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a & r, Mt Palandöken

23 Mar 2011

Mt Palandöken Resort Reviews

Visitor reviews for Mt Palandöken Ski Resort



  • April 30, 2011
    Bozorgzadegan Amir from Iran, Islamic Republic of

    Usually I pass through Sepidan, Komehr, Kakan to Yasuj, then to Semirum by the road next to Dena ranges, then Shahreza, Isfahan and finally Tehran while returning from Shiraz.
    On Thursday Apr 28th, I had the same schedule, but I could see only the snow ledges on Pooladkaf ski terrains with great silence & tranquillity upon the resort!
    Fortunately, Koohestan mini family complex was active with it's tasty homemade foods as well as fresh trout kabab accompanied with sabzi- polo and sundries, plus warm welcome of the owner, Olavi's family.
    Residency have some expansions by new building next to the entrance door and they have settled some tribes black tents
    in the garden for those who like to test such kind of native residency (Ashayer life style)!
    Amin, the owner is not happy so much, because of high expenses of raw materials, petrol, and totally prices rising, which is equal to reduction of tourist numbers!
    Couple of kilometers after Koohestan inn before Kakan, there was a marvelous scenery of the hills in left side, covered with unlimited upset-tulips (lalehe vajegoon) next to the east Dena ranges.
    The area around Dena in Zagross mountain, is fully green like north of Iran, with the river and different water branches.
    Lots of snow were on north side of the ranges, remained for future facilities and equipments as a new ski resorts.

  • Mt Palandöken Ratings

    Based on 4 votes. Vote

    Access: 5.0

    (1) At least one overnight stop, (2) requires a whole day, (3) requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns (4) arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon, (5) there is a main airport within an hour of Mt Palandöken.

    Public Transport: 4.2

    (1) There are no buses or taxis to Mt Palandöken, (3) there are slow or infrequent buses / trains available, (5) getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections.

    Scenery: 4.8

    (1) An ugly resort in a bland setting, (3) average mountain views and resort, (5) a spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town.

    Accommodation: 4.5

    (1) No places to stay in/near Mt Palandöken, (3) a few places to stay in the resort, (5) a wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets.

    Cheap Rooms: 4.5

    (1) No budget accommodation available, (3) just one or two hostels so book ahead, (5) several cheap hostels and pensions available.

    Luxury Hotels: 4.5

    (1) No luxury accommodation available, (3) just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead, (5) several up-market hotels in Mt Palandöken.

    Ski in/Ski out: 5.0

    (1) The ski area is located far from any accommodation, (3) a free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip, (5) Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available.

    Childcare: 4.8

    (1) There are no child care facilities at Mt Palandöken, (5) the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche.

    Snowsure: 4.5

    (1) Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing, (2) is often closed due to a lack of snow, (3) occasionally suffers from a lack of snow, (4) rarely suffers from a lack of snow, (5) Mt Palandöken is snowsure even in the poorest seasons.

    Snowmaking: 4.5

    (1) Mt Palandöken relies entirely on natural snow, (3) there are just a few snow cannons, (5) there are snowmaking facilities on all pistes.

    Snow Grooming: 4.5

    (1) There are no snow groomers at Mt Palandöken, (3) occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state, (5) all the runs at Mt Palandöken are groomed daily.

    Shelter: 4.5

    (1) there is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut, (3) there are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close, (5) Mt Palandöken is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close.

    Nearby options: 4.2

    (1) If snow conditions are poor at Mt Palandöken, it will be poor everywhere nearby, (3) there are good alternatives within an hours drive, (5) other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions.

    Regional rating: 4.8

    (1) Mt Palandöken usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region, (3) has average conditions for the region, (5) usually has the best snow conditions in the region.

    Lift Staff: 5.0

    (1) The staff at Mt Palandöken are rude or unhelpful, (5) lift staff at Mt Palandöken are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help.

    Crowds/Queues: 5.0

    (1) the resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues, (3) it is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays, (5) it is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare.

    Ski Schools: 4.2

    (1) No ski schools available, (2) one or two ski schools but local language only, (3) a few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors, (4) plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available, (5) excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors.

    Hire and Repairs: 4.8

    (1) Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex. (3) there are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance, (5) good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible.

    Variety of pistes: 4.5

    (1) The ski runs are featureless and unvaried, (3) the ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week, (5) Mt Palandöken has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain.

