Kayseri is a mix of traditional and modern, a theme that extends to the iconic mosque and flashy administrative building at the base of the ski area. The hotel’s rooftop bar, however, is ultramodern and ultra-swanky, and one the few places in the city where order-ing alcohol doesn’t raise eyebrows. It also has astounding 360-degree views. We ordered drinks and looked out at a mix of new and ancient: the bulbous mass of the Kadir Has Stadium, the domes and minarets of the Bürüngüz Mosque, marching rows of apartment buildings, clusters of recently built factories, the ancient stone walls of Kayseri Castle. Beyond it all, rows of foothills marched off toward Mount Erciyes, hidden in the dark. A cool breeze whipped past us, which turned to snow as we left the roof for our beds a few stories below. The next morning Kayseri was a soft white, a few inches of snow covering its bustling streets. We reloaded our gear into the rental car and started the 30-minute drive towards Erciyes Ski Resort. On a clear day, the volcano is visible for miles, surrounded by the rolling lava domes that make up its foothills. For the previous 24 hours, the mountain had been wrapped in thick storm clouds, and it remained obscured as we climbed the winding highway. The accompanying ski area is a favorite tourist destination for Turks across the country, and a popular day trip for local citizens. Most visitors are novices, and many choose sleds over skis, but the resort boasts an impressive amount of infrastruc-ture and terrain: 14 modern lifts, 35 miles of groomed runs, and more than 4,100 feet of vertical. Which brings us to our 5 a.m. arrival in the parking lot, and the mosque that’s just vanished in the whiteness behind us. We follow the chairlift towers up, the lack of visibility leav-ing us with no defined goal. This, combined with potentially unstable avalanche conditions, forces us to halt after only a few hundred feet. We still have five days of skiing ahead, so we content ourselves with powder turns back to the car. W e may have come for Erciyes, but there are plenty entertainment options in the mountainous terrain surrounding Kayseri—for the majority of tourists, the ski area isn’t even on the list. That’s topped by Göreme, a small town in the nearby Cappadocia region. While it once was the name of an ancient city, Cappadocia now refers to the broader area, as well as a series of desert rock formations riddled with both natural and handmade caves, many of which were once used as housing. Göreme National Park, a popular attraction, has been a UNESCO Heritage Site since 1985. The most famous of these caves are in the nearby Taurus Mountains, a system large enough that it’s officially called an “underground city.” Most are well-preserved, filled with colorful mosaics and frescoes from the numerous civilizations that have occupied the area over the millennia. The place was a meeting ground for rival empires, and the caves and tunnels became a place to avoid political unrest. Now they are popular spots for tourists to spend the night. 076 The Ski Journal
The Ski Journal Volume Eleven, Issue Four: Page 76
