The Lebanon has one of the most extensive ski industries in the middle east with six Lebanon ski resorts and the chance to swim in the warm waters of the Mediterranean on the morning and then drive for a little more than an hour in to the Sannins mountains and ski Lebanon in the afternoon.

The country’s oldest resort, the Cedars, named after the trees in the area and also Lebanon‘s nation emblem, was established in 1945 although people had been skiing here since the 1920s.

It has a long history of staging FIS events sanctioned events with some serious pistes with gradients of up to 61% on average.

There is quite a strong relationship with the Lebanese army who are reported to run their own ski lift there.

However the resort that has made the biggest impression in the past decade is Faraya-Mzaar which has seen heavy investment in and of the slopes with more than a dozen lifts, including plenty of chairs, and the only five star hotel by the slopes in the region, and Interconntinental.

First established in 1957 by Sheikh Salim el-Kharzen it has around 80km (50 miles) of runs it has become a magnet for the well-heeled population of the wider region.