Snow depth reaches 45 centimeters at Atabarı Ski Center: season opens this weekend

The Atabarı Ski Center in Artvin, one of the important winter tourism centers in the Eastern Black Sea region, is preparing to open for service. The season is planned to open at the facility this weekend.

Following heavy snowfall, the snow depth at the center, located on Mersivan Mountain at an altitude of 2,200 meters and 18 kilometers from the city center, has reached 45 centimeters.

At the center, which has been operating under the Provincial Directorate of Youth and Sports since 2009 and features two tracks with a length of 1,300 meters depending on the difficulty level, the snow that fell before the new season was packed to make the tracks ready for use. Maintenance and repairs of the 595-meter chairlift and 159-meter T-bar lift systems have also been completed.

The ski center, which attracts more attention every year with its nature surrounded by spruce, fir, and pine trees, as well as its wind-protected tracks and high-quality snow structure, is planned to welcome its first visitors this weekend.

Atabarı Ski Center Facility Manager and Branch Manager of Sports Services Mehmet Başköylü told an AA reporter that the facility has been made ready for service as a result of intensive work.

Stating that they have meticulously carried out technical operations such as maintenance and repairs, Başköylü said, "All we were waiting for was snow, and it has reached our facility in these days. There is currently 45 centimeters of snow at our facility. After the expected new snowfall, we plan to open our facility to ski enthusiasts on Saturday after the snow on the tracks is packed again and the safety nets and signs are put in place."

Emphasizing that the Atabarı Ski Center is one of Turkey's prominent winter tourism centers, Başköylü noted the following:

"We have one of the few facilities in Turkey where you can ski within a forest cover. It is a natural paradise. We want all our citizens to come here and ski. We do not have any problems with transportation; we are close to the city center. Our facilities are ready, we have reached the desired snow level, and we are waiting for ski enthusiasts. Hopefully, we will have a safe and beautiful season."

Expressing that interest in the ski center increases every year, Başköylü said:

"Last year, we hosted over 12 thousand ski enthusiasts at the ski center. This year, we plan to host over 15 thousand tourists. We have tourists from surrounding provinces, from Rize to Trabzon and Ordu. The Atabarı Ski Center has not only national but also international importance. Tours from Georgia also come here. Although our facility is a boutique and small facility, it has tracks that appeal to ski enthusiasts of all levels. Our 1,300-meter-long tracks are suitable for all levels according to the color ranking. We reach one of our tracks by T-bar lift and the other by chairlift."

Explaining that they are one of the facilities in Turkey that opens the season the earliest and closes it the latest without artificial snow, Başköylü noted that they expect the season to continue until the end of April.