NYT lauds Crete as a “Wonderful destination” for spring skiing

The New York Times recently reported on the island of Crete as a ski resort, urging winter sports fans to visit the snow-covered Cretan slopes in the spring. The relevant tribute presents experiences of Greek and foreign skiers who praise the Cretan landscape and the enjoyment of skiing in it.

More specifically, according to the author, from the deck of the ship on its night voyage from Athens, the spectacle of the huge snow-capped mountain range of the White Mountains that rises sharply behind the ancient port city of Chania on the island of Crete, was amazing and strangely unexpected. It was February 2020 and, accompanied by his wife, a longtime Greek friend, and the filmmaker Konstantinos Papanikolaou, he had come to Crete for skiing. This surprised even some Cretans, who seemed to ignore the snow-capped peaks that were in plain sight.

“Are you going to ski? Is there skiing here? ‘ asked Antonis Michael, the manager at Domus Renier, a carefully renovated five hundred year old harbor hotel named after its original royal owners, as he saw the entourage’s equipment when they checked in.

Like a growing number of skiers when skiing these days it was mostly the author on his own, in search of peace, aerobic exercise and the exciting reward of a touch of virgin snow.

The author had heard stories several years ago that he found hard to believe – that he could find the best of this kind of skiing in Crete. Spring snow conditions are said to be reliable, the scenery amazing, and one can make great descents overlooking the sea while spending nights in picturesque Mediterranean coastal cities.

It looks like no other place for skiing

“Crete does not look like any other place I have skied,” said John Falkiner, a climber and ski guide based in Verbier, Switzerland, when the author asked him about it.

Mr Falkiner is something of an expert in this field. A sort of ski oracle, he has dedicated his guiding career to the search for the most interesting and remarkable ski destinations in the world. Guiding wealthy ski customers on a “safari” of similar tourism, he was one of the pioneers of skiing in Iceland, the fjords of Norway, Lebanon, Japan, Turkey and Kashmir. Then, a decade ago, he “discovered” Crete and since then he has been taking skiers from the ancient Cretan port of Chania during the Spring period.

“I want to be there in March,” he told the author. “The best spring skiing experience from anywhere.”

Skiing in Crete may be little known, but the local reverence and respect for the mountains is deep. In summer, rocky valleys, ravines and peaks form endless, blazing hot deserts. In winter, the snow is often meters deep. The mountains of Crete are both the birthplace and the burial place of the most important god of Greek antiquity, Zeus, and the ruins, sanctuaries, chapels and cave figures of Greek mythology are scattered on the three mountain ranges of the island.

“Every Cretan lives with the mountains always in sight, snowy in winter”, the Cretan ski pioneer Nikiforos Steiakakis told the author. “But skiing on them was not something we thought about.