    Beginners: 4.5

    (1) Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard, (3) a few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week, (3) Vast areas of gentle terrain.

    Intermediates: 4.8

    (1) No intermediate terrain at Mt Palandöken, (3) intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days, (5) vast areas of cruising runs.

    Advanced: 4.2

    (1) Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders, (3) enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste, (5) Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week.

    Snow Park: 4.5

    (1) Not even a kicker at Mt Palandöken, (3) average sized park quite well looked after, (5) huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails.

    Off-piste: 4.8

    (1) No off-piste worth mentioning, (2) off piste is out-of-bounds, (3) some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days, (5) a vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days.

    Cross-country: 4.5

    (1) There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Mt Palandöken, (3) there are some cross country trails available, (5) the area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails.

    Luge/Toboggan: 4.0

    (1) No designated luge or toboggan runs, (3) there are toboggan runs that open quite often, (5) Mt Palandöken has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages.

    Mountain Dining: 4.0

    (1) Nowhere to buy food by the pistes, (3) some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive, (5) there is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets.

    Eating: 4.5

    (1) Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop. (5) A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants.

    Apres-Ski: 4.2

    (1) Nothing to do, not even a bar, (3) there are a few bars in the resort but nothing special, (5) clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere.

    Other Sports: 3.8

    (1) No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts, (3) resort has just a small public swimming pool, (5) resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool.

    Entertainment: 4.5

    (1) Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here, (3) the non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week, (5) the resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports.

    Winter Walks: 3.8

    (1) Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails, (3) a couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails, (5) extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities.

    Ski Pass Value: 5.0

    (1) A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available, (3) the ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts, (5) ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area.

    Value (National): 4.8

    (1) Overall, Mt Palandöken is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money, (3) overall represents average value for money, (5) overall offers the best value resort in the country.

    Value (Global): 4.8

    (1) Overall, Mt Palandöken is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world, (3) overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries, (5) internationally the resort offers excellent value for money.

    Based on 4 votes. Vote

  • April 30, 2011
    Bozorgzadegan Amir from Iran, Islamic Republic of

    Based on photos, this year in late April, the snow in Mt Palandöken resort seems not so bad, and ski season has elongated there!

    We heard that it will be closed maximum at the end of March as usual, but late snow has extended and activated Hotel and pistes fortunately.

    The new pictures around Apr 16 - 2011, long shot from Dedeman piste up to Ejder show the resort conditions better than Feb. at the heart of winter season!?

    Take care of icy terrains at starting time and ice-cream snow, soon after at middle of the day!

  • April 02, 2011
    Bozorgzadegan Amir from Iran, Islamic Republic of

    Dedeman Palandoken Hotel was seriously non smoking in public indoor areas like lobbies, restaurant, game rooms, sport facilities, etc.
    But, the dancing hall was vice versa! Does not seem to have any relation with hotel and it's regulations!
    Opening dancing door to go in, you could not see anywhere, and anything except saturated smoke like concentrated fog mixed with loud music, and mixture of different smells!
    One would say, clean non polluted air out in resort daily, have tired all the audience, to compensate nightly!
    You could feel smoke smell carried by those who come out, passing against you!
    I hope the management think about this intricate, and non smoking area extend to this corner too. to enjoy from lovely sport center Dedeman hotel inside the resort as well.
    Believe we can enjoy after ski schedules in absence of harmful smokes too...

  • April 01, 2011
    Bozorgzadegan Amir from Iran, Islamic Republic of

    English is not my native & first language.
    But, I don,t know why my reviews before despatching seems to be all right and acceptable at least for me myself.
    But printing after, usually it does not satisfy me, and I feel it has some mistakes and it is not fluent enough? so that, my feeling say if I had not sended it, I could edit and correct simply beforehand. although, I do not have such a feeling during writing down and despatching time !?

  • March 30, 2011
    Bozorgzadegan Amir from Iran, Islamic Republic of

    First of all, thanks for insertion of my previous reviews. although, sometimes needed to negotiate of delay or missing of the circulation, same as below,

    I wrote couple of sentences about Mt.Palandoken and Mt.Erciyes 2-3 days ago, but it seems, both have been censored!

    However, I feel this is one of the free stands to say your view points freely. and it is nice to read different opinions in the healthy sport site. if not, where we ought to expect?

