The best place to ski, have fun, great food, amazing pistes, wonderful weather, best world class hotels...is, with no doubts, Mzaar Kfardebian...
To be honest, not only Mzaar Kfardebian, all of Lebanon rocks!
My wife and I are Australians working in Kuwait. We have been snowboarding for almost ten years. We have boarded in Turkey, Cyprus (what a joke), Bulgaria, Austria and Australia.
For the last 6 years we have gone to Mzaar Kfardebian (Faraya) at least once, sometimes twice a year for 7 to 10 days at a time. We stay at some wonderful apartments opposite the lifts called Farayot operated by a fantastic couple: Aziz and Maria. We have found Mzaar Kfardebian (Faraya) to be comparable if not better than all of the other places we have boarded with the huge exception of Austria. Austria has better snow, longer runs, modern lifts and a buzzing Apres-Ski. But it is a long way away and a lot more expensive.
I agree with some comments on the management of the ski slopes. Paper lift passes are ridiculous, lifts are old and break down a lot and there are no jumps or fun boxes anywhere.
However, I would recommend Mzaar Kfardebian (Faraya) as a cheap, fun place to board in the Middle East.
Carl B
I believe that the resort of Mzaar Kfardebian is good but the security is very, very, very bad. If an accident happened to you (especially during the week days) you can die. My comment is based on a bad experience last year. I felt down with a serious injuries and I reached the hospital after 4 hours. It is really a shame. I don't recommend the place to anybody.
Don't expect much from Mzaar Kfardebian (Faraya) ski slopes, after all, this is Lebanon. Half the things are out of order, the second half will work only half of the time. Blame it on the electricity, generators, batteries..etc. Mzaar Kfardebian (Faraya) slopes and equipments lack maintenance and good management.
By the way, don't be fooled by the beauty of the pictures, things are worse when you're on the ground!
I go to Faraya Mzaar (Mzaar Kfardebian) literally every weekend, and I stay in the Mzaar Intercontinental all the time as well. For starters, the hotels gives off such a strong home-like feeling with its ambiance I think it's one of the best hotels I've ever seen, the management is VERY polite and well organised, but as for the slopes, the thing about Faraya is tht if you want to have a good time, you must rely on yourself. Where the chairs take you, you go off course, finding your own path on great powder. These mountains are gorgeous and easily accessible only being around an hour away from Beirut. And for your information, the reason the piste rouge are not groomed is because the slopes are too steep that the snow grooming machines cannot go over them and that's what makes it so fun! Faraya (Mzaar Kfardebian) rocks ok? End of story.
Take it easy guys. With the relatively short ski season in Lebanon and the unstable situation during the last few years, it is not economical for a resort like Mzaar Kfardebian to invest much into new infrastructure. Ski vacation in Mzaar resort is not expensive compared to European ski resorts. We have room nights starting from $55 per person. Check some options on skileb.com
Gilou Tabet, I think people like you don't know what they are saying.
Faraya is simply amazing, magic, perfect for all tastes, all ages..
The spirit there is great, the restaurants and hotels are as well
You can compare it to top ski destinations
I've been skiing/snowboarding now for 12 years... And each time I attend the Mzaar (Mzaar Kfardebian) resort... Lately, I felt like this domain got so boring, especially that no new updates were made to the slopes and my friends and I managed to ski in other domains (Cedars, Zaarour)... Cedars was amazing but so far from Beirut, as well as Zaarour was like the lamest domain (not to mention that the manager yelled at me because I was trying to freestyle=P)... Anw, after a self-experience, I found out that Mzaar (Mzaar Kfardebian) slopes are some of the best slopes in the world (I snowboarded in Canada, USA, France)... However, the slopes can't be, literally compared to the Alpes slopes or the St.Sauveur slopes because of the fine powdery snow that is always pumped on the slopes in Canada and France. Plus, the Alpes and Canadian slopes are really maintained each year, as well as many snowparks are built to satisfy the enthusiasm of the eager skiers/snowboarders, who, in Faraya, manage to build their own jumps... We really do hope that the management of "Faraya-Mzaar" (Mzaar Kfardebian) takes into consideration our comments and complaints and maintain, update, reconstruct new slopes, as well as old amazing slopes!
I have skied all over the world and I have to admit that Faraya is a great place to ski, I just hope the management/owners will change in this lifetime because it is really VERY BADLY managed!
I mean paper tickets? Season pass: you have to beg the management for it and it's only issued by ONE PERSON! You have to go to the management! Why one cannot buy it from the counter immediately?
Simply because it's another corrupted "typical Lebanese" institution!
Slopes closed because of bad weather? "piste rouge" is never ready because it's dangerous!? Why there are "pisteurs" (patrols)?
And the most important is the VVVIP refuge slope!!! and pretentious ridiculously over priced tickets! St.Moritz in Switzerland was cheaper!
Start closing the slopes at 3 and kicking people out!
...and much more
I just want to ski without any hassle nor confronting any bureaucratic!
I still Ski in Faraya and won't go anywhere else. Look at the Cedars slopes and others, one cannot compare!
Change the management and Faraya will always be PARADISE !
Not to mention the "apres ski" in Faraya.