Snowsure: 3.8
- Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing
- Is often closed due to a lack of snow
- Occasionally suffers from a lack of snow
- Rarely suffers from a lack of snow
- Kartalkaya is snowsure even in the poorest seasons
Visitor reviews for Kartalkaya Ski Resort
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(NOTE: Reviews may be edited by our content team for the purposes of ensuring accurate and relevant information)
(NOTE: Reviews may be edited by our content team for the purposes of ensuring accurate and relevant information)
Latest
March 09, 2010
Joe Richardson from
New Zealand
Joe Richardson from
New Zealand
Fantastic tour to Kartalkaya and some awesome boarding. We were lucky to get magic clear powder days and loads of photos.
Everything was easy with the hotel and the service, meals and amenities were great.
One let down was the absolute crap service and hack job done on on my board by TIMO snowboard "butcher " shop inside the hotel.
I had arranged and paid for my board to have some P-Tex repairs, edges sharpened, hot wax and full tidy up.
They did nothing except melt 5 blocks of wax all over my board and leave it at that. When I questioned the issue I was told it was all done and done properly. I was then told that I was from New Zealand therefore I didn't know anything about snowboards and how they should be prepped. Also the fact I understand & speak Turkish didn't help with the remarks made towards me in a foreign language which I understood.
Following this I found a store called SPX next door. These guys fixed my board in minutes and did it well. I will go back to them without hesitation next time. Thanks SPX !!!
All in all, great mountain, runs, off-piste riding, hotel, food, bar, girls..........
Be back soon
February 02, 2010
Moreno Polverini from
Italy
Moreno Polverini from
Italy
This is our second year living in Istanbul and we decided to spend a weekend skiing.
Last year we tried Kartepe, this year Kartalkaya.
Thanks to another review, we decided to contact the Yayla hotel, and since we called for reservation, we had a positive approach.
We arrived at the hotel at 11 pm and they served us a delicious dinner. They were extra friendly and they did not mind serving us until we wanted to go to our room.
They do not handle alcohol but if you bring your wine, raki or beer with you, they are more than happy to serve you that as well.
The best breakfast that I have ever had! Fabulous chef! Almost all products are home-made and organic. They have chickens, cows, and ladies cook bread in house. I felt like I was visiting a farm house with a great sense of hospitality.
Negative things about Kartalkaya that I was surprised about; roads to the mountain are not cleaned and salted by municipality. How come road to an international ski resort is not drive friendly? We had to put chains in the middle of the road and take it off on the way back to the hotel.
Long line on the lifts makes you waste time with a 15 minutes waiting period for one line.
Overall, our trip was very good, and I especially recommend Yayla Hotel (5 km after the turning to Kartalkaya way). It was also very good deal in tems of room rates.
February 01, 2010
Haluk from
United Kingdom
Haluk from
United Kingdom
I agree with most of the comments about Kartalkaya. However, in terms of the hotels, let me just inform you that a new hotel was opened recently called the Golden Key. Given that the fog may put you off skiing/boarding, a nice hotel like this would at least give you some peace indoors. It may be slightly more expensive than other few hotels in the resort, but if you can afford, the price is worth it.
Also, the fog is a major problem in my view as the few times I have been to Kartalkaya it was frustrating as I'd like to board non-stop. It is a good resort for intermediate levels that would like to give longer breaks between sessions.
Enjoy!.
January 21, 2010
MERIC CALISKAN from
Turkey
MERIC CALISKAN from
Turkey
I was at Kartalkaya last week. I checked Turkish meteorology website to get the snow level. It sais 140 cm. However, I found out that there was almost 40-50 cm snow. Didn't scratch my skis but there was grass on some spots on the tracks. So it is not nice to fool the people. So be careful, check the snow level before going there.
January 15, 2010
Nitro from
Turkey
Nitro from
Turkey
Kartalkaya is famous for great powder days and foggy afternoons so be prepared to take a long ski break till fog clears off :) Other than that, I would recommend snowboarders to use my favorive track route.
