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Skiing in Turkey

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Key facts

  • Mount Erciyes is a 3,916-meter-high volcano.
  • The ski area on the Tekir Plateau lies on the mountain’s northern and eastern slopes, at elevations of approximately 2,200 to 3,100 meters.
  • Erciyes is about 25 kilometers south of Kayseri; the official tourism website gives travel times of around 30 minutes from the city center and 40 minutes from the airport.
  • Sarıkamış is in Eastern Anatolia, at elevations of about 2,100 to 2,634 meters, amid pine forests.
  • Çamurlu Dağı and 2,500-meter-high Cıbıltepe are part of the mountain landscape around Sarıkamış.
  • According to the Ministry of Tourism, Kars Airport is about 50 kilometers from the ski area.

Erciyes: Volcanic slopes near Kayseri

As a high volcanic peak, Mount Erciyes defines the landscape south of Kayseri. The ski area on the Tekir Plateau makes use of slopes on the mountain’s north and east sides. Ski terrain ranges from about 2,200 to 3,100 meters in elevation. Kayseri combines access to the high-altitude mountain terrain with the amenities of a larger city.

Erciyes’s proximity to Kayseri sets it apart from Sarıkamış, farther to the east. The road connects Kayseri with the mountain, about 25 kilometers to the south; the journey takes around 30 minutes from the city center and 40 minutes from the airport. This makes it possible to use Kayseri as a place to arrive and stay overnight while spending a day skiing on the mountain.

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Sarıkamış: High-altitude skiing among pine forests

In eastern Anatolia, the Sarıkamış ski area lies southwest of the city of Kars. Its slopes run through pine forests from about 2,100 to 2,634 meters in elevation. This forested mountain landscape contrasts sharply with Erciyes’s more open volcanic slopes. The ski area is on Çamurlu Dağı; the slopes of 2,500-meter-high Cıbıltepe are also used for skiing.

Access is via the Kars region: the airport is about 50 kilometers from the ski area. Sarıkamış is also about 55 kilometers southwest of the city of Kars.

For other regional perspectives, see skiing in North Macedonia and the Low Tatras. The ski resorts in the United States offer a different travel and elevation context.