    [Editor's note: we do appreciate receiving reviews. However, we try to keep the information as concise and relevant as possible e.g services at the resort: restaurants, lifts, piste conditions, quality of off-piste etc. We do not want to become a forum for continued threads about particular subjects.]

  • March 29, 2011
    Bozorgzadegan Amir from Iran, Islamic Republic of

    I am astonished why we do not see the Europeans, specially the English tourists, in Palandoken (Mt Palandöken) ski resort?
    What we see mostly are Iranian, Turk and some from north, also Russians.
    While, we read amongst different reviews their point of views which mostly compare resorts economically and issue preconception thoughts and results to other users.
    But why they are negligent from Palandoken or other resorts in Turkey which are cheap enough, with reasonable facilities and after ski programmes to satisfy more or less different users as they pay?
    Is that really a kind of racialism?
    They come up to neighbourhood country resorts like Bansko, Borovets, and Pamporovo, in Bulgaria, with altitude less than 2600m, while Palandoken resort's peak is more than 3000m. What I am thinking is the difference of a phenomenon which is called religions and religionism!
    By the way, pay more and earn less for fanaticism...

  • March 29, 2011
    Bozorgzadegan Amir from Iran, Islamic Republic of

    Piste packing in Palandoken resort, the result of serious plough m/cs compactions, were excellent.
    Quite queues for different lifts both of the years 2010-11, during Feb and March as I saw, were excellent.
    I didn't see any raws in front of different lifts during 5 days stay there, even week-ends in any directions!
    The lifts in western primitive area, intermediates Central & north, and south (Ejder) and east parts for experts. All were quite and not crowded so that you could get the chair immediately and continuously with your initial speed of skiing, if you followed the by-pass gates! without stopping to activate your lift pass, if you preferred to do!
    It means, you could have rest only on lifts to joint to the other course of skiing .
    With totally 2x3 hours in the morning and afternoon continuous exhausted activities.
    The Turkish bath, pool and sauna soon after, were great to relax you for different after ski schedules...
    I heard, they are going to change the ski pass sensors ability to be more comfort to use...
    i.e. open the gate while you pass standing through the gates, without any other actions. Same as above mentioned: continuously by-pass method!
    Hope more success for all staffs in resort, and respect all.

  • March 26, 2011
    Bozorgzadegan Amir from Iran, Islamic Republic of

    This year, on 2nd half of the March, Palandoken (Mt Palandöken) seems to be different from it's normal back ground conditions!
    So that, the hotels are going to extend their admissions because of late snows and resort acceptable conditions.
    We could enjoy whole the days of schedule in absence of strong winds during March 20 to 25, 2011.
    Every night, the plough machines seriously repaired and compacted the slopes except Ejder ! (maybe because of season ends, as usual).
    Thursday night, they did compact all, even Ejder. but unfortunately it was foggy deep on the range peak, day after. and Ejder chair-lift not activated while we were skiing on Friday morning, before our check-out time!
    Skiing in Palandoken, we Iranian enjoy usually, if we forget the existing tiresome bus transportation between!
    I am sure, if the related organisations arrange some flights between two countries, either directly from Tehran/Tabriz to Erzurum, or indirect, via Erzurum to west Turkey.
    The number of Iranian tourists to east Anatoli will grow up rapidly and massively ...
    Hope seeing this simple and practicable program soon.

  • March 23, 2011
    Bozorgzadegan A. from Iran, Islamic Republic of

    Palandöken ski resort was nice and enjoyful this time on late March, pale sun and snow, and weak winds caused to ski last 4 days continuously and strongly!
    Our accommodation, Dedeman Palandoken hotel, was great and charm, specially because of its unique position inside the piste, and simple availability to lifts and returning to hotel, while you are exhausted, doing ski next to the entrance door! It's really great.
    But, in some cases our previous hotel Polat had advantages.
    If Dedeman cover those, will be unique in this resort.
    The items like: free stationery internet access not only wireless for private lab tops, free unlimited varieties of drinks like Polat, then diferences of sport indoor facilities will not be compared.

  • March 14, 2011
    Bozorgzadegan Amir from Iran, Islamic Republic of

    I don't have the experience of Palandoken piste on mid March? Weather forecast shows sunny for next couple of days and disappointed regarding new snows! While, here in Tehran, we have snow just now and the scenery white all, and the resorts around Tehran shows 120mm new snows!
    I hope the conditions change for a good nowrooz holiday in east Anatoli, Palandoken.

