More countries. I am standing at the parking lot of Mt. Olympus in Cyprus, having just skied it. There's plenty of snow in the snowbanks by my car. North Cyprus is an hour and half's drive away. Sadly, there are no high mountains or ski resorts in North Cyprus. But could I pack snow in the trunk of my car, take it across the border, and ski somewhere? Let's try!
There were many steps to take, however... First off, I needed some containers to put the snow in. Then I needed to drive to Mt. Trodoos to collect snow. And then.. drive to Northern Cyprus. This involved crossing a border, and getting some special insurance for Northern Cyprus for my car, at the border. All the border hassle -- which indeed is usually a hassle -- worked surprisingly well.
And then I was in Northern Cyprus, but it doesn't have any mountains. I didn't want to ski on a flat surface, nor did I want to ski in a town with too many spectators. I looked for an areas of fields in the hilly countryside near the border. I came up with the area of Özhan, and drove there. Obviously I had no specific spot in mind, just needed to find a place where I could (a) park and (b) there was a slope and (c) the ground was not too rocky. I managed to find a grass spot with a slight slope after driving some kilometers.
Then it was time to spread the snow. Even though the trunk of the SUV was full of snow... there's almost nothing left once you spread it on the ground.
...
TBD ...
This article has also appeared in TGR. Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot, TGR. Photos, videos, and text (c) 2022 by Jari Arkko.
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