1-Use chair lift to go all the way to top
2-When you take off, take the track to your left
3-Follow all the way to 'Doruk caffe'
4-Then to your left, follow the track close to the 'Snow Park'
5-At the end of the track, you will come across 'Chocolate Caffe'
6-Follow the track down to the forest which is very close 'Chocolate Caffe'
7-You will reach the chair lift area
8-Get on the lift, and do the same again again and again :))
This is the fastest (yet the longest) route from the top of the mountain near Dorukkaya Hotel region.
My personal record for this route is 8 mins. So top that! ;)
December 30, 2009
AHMET GÜNEY GÖNÜLLÜ from
Turkey
AHMET GÜNEY GÖNÜLLÜ from
Turkey
December 16, 2009
Ali Muftuoglu from
Turkey
Ali Muftuoglu from
Turkey
I have been skiing for along time. I don't go to Kartalkaya for skiing since I ski in Europe. There are two hotels in Kartalkaya. It is funny but real, you are not not allowed to visit other hotel ski area, it is unique to Kartalkaya and Uludag in all over the world ski resorts. Many slopes even the highest one, have very old fashioned T-bars. You will have crampy legs before get the top and chair-lifts are very slow and only for two persons in Kartalkaya. During the weekend, do not expect to ski so much, you will waste your majority of time in the queue. Even a bit snow and fog, many lifts are closed by Kartal Hotel management.
If you have enough time and money and ready to meet the conditions above, have fun.
Dr.Ali Muftuoglu
December 13, 2009
diamond from
France
diamond from
France
Has anyone stayed in Kartal hotel villas in Kartalkaya??? We have never been to Kartalkaya before, checked the photos of the hotels on the net, look very, very old compared to Uludag... I am a bit worried about the hotel quality as well as the pistes. We are beginner skiers, will Kartalkaya be suitable for us??? please help...
November 20, 2009
Ozgur Sur. from
United Kingdom
Ozgur Sur. from
United Kingdom
I have been traveling in the world to all ski resort places and I can say Kartalkaya, Turkey has one of the best snow ski resorts in world. Especially Kartalkaya Golden Key is one of its kind in Turkey. I can say if you want to have the best quality and best style while you are skiing, you will choose this hotel which also has architecture awards in Europe. As I said before, you must see Kartalkaya once in your life even if you are on the other side of the world.
March 09, 2009
Barry
Barry
I am living in Ankara for the winter and a friend desperately wanted to go skiing so I happily agreed to accompany him. We drove up to Kartalkaya on Sunday afternoon from Ankara through the Dortdivan route (rather than through Bolu). From the point these two roads converge; tyre chains were essential. We arrived at the resort only to find that all 3 hotels were completely full for the evening. We were very surprised but we were told it was because there had been some tour specials offered which included staying on Sunday night. We went into the ski rental store and the manager informed us that there were a number of pensions in the villages along the road down to Bolu. He also told us that they had a ski rental store in a small village where the rental selection wasn't as good but was much cheaper. We drove back down the mountain and stopped at the rental store. I rented skis for half the price than at the resort ($25ytl instead of $50ytl). I am an advanced skier and was very happy with the equipment. They did not rent snowbords but said there was a store just down the road which rented them. We went there and my friend rented a great snowboard for half the price as the resort ($35ytl instead of $60ytl).
We then stayed the night at the Yayla Hotel ($60ytl each for room and full board). The cozy/village alpine decor restaurant was very busy with apres-skiers and the dinner was excellent. We were the only guests overnight but the room was very warm and comfortable. In the morning the owner cooked us an amazing and huge breakfast and then put the chains on our tyres for us.
We then drove back up the Kartalkaya mountain to find the parking lot and ski hill virtually empty - we had no idea what happened to all of guests who had filled up the hotel. We purchased our lift tickets from the ski rental store ($50ytl for weekdays rather than $85ytl for weekends). We chose the Kartal lift pass instead of Dorukkaya and I'm very glad we did. The only down side was that two of the lifts were not open (I assume because of the lower mid-week ticket prices and the small crowds). However, that didn't really matter since there was still plenty of terrain to ski on. There was a huge amount of fresh, dry powder snow and we skiied on it all day. I was very suprised that all of the skiers were sticking to the piste runs and leaving all of the powder to us. Don't Turkish skiers like powder.
We had an awesome day at Kartalkaya and I would definitely go back. It's not Whistler-Blackcomb from back home in Vancouver but it's still a great ski and well worth the money.
Nearest