  • February 10, 2011
    Hassan from Iran, Islamic Republic of

    You can go to boarder of Iran and Turkey (Bazorgan), dis tens of Tehran is 950Km and form boarder to Erzurum is about 290Km and you can stay in the Mako (tourist hotel) or stay in Doğubeyazıt. Doğubeyazıt has 7 - 8 hotels.

  • February 26, 2010
    Bozorgzadegan amir from Iran, Islamic Republic of

    Finally, we returned home after a week at Mt Palandöken ski resort, although we lost 2 days skiing because of severe weather conditions! But totally, it was reasonable somehow.
    The most problem of our tour to Palandoken (Mt Palandöken) was transportation because, unfortunately, we do not have direct flight from Tehran or Tabriz to Erzurum? So that, you ought to fly to Ankara or Istanbul first, then return again to Erzurum with high spending time and money?! I don't understand what is the problem for direct route? You see the same conditions for rail-way too! ie. from Iran you ought to go to Van, Tatvan, Elazig, Malatya, then return to north east Erzurum! Wasting time and money!
    Turkey, as a tourist country with high demand of foreign currencies, need to solve such matters to earn more, at the time when it's eastern neighbours, do not think about tourist fields, specially sport tourists!

  • February 23, 2010
    Mohammad FOROOGHIEH from Iran, Islamic Republic of

    Palandoken (Mt Palandöken) was my first experience of skiing in a resort out of my country. I've been there for two days and find out some facts about it:
    It seems that in this area we have a vast variety of weather which makes trouble for skiers. I've heard that many tourists have to stay in the hotel and couldn't go for skiing because of bad weather which was quite common there. But the piste itself was a nice and good design tracks. Very effective, new and fast equipments make it possible to enjoy your time being there without need to wait in queues so much. The tracks at Mt Palandöken were from very beginner ones to the advanced track (Ejder track) which was a nice and relatively difficult one especially in early morning that was frozen. There are lots of good hotels in that area with different classes which makes it possible to have a nice stay there and enjoy your time. I recommend Palandoken (Mt Palandöken) to the people who want to experience a good place for skiing.

  • February 16, 2010
    A.Bozorgzadegan from Iran, Islamic Republic of

    Yesterday, February 15th, İ don't understand why gentlemen did not open the cabin at starting point while the concern 4persons lift, next to federation, was out of order because of electrical malfunction as they said?
    Soon after totally were closed except begınners of Polat pist. We are loosing the time and going far from the goal we dıd start.

  • February 16, 2010
    A.Bozorgzadegan from Iran, Islamic Republic of

    Mt Palandöken is not bad but weather conditıon is very varıable! That caused the closure of the pistes yesterday. Today also it is wındy and I'm not sure to be succeeded to ski. The weather condition here also cheat differet forecasts which have been my references! What to do ın such a days at Mt Palandöken? Is there any idea to cover our dead tımes?

  • February 15, 2010
    A. Bozorgzadegan from Iran, Islamic Republic of

    Hı, I'm in Mt Palandöken now. It ıs my 2nd day of stay. İ reached the resort yesterday afternoon but dıdn't postpond the ski for the next day. It was a good skı half day but unfortunately today the skı resort was more or less closed because of dıfferent reason:
    1. Electrıcal problem of the maın chaır lıft whıch dıstrıbute users to all other lıfts!?
    2. The weather condıtıon as they saıd!?
    Therefore, one of the problems of thıs resort (Mt Palandöken) ıs the lack of alternatıve lıft from the startıng poınt. As though you can go to hıgher levels by car, but actually there won't be enough parkıng area for thıs purpose! İ.e. ıf the maın quatrant lıft next to the federatıon of kayak Erzurum stops, you woundn't be able to skı on hıgher level of altıtudes! The subject that took place today and İ was obliged to return back to hotel and waste the tıme by internet somehow and wrıte these couple of sentences.
    Good luck, Amır.

  • February 10, 2010
    Amir B. from Iran, Islamic Republic of

    I will be at Palandoken (Mt Palandöken) during the next couple of days in mid February 2010 for the 1st time and hope weather and snow to be good enough for a nice experiment there. This will be my first ski travel out of my country started from neighborhood country and hope to be extended to other resorts of different countries soon after!

