Hello everyone! The idea of gathering ski resort conditions on a single page actually came out of a problem I had myself: when I was planning a weekend, every site I checked for whether there was snow told me something different. On this page I have tried to clear away that noise for Erciyes Ski Resort — the figures above are live, and below I share the part the figures cannot tell you.
What sets Erciyes apart from the other resorts, to my mind, is the height difference. There is 1,245 metres between the base and the summit, and that is the largest vertical drop in Turkey. The number may sound abstract, so let me compare it: at Uludağ the same difference is 359 metres. In other words, in terms of the distance you can cover in a single descent, Erciyes has no rival in the country.
Height does not only mean a longer descent. The summit is at 3,331 metres, and when the lower pistes start to soften in spring the upper part still holds its snow. That is what extends the season.
How to Get There
The resort has four main entrances: alongside Tekir Kapı and Hacılar Kapı there are Hisarcık Kapı and Develi Kapı. Tekir Kapı and Hacılar Kapı have a gondola system, which means you ride up from the car park to the pistes in an enclosed cabin. If you are going with children you can imagine how much difference this makes — waiting in the cold on an open chairlift makes the day hard from the start for a family with small children.
Kayseri Airport is about 30 km from the resort and the journey takes around 40 minutes. That makes it one of the ski resorts in Turkey closest to an airport; arriving on a morning flight and being on the piste in the afternoon really is possible. There are also minibus services from the city centre, and they run more frequently in season.
Pistes and Who They’re For
There are 19 mechanical lifts operating at the resort, two of them gondolas. The hourly carrying capacity is 26,750 people — when I first read that figure it seemed exaggerated to me. It shows that capacity is high; how long you actually wait depends on the crowds that day and on which lifts are open.
The spread of pistes covers a wide range. Beginners are comfortable on the blue runs, while the black runs will stretch an experienced skier. But the thing you really need to watch out for is this: the sections near the summit are steep and exposed to the wind, and conditions up there can be completely different from those at the base.
That is exactly why I show the base → summit temperature difference separately in the table above. A difference of 8–9 degrees can mean rain falling below while snow falls above. At Erciyes, looking at a single temperature figure and setting off is misleading.
When to Go
The season usually opens in early December and runs until April. The resort makes artificial snow over a wide area, so even when the natural snow is late the start of the season can be salvaged. The snowmaking window value above is there for this reason: it shows how many hours in the next 48 are suitable for making snow.
New Year and the mid-term school holiday are the busiest periods. If you want to avoid the crowds my suggestion is the weekdays between mid-January and early February — that is the most balanced stretch for both snow and crowd levels.
Things to Know Before You Go
Above 3,000 metres the wind frequently causes the upper lifts to stop. Before you set off, check both the wind value above and the resort’s own lift status page.
The summit is at 3,331 metres. Someone coming from sea level can tire more quickly than expected on the first day; drinking more water helps.
That information is published only on the resort’s own page. The “Run and lift status” link above goes straight there.
