Mount Palandoken, Erzurum Province, Turkiye

4kaveh_rezaei 5:00 PM Feb 10, 2013

It is worth every penny
The skiing center can be divided into two parts:the main one which is open from 9 A.M to 16 P.M with entrance fee of 30 YTL ( free for Polat and Dedeman guests) consists of many tracks with both cabins and seats.The highest peak,Ajhder,is only accessible through this piste. The Xanadu Hotel exclusive piste which in my opinion was way better,although the number of tracks are limited in comparison to the other piste but the quality of snow and the steepness of slopes were ideal.It is open from 8 A.M to 8 P.M and entrance fee is 25 YTL plus 10 YTL as deposit...

4toreiraq06 5:00 PM Mar 25, 2016

Nice skiing options, though a potential to improve, worth visiting
The Palandoken ski resort is one half of the Grand Erzurum area, the second half is Konakli ski resort. The Palandoken has 9 lifts, though only 4 were operating when we were there, and one could not reach the top of Ejder at 3180 m. The government invested heavily in the area in conjunction with the youth olympics in 2011, and though a lot still seems new, it is not very well maintained. The government will apparently hand over to the local authorities in 2017 and a new lift that reaches the top, will apparently also be operational for winter 2016-2017. The lifts are a combination of chair lifts and one gondola lift. The hills are well planned and include a good variety of levels. Snow levels can be a challenge, and when we visited in 21-25 March, we had just had 40 cm of new snow, but it was melting fast. Moguls and halfpipe were not maintained. There are no webcams or local snow reports available, and if one calls the local hotels for a a status, they will just tell you that the area has snow, irrelevant of the conditions. Ski rental is cheap and fit for purpose, carving skiis, snowboards and helmets are available, and if one chooses full board at the hotel, ski-lift passes are included. wind can be a problem, and can result in lifts been closed. We were a family with 3 children and we had excellent conditions for the most part. We enjoyed ourselves and would certainly go back again. Can also recommend staying at the Dedeman hotel with ski in and out (as opposed to the Dedeman ski-lodge further down the hill).