  • December 28, 2009
    Paul Jardine from Thailand

    We stayed first at the Dedeman Ski Lodge at Mt Palandöken and subsequently higher up the mountain at the Dedeman Ski Resort, as there was insufficient snow, meaning we had to take a taxi up the mountain from the Ski Lodge. Why the Dedeman hotels didn't arrange transportation between them is beyond me! The staff at the Ski lodge were generally unfriendly and unhelpful, but the contrast in the other Dedeman hotel could not have been greater! At the Ski lodge it was as though they would have preferred you were not there, but at the Ski Resort they could not do enough for you.
    The hotel, food, rooms, drink etc was better at the Ski Lodge, but on the whole we preferred the Ski Resort as we have 2 young kids and their happiness was the main thing.
    While we were at Mt Palandöken there was only a single T-bar operational, though higher up the mountain there was better snow. As the lifts were free we could not really complain and as we were almost the only people in the resort, it would have been expensive to have all the lifts working. There were bare patches on the lower parts of the run, but the skiing was still enjoyable, particularly as there were no queues and I was teaching my kids most of the time.
    Ski Rental was 35TL/day, though lower down the mountain they were offering 20TL/day. Equipment was ok.
    The Ski cafe at the hotel (bottom of the run) was quite good although did not serve much in the way of food. You would be hard pressed to spend more than 100TL during the day there. Most guests were on full-board packages and ate from the bland buffet. We ate there the first night but then went into Erzurum on subsequent nights as the food is much better in town (unless you like badly cooked hotel fare - burgers, chips etc; incidentally the 'inclusive' wine was absolutely awful, stick to the beer!)
    Taxis to town were expensive by Turkish standards; we live in Ankara which is supposed to be the most expensive taxis in Turkey, but Erzurum was more! Still, a trip to town is no more than 30TL each way, and you can get a meal for 4 for less than 60TL in town. Cag kebab at Koc Restaurant was fantastic, as was the Karadeniz seafood restaurant. Erzurum Evleri is worth a visit, but the food is only average - nice soup though.
    All in all, Mt Palandöken has a lot of potential, except it should have fulfilled it by now. I might go again if the snow was better and I would stay at the Dedeman Palandoken Ski resort if I had the kids with me. The skiing on the upper slopes looked good, if the lifts had been open...

  • December 23, 2008
    Mustafa Kozanoglu from Turkey

    Erzuru - Mt Palandöken is in the northeastern part of Turkey. We arrived there by Turkish Airlines from Istanbul. The airport is a half an hour trip to resort and hotel shuttle can pick up you from airport as a courtesy. We stayed in Polat Renaissance Hotel in March 2007, 110 YTL (70$) price includes half board accommodation per person per day. Rooms are clean, newly decorated and spacious. This hotel is one of the five hotels which form Mt Palandöken ski resort with long hours of sunshine and wide range of ski entertainment. Mt Palandöken is one of the largest resorts in Turkey that offers almost 30km of skiing. Access to the pistes is easier following the hotel's free chairlifts. Down in the city center, Erzurum has retained its old world charm, while the newer part provides all you need for a fun-filled holiday. Mt Palandöken-ski can be as lively as you please with pubs and smart cocktail bars in hotels and many reasonably priced restaurants which serve "Cag kebab" and pizzerias in city center. The ski school teachers offer a rather varied level of instruction in cost of 90 YTL per hour and you can rent skis in cost of 30 YTL per day. I will prefer this hotel for my next snow holidays.

  • December 18, 2008
    Deniz Gündüz from Turkey

    I have been to Mt Palandöken 8 times in the last 4 years and enjoyed it every time. There are still some slopes that I haven't tried and will do that this winter.
    The Dedeman hotel is at a perfect place (just near the pistes) and starting from the manager all staff are very friendly and warm blooded.
    The only thing you should check out are the wind storms which may carry away the snow down to the valleys. So I advise you to ask about the weather before you go.
    The best season is the first half of March according to me. Once (2007) it was perfect even at the end of March. They say sometimes you can ski in April too but I didn't try it.
    Some ski instructors are really good like Sinan, Unal, Cetin and Recep.

  • November 28, 2008
    İlker Solak from Turkey

    I live in Erzurum. I am very happy and very glad to live in Erzurum. Thanks for ideas about Erzurum other friends. I invite here all of people in the world.
    See you in Erzurum at a winter's day.

