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Kartepe Resort Reviews


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Visitor reviews for Kartepe Ski Resort

Kartepe Ratings

Overall: 2.9. Based on 41 votes and 36 reviews.

Rate this resort

Snowsure: 3.0

  • 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
  • Kartepe is snowsure even in the poorest seasons

Variety of pistes: 2.6

  • The ski runs are featureless and unvaried
  • The ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week
  • Kartepe has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain

Off-piste: 2.6

  • No off-piste worth mentioning
  • Off piste is out-of-bounds
  • Some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days
  • A vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days

Scenery: 3.9

  • An ugly resort in a bland setting
  • Average mountain views and resort
  • A spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town

Access: 3.8

  • At least one overnight stop
  • Requires a whole day
  • Requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns
  • Arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon
  • There is a main airport within an hour of Kartepe

Public Transport: 2.6

  • There are no buses or taxis to Kartepe
  • There are slow or infrequent buses / trains available
  • Getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections

Accommodation: 2.8

  • No places to stay in/near Kartepe
  • A few places to stay in the resort
  • A wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets

Cheap Rooms: 2.5

  • No budget accommodation available
  • Just one or two hostels so book ahead
  • Several cheap hostels and pensions available

Luxury Hotels: 3.0

  • No luxury accommodation available
  • Just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead
  • Several up-market hotels in Kartepe

Ski in/Ski out: 3.4

  • The ski area is located far from any accommodation
  • A free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip
  • Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available

Childcare: 2.6

  • There are no child care facilities at Kartepe
  • The resort has limited child-care facilities
  • the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche

Snowmaking: 1.9

  • Kartepe relies entirely on natural snow
  • There are just a few snow cannons
  • There are snowmaking facilities on all pistes

Snow Grooming: 3.0

  • There are no snow groomers at Kartepe
  • Occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state
  • All the runs at Kartepe are groomed daily

Shelter: 3.2

  • There is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut
  • There are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close
  • Kartepe is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close

Nearby options: 2.6

  • If snow conditions are poor at Kartepe, it will be poor everywhere nearby
  • There are good alternatives within an hours drive
  • Other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions

Regional rating: 2.9

  • Kartepe usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region
  • Has average conditions for the region
  • Usually has the best snow conditions in the region

Lift Staff: 3.0

  • The staff at Kartepe are rude or unhelpful
  • Lift staff at Kartepe are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help

Crowds/Queues: 2.6

  • The resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues
  • It is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays
  • It is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare

Ski Schools: 2.9

  • No ski schools available
  • One or two ski schools but local language only
  • A few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors
  • Plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available
  • Excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors

Hire and Repairs: 3.4

  • Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex
  • There are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance
  • Good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible

Beginners: 3.6

  • Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard
  • A few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week
  • Vast areas of gentle terrain

Intermediates: 3.5

  • No intermediate terrain at Kartepe
  • Intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days
  • Vast areas of cruising runs

Advanced: 3.0

  • Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders
  • Enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste
  • Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week

Snow Park: 2.6

  • Not even a kicker at Kartepe
  • Average sized park quite well looked after
  • Huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails

Cross-country: 2.1

  • There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Kartepe
  • There are some cross country trails available
  • The area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails

Luge/Toboggan: 2.9

  • No designated luge or toboggan runs
  • There are toboggan runs that open quite often
  • Kartepe has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages

Mountain Dining: 3.2

  • Nowhere to buy food by the pistes
  • Some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive
  • There is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets

Eating: 3.3

  • Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop
  • There are a few places to eat in the resort but nothing special
  • A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants

Apres-Ski: 2.6

  • Nothing to do, not even a bar
  • There are a few bars in the resort but nothing special
  • Clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere

Other Sports: 2.9

  • No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts
  • Resort has just a small public swimming pool
  • Resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool

Entertainment: 2.8

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

Winter Walks: 2.9

  • Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails
  • A couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails
  • Extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities

Ski Pass Value: 2.4

  • A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available
  • The ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts
  • Ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area

Value (National): 2.7

  • Overall, Kartepe is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money
  • Overall represents average value for money
  • Overall offers the best value resort in the country

Value (Global): 2.8

  • Overall, Kartepe is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world
  • Overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries
  • Internationally the resort offers excellent value for money

