount of snow and ice, yet, mountains are usually snow-covered. Moreover, a common phenomenon is the occurrence of different climactic conditions during the same season (for instance, mild heat in coastal areas and cool temperatures in mountainous regions).

In the mountains you will typically find lots of sunny days, and with the changeable Mediterranean climate, snow conditions can be a little variable. However, up north on the border with the Balkan countries, you are more likely to find more consistent snow and powder, and colder conditions.

Snowboarding in Greece:

Ski resorts can be found in six regions across the mainland of Greece. In the north: Eastern Macedonia and Thraki; Western and Central Macedonia; centrally: Epirus; Thessalia; Sterea Ellada; and Peloponnesse in the south.

Parnassos, in the Sterea Ellada region, is the closest, largest and most developed resort, and located only a mere 180km west of Athens (two hours drive) and only twenty minutes from the famous ruins and town of Delphi.

Mt Olympus, at 2917m (9570 feet), is the ancient home to Zeus and the eleven other “Olympian” gods (and the Muses) and is located in the Thessalia region near the city of Katerini on the north-east coast. The small ski resort of Elitohori (also called North Selas) is nearby. Also, on the shoulder of Mt Olympus is the small resort of Vrissopoules. However, this two-rope-tow resort is actually a military camp which Greeks are able to visit on weekends. Apparently, permits for non-Greeks to snowboard at Vrissopoules can be obtained from The Ministry of Defence in Athens, however we cannot confirm this.

In the north-west region of western Macedonia lies the resort of Vasilitsa, only 50 or so kilometres from the Albanian border, and 230 or so kilometres west of Thessaloniki and only 45km from the major town of Grevena.

Most of the ski resorts in Greece are above-the-treeline, however, Vasilitsa has some great tree runs between its 1000 year old black pines, and Elitohori has its run cut through the forest. Also, there are a lot of surface lifts across Greek resorts, and much fewer modern high speed chairlifts than in other places of the world. And generally, resorts in Greece are much smaller than others across Europe or the rest of the world. Snowboarding in Greece can be compared closely to riding the small resorts of New Zealand, I would say.

While skiing is quite a popular pastime for Greeks, the resorts really don’t cater to non-Greek snowboarders (or skiers), as it mostly just a domestic market. This is a real shame, as places like Vasilitsa could be legitmate snowboard destinations, with good snow, steeps, chutes, cliffs, open bowls and tree runs. Most Greeks ski on weekends, and so resorts can get busy during these times. Also, lift tickets generally go up in price (eg 27EUR a day at Parnassos), however, midweek day passes range from 10 to 20 EUR. Very good value, especially considering the resort will have very few riders during the week.

Skiing is still much more popular than snowboarding in Greece, however, you will see enthusiastic shredders everywhere building booters and setting up small jib features. And when we were there, the local boarders seemed very keen to show us around and let us join their freestyle sessions. There is really not much in the way of terrain parks anywhere in Greece, as far as BTW could tell, but hopefully that will change soon. The greatest thing is the “can-do” attitude of everyone, and so you are unlikely to ever get “shut down” from any feature you are building or hitting, and most likely will receive some help by the locals.

Accommodation:

There is very little on-mountain accommodation, however, each resort is located close to villages and towns. Here, you will find reasonably priced hotels and pensions (“Bed and Breakfasts”). In more remote locations, the accommodation options are naturally more limited and difficult to organise, however in more touristy places (such as Delphi near Parnassos) there are all types of accommodations for all budgets. English is also much more widely spoken, and on-line accommodation booking available.

Most hotels and pensions will serve breakfast, and many also have a kitchen to cook dinner. However, get used to eating typical Greek food – you find very little else across the country, and even less so in the rural towns. So you should be prepared to eat a lot of lamb chops, chips (French fries), souvlaki/gyros and real Greek salad: tomato, fetta cheese, raw onion, olives, olive oil...and no lettuce.

Travelling around Greece:

Unlike the rest of Western Europe, Greece does not have a very well developed public transport system. There are some train and bus lines that cross the country, however the ski resorts are mostly in fairly mountainous and remote areas, so hiring a car or van is the best idea. This can be done easily at the airport or in major towns/cities.

But, once you have hired a car, beware of Greek drivers and roads. There is a major north-south and east-west highway (tollway) from Athens to Thessaloniki, but the secondary roads quickly degrade into narrow, potholed country tracks, but at least paved (asphalt). And finding your way can be very difficult – hiring a GPS unit may be a good option.

Most road signage is translated into Latin lettering, however translations can vary dramatically. For example, “Olympus” can be written as “Olympos”, “Olimbos”, “Olimpos” and “Olymbos”, so you have to be sure that the arrow towards “Kalimbata” is the same “Kallympata” that you need to get to. As another example, a town that BTW stayed in, Samarina near Vasilitsa, is written as “Σαμαρßνα” in lower case Greek.

Greek drivers have certainly put in their application for “Worst drivers in the World”. In Greece, cars don’t even come equipped with indicators, because the drivers clearly don’t need them! And the speed limit is clearly only advisory to Greeks, even if it is 130k/hr on the motorways. It’s nothing to see a wildly-speeding car force a third extra “middle” lane between a truck it is overtaking ahead of you and an oncoming car, making both drivers onto the dirt verge...of course, with no indicators flashing. And be prepared at all times to be coming around a blind corner to find a passing car taking a wide line deep into your lane, or to find a wood-carting tractor holding up traffic on a narrow country road, or a overloaded hay truck stopped in the middle of a corner: you are just expected to move out of the way. Furthermore, driving in Athens is a real nightmare, with lots of traffic jams and honking of horns.

Getting to Greece:

Being such a huge summer tourist destination, Athens is a huge airline hub for Europeans heading to the famous Greek Islands. As such, you will be able to find many cheap flight to Athens. Try Olympic Airways, Aegean Airways, and other European airlines such as Ryanair, Easyjet and Air Berlin.

After the 2004 Summer Olympics, Athens has a very modern airport and major tollway into the city. Another option would be to fly to Thessaloniki, which is closer to many of the northern, and hence ‘snowier” Macedonian resorts.

Also, for something different, you can catch ferries from the east coast of Italy to Athens and some other Greek cities.

Hints and Tips:

·         Hire a car at the airport, but only if you can handle manic traffic and driving on the right side of the road. Also, most cars/vans will be manual transmission.

·         Make sure you have a couple of good maps with locations in Greek and Latin, or maybe hire an in-car GPS unit.

·         Most of the mountain road shouldn’t be covered in snow, so you probably won’t need to hire a 4WD. However, you may need to hire tyre chains at some point, so be prepared for that eventuality.

·         Pack your sunblock; Greece ski resorts are renowned for the high amount of sunny days.

·         If you like Greek food, you will love Greece; not only is traditional Greek cuisine pretty much the only eating choice, it is very cheap, with a gyros (souvlaki wrapped in pita bread and topped with chips) costing around 1.50EUR all across the country.

·         Restaurants are also very well priced, and take-away gyros can be found everywhere.

·         If you don’t like Greek food, or get sick of it for breakfast, lunch and dinner, you might find a McDonalds or pizza shop in the larger towns and cities.

·         Whilst not all Greeks strictly follow the Orthodox religion, it is best to be mindful and considerate of the majority’s religious beliefs (much as you would catholic Italy, France or Spain).

·         Make sure you spend some time visiting the ancient sites of Greece. As the first major civilisation, it’s good to see where the roots of modern society, and democracy began.

·         And before you do the tourist thing in Greece, bone up on a bit of ancient history and all the interesting myths and legends to make your visit more compelling.

Last updated on 22 June 2008.