  • January 08, 2007
    Esra from United States

    I was at Palandoken in December 2006 and stayed at Polat Ren. The hotel was good and the view was even better. The snow was really new therefore the higher lifts were not open, but only for a few hours during our stay. However, I do not have much complaint about this, because when we made it up the mountain, we realised how windy and cold it was and returned to the Polat trails. For a three day trip, I found these trails to be very entertaining for an intermediate skier. The trails were very protected with lots of snow and nice weather. In addition, there were not many people, which made the trails even nicer to us. The only complaint would be the lack of signs at the beginning of trails and poor taste of loud music:) I would definitely go back there for a three day trip again. It is definitely not a place for people who want any additional activities than skiing!

  • February 10, 2006
    Askin Senel from Turkey

    I was there in 2nd week of Jan 2006. Unfortunately due to heavy winds the lifts were not operational for 2 days, and operated in the afternoon for another day. So, I could only ski for one day on Dedeman pistes, the Ejder piste was not operational. Unfortunately the snow was insufficient, and there were peebles and bare areas, which was annoying. Otherwise the mountain is magnificient and the great slopes seemed frigthening despite my self confidence thinking I can ski anywhere, Ejder top seems a great challenge.
    The lifts and skiing area is very close to the city, they are almost united.
    There is an option to go to nearby Sarikamis ski resort, if Palandoken lifts are not operational, which we did so.
    We turned our visit into a cultural trip and visited Erzurum and Kars and Ani ruins in Kars. Erzurum is extremely cold, especially when it is windy, but surprisingly despite similar low temperatures you could survive comfortably without a coat in Sarikamis or Kars.
    Erzurum black Oltu stone (the centre is Rustempasa closed bazaar) and silver jewelery is famous, nice and reasonably priced.
    Cag Kebap is really very delicious.
    Taxi drivers are friendly and helpful. They can transport you if you like, pick you up, carry your belongins etc. if you stay in the city, which is quite convenient.
    Visit there, I am sure you will find there interesting any way even if you can not ski at times.

  • August 04, 2005
    Will Sanders from Netherlands

    Dit was mijn 2de trip naar Turkije (de eerste naar Uluday 2003). Vanaf het vliegveld wat zeer klein is trouwens maar wel leuk is het slechts 10-15 min met de bus. De week dat ik hier zat heb ik ZEER VEEL meegemaakt van een zware storm (iedereen is toen in het hotel gebleven, en de gehele berg was gesloten)waarvan s'middags nog het dak van het hotel waaide (een stuk dan ;-) )
    En de dag daarna toen de top open was, waar we toen met 3 snowboarders van de top naar benenden gingen NIEMAND maar dan ook NIEMAND was daar aan het skien of boarden als alleen wij 3 snowboarders PERFECT (ik zal proberen de foto hier te plaatsen). Voor snowboarders is het een ideale sneeuw nl. poeder maar kan ook ZEER slecht uitpakken want we zijn heel wat keer over de rotsen gegaan.
    Qua hotel niets te klagen zoals alle andere hotel All Incl. tot 24:00 uur.Wat wel leuk was dat er voor het hotel op de piste werd ge-BBQ dus kwam je van de heuvel hup ff wat eten en weer naar boven. De tijd dat ik er zat Jan/Feb 2004 was het -28.
    Het hotel heeft zelf 3 liften en met een speciale kaart mag je een x aantal keer met de gondel naar de top (als deze dus open is).
    Er was 1 gondel dus naar de top met 2 stops en overstap (wilde je dus naar de top moest je overstappen) voor de rest bijna allemaal sleep liften en stoeltjes liften. De goede pistes waren van een ander hotel en moest je dus weer kaarten voor kopen die 1 euro per rit koste (vondt ik een beetje veel maar goed).
    Vergeleken bij Uluday kom je hier VEEL minder mensen tegen daar het ver van de bewoonde wereld ligt (lees het oosten van Turkije).

    Wil je meer weten mail me maar wtjasanders#wanadoo.nl (# vervangen voor @)

  • March 15, 2004
    can elmas from Turkey

    Beautiful mountain and most challenging pistes of Turkey. Off piste opportunuties are also great. But snow condition is very variable, strong winds create rocky areas, stops the lifts.
    Ejder piste has a nice steep start which turns to moguls. To the left are powder bowls which are a lot of fun if you dont fall. (I did and could not stop for 100 meters)
    Erzurum is also a very interesting city to discover. İf the snow condition is good it is a great place to be.

  • January 22, 2004
    Bulent Cam from Netherlands

    I have never been to Palandoken, but I wil go with my friends to Palandoken in March. I hope that it will be very beautiful. I have heard good stories about Erzurum