Show all 35 ratings

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February 23, 2021
Aurel from Ski Turkey Turkey
Small resort which seeks to do business like with snowmobiles, zip lines or towed buoys rather than reviewing the very old and dangerous equipment of the ski lifts. The chairlift and ski lift employees are not present when you get off and are sometimes dangerous when they operate the machines. We spend a lot of time in queue. Pity!
February 03, 2016
Guy from Ski Turkey Turkey
If you are slightly experienced then this resort is only worth a day trip from Istanbul which is what my son & I did recently. For beginners, it may be worth staying one night for a couple of days skiing. I've been a number of times over the years and would summarize: The weekends are a nightmare. Way too many people trying to use only the few lifts available. Queues are chaos. Avoid if at all possible. Weekdays are the only real option and the reduced number of people makes it much more enjoyable. They have rarely, if ever, bashed all the slopes. Over the last number of years I have never seen the black runs open. 20TL car park + 100TL each ski pass as @ Jan 2016. This is fun for the odd day (Monday-Friday) a year but go elsewhere for any serious skiing.
January 09, 2016
hazım from Ski Turkey Turkey
Never try it, it is not a ski resort.
January 07, 2015
Fisch
Only worth it if: -There is no one else there (weekdays). -The weather is good (heaps of snow but no wind, seriously no wind!) -You find a much cheaper way up and down the mountain (maybe organising a transfer back to your hotel) The resort here is incredibly hard to get to without taking a guided tour or taxi. My girlfriend is Turkish so we thought there would be no problem working out how to get up the hill. We stayed in Izmit because the hotel was much cheaper (a third of the price) and nicer than The Green Park Resort. We found a bus going to Masukiy easy enough for 3.50TL each but then the only way up the mountain was a 60TL taxi ride. We searched around but with no luck, so we committed to a taxi ride. The tickets were expensive at 80TL per person plus a 30TL deposit on the card. (Uludag is much bigger and only 70TL). The mountain only had one 2man chair lift and the T-bar (at times) running that day. It was a Sunday and there were way too many people for only 2 lifts; about 40min waits. The runs were very short for both lifts. There was plenty of powder but virtually no access to it, so we had to climb a few hills to get any. The snow was good though, and had the top 3man lift been open I'm sure the runs would have been good. They system looked pretty old though and damn, it was cold; get some bubbles please. When we left we thought we could ask the resort about getting up and down the mountain for the next day. They were very rude but they told us that the only way was by taxi and that was how all their guests got here. (It's 100TL from Izmit.) We decided not to pay that and instead found a tour group which had a few spare seats to ride down with. They even dropped us to our hotel for free. But the resort was a real let down. I decided to ring all the hotels at the base to see if they could transfer us up the mountain the next day but the best I could find was 50TL for 2 people, one way. So we moved on. At these prices you might as well go boarding/skiing in Europe. Per person 2 x 3.5 = 7 for the bus, 2 / 60 = 30 for the taxi, x 2 for both ways = 60. Then lift ticket at 80TL. Total = 147TL or 53 Euros. Frowny Face.
February 28, 2011
Turkey Baster from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
So, this is kind of how a day went on top of Kartepe on the 27th February 2011: Arrived in Masukiye town at the bottom of the hill, just off of the O-4 highway, where we had breakfast in a cafe. Borek and Pogaca's with tea. There are several ski shops which have skis and snowboards/equipments for hire and to buy. The one we found had skis/poles/boots/goggles package to rent for 25TL. Make sure you have a set of snowchains in your car, the Jandarma will check to see if you have any, although, the road was completely ploughed and gritted, so no need for them anyway. When we got to the top of the hill, a guy standing by the entrance sold us a parking ticket for 5TL, and then we drove around to the right and parked up (on a day trip, there;s a sign which says "gunubirlik otopark"). When we parked, we found it was quick just to put on our gear next to the car, and then walk down to the hut which sells the ski passes. For an unlimited pass, it costs 75TL, there are lower prices for 5 or 10 times on the lifts. We paid with debit/credit card. We went down the slope to the bottom where all the lifts are, then started our day from there. Positives: Nice place, with lots of trees and good scenery. The runs are great for beginners (providing the weather is good), and there's a bit of choice, so intermediate skiers should be entertained for a whole day. No 10 piste is a longish, pleasant run (rated as a blue, which is about right), there also some off piste parts to explore around the whole area. The Green Park Hotel runs the resort, and is right next to the slopes. Two negative points: Queue jumpers at lifts (flipping annoying), and also the chairlifts are not that well run, stop/start and sometimes closed with no clear reason for 10 minutes or so. Not really worth 75TL, more like 40TL, but hey, it's still fun to go there!
January 07, 2011
OSMAN DÖNMEZ from Ski Turkey Turkey
After a wonderful breakfast at the restaurant of the resort we start to ski. All pistes are excellent and open already. Sun is shining. Believe me, it is amazing.
January 15, 2010
Nitro from Ski Turkey Turkey
Kartepe is the closest ski center to Istanbul, only 1.5 hours using Istanbul-Ankara highway. It's got 4 lifts. In detail: Hotel lift: chairlift. To return to hotel area Geyikalan lift: chairlift. Geyikalan is located on the left hand side of the hotel. There is a caffe located at the top, prices are super expensive, you may have a fabulous dinner at a nice restaurant in Istanbul at that price level. Track is short, and mostly used by beginners and pedestrians. Karlıktepe: T-bar. Short track but steeper than many other tracks at that region. Skiers like Karlıktepe.
February 24, 2009
Penguen Tepe from Ski Turkey Turkey
Kartepe has 4 main lifts with 15 different available paths to ski, using one main ski pass for all. Kartepe is very close to Istanbul and accommodates a beautiful view. "kartepepenguen dot com" is a good source for your rental ski equipments.
February 23, 2009
Askin SENEL from Ski Turkey Turkey
I was at Kartepe this Sunday 22nd February. I liked the place. It has nice view, trees, powder snow and is close to İstanbul. However, I must admit, I don't think Kartepe is a ski resort at all. There are 3 short lifts, the pistes are short too and not well maintained and are very narrow. I guess they don't want to make them larger to keep maintenance costs low. Worst of all, there were many non-skiers or freelancers attempting to learn skiing by themselves. It was nightmare to wait in the queues with low ability people not able to get on and falling down frequently. The slopes at Kartepe were no good and at some locations there were no slopes at all and you had to stop and walk. The lift prices are inflated, prices are unnecessarily high generally and the cafes are expensive too. Personnel say this is what hotel asks but asking 5 star prices for 1 or 2 star quality should be a Turkish tradition (less with more - I believe hotel is more profit oriented than being service oriented). I was in Austria's Stubaital area to ski for 1 week 2-3 weeks ago and maybe that's why I did not like Kartepe as a ski resort. A real skier should go to Uludağ or, even better, to Kartalkaya and not waste time here. However, saying all this it's close to Istanbul which makes it an option for weekday breaks. I am sure Kartepe is a lot better during the week. And, as I said earlier in this review, the scenery is nice and the snow is powder.
January 23, 2009
kürsat erdem from Ski Turkey Turkey
Kartepe is the worst ski area in the world. If you want to go for a walk, Kartepe is the best.