Build My Own FeedBD athlete Ptor Spricenieks reports on a ski trip to Turkey
Black Diamond athlete Ptor Spricenieks spent the later part of March exploring the skiing in the Kashkar Mountains of Turkey. He sent us the following report and photos shortly after returning.
This March, my fabulous Dutch clients and I travelled to Turkey for our annual exotic ski-touring adventure. We thought we’d warm up in Turkey’s premiere ski resort, Palandoken, where some decent off-piste skiing can be had. However, after landing in Erzurum, an old Silk Road city at 1900m and 15 minutes from the ski hill, we realized we had arrived in the thick of a Turkish foehn. The mountain, which rises lift serviced to 3100m, looked more like it should in June than mid March. After a 500m ski tour in gluey slop, we organized a van and headed north in the wind and rain to at least be with a snowpack at our chief destination, the fabled Kashkar mountains.
After three hours on a good road and another two dodging fallen rocks on a riverside gravel one-lane at the bottom of a very rugged canyon, we arrived in Yaylalar. Perched at 1900m, the tiny mountain village of 12 winter inhabitants still had snow. In the evening gloom we were welcomed by Nayim, who installed us all warm and cozy inside his Cam Yuva Panseon. The next morning, we still faced grim conditions and toured out in t-shirts to ski the isothermal and dangerous snowpack. The terrain looked incredible but we had to stay extremely conservative within the tree glades as giant “escargots” rolled along beside our deep slush turns.
Some great hot food and relaxing on couches by the woodstove helped to comfort our dissatisfaction but it was the unexpected luxury of wi-fi that gave us hope. Online we could see the approach of a cold front sweeping across the Black Sea that would eventually hit the Kashkar. Instead of running away back to the Alps, we would wait and see. The next day, along with a group of four young French ski-tourers that had also realized the potential of this zone, we waited out solid rain with poker, stories and TV until pizza-sized snowflakes began to fall in the evening. Incidentally, the name Kashkar actually means “how much snow?” in Turkish. In the morning we awoke to a modest 10cm in the valley and 20-plus in the alpine that did not insulate the snowpack too much and allowed the cold that had arrived to penetrate and freeze it up. Finally it was game on!
There was still enough snow to put the skis on right outside the door and access the nearby tree ridges that led up to the alpine. Although the main valley continued back for another 12km to the spectacular big peaks of the Kashkar, there was no need to venture far horizontally. A ridgeline I had reconnoitered the previous day brought us up into the midst of 3200-3400m peaks and a vast choice faces and couloirs in all aspects. Indeed the snowpack had begun to freeze and our first run sent the cold snow flying with each turn. The tail end of the storm still lingered and in the afternoon the clouds returned to add another cold dusting as we glided back to the lodge.
The next morning was even colder, completely freezing the snow pack and allowing for easy boot-packing up the steep ridge of very tight trees directly behind the lodge that gained us access to the big peak we had seen the day before. The lengthy slog was worth it and in the afternoon we stood atop a nice summit in bluebird conditions. The snow was even better this day and whoops of delight filled the silence of our almost-private mountain range as we dropped in between the cornice line onto its north face. Only our four French buddies could been see off in the distance on their own private peak. A west-facing couloir led us onto great rolling terrain in sunshine that funneled into the canyon above the village.
Another small disturbance passed through the following day, dropping a few more centimeters and leaving us to make a couple of lower elevation laps under a milky sky. This only highlighted the variety of skiable terrain in the area. Dropping in from a smaller 3000m sub-peak, an open face turned into tree glades which funneled us into a 200m halfpipe before being forced to avoid the impassable gorge further below by taking an exposed hiking trail back to the village. On another lap in the evening twilight, we skied another sweet tree couloir while more cold flakes descended gently.
On our final day, the temperatures dropped again and with the psyche of the group at it’s peak, we made a plan to go for some steeper terrain. A peak just above our first day’s outing provided the best snow of all, deserving two laps of the top section. The Dutch boys were making their biggest turns ever with plumes of cold smoke lingering. Lower down, we finally ventured on to the ridge we saw all week from town through the canyon notch. It was a dance through sparse glades and the icing on our cake. With that, we bade our farewells to Nayim and Takim who had taken such good care of us. As the sun set, we wound our way down the crazy road once again, leaving our tired legs and backs to stiffen up nicely over the five hour drive. A five-star night in Istanbul to end the trip got us our fill of beers that we didn’t get in the more traditional Muslim mountain culture and highlighted the many contrasts to be found in the great land of Turkey.
— Ptor Spricenieks
United States / English 
19 Apr 2010, 1:47PM
Salut Ptor !!
Excellent ton reportage... Et ravi d'avoir fait ta connaissance à Yaylalar...
Ci joint un lien résumant la semaine :
http://www.skitour.fr/blog/jeromecouturier/1370-poudre-en-turquie-kackar-moutains
à bientôt
Laurent