Follow those in the know and hit the slopes of Türkiye's best ski resorts

Blessed with innumerable beaches, you'd be forgiven for not thinking of Türkiye when you think of skiing, but the country's geography is exactly what makes it the ideal destination for powder hunters.

“Its coasts in four different seas contain unique snow content with the humid air coming from the mountains and the sea around them, the Taurus mountain chain and the mountain chains stretching from the Black Sea coasts to the Caucasus,” said ski instructor Erdem Kurt. “Crystal snow is located on the northern slopes with the conversion of moisture from the sea to land".

The country also has a surprisingly long history of winter sports.

"There is a 300-year-old petranboard culture in the Black Sea region, which is assumed to be the ancestor of snowboarding. It is known that petranboards were used to travel between villages, due to heavy snowfall on the Black Sea coast," said Erdem.

Petranboards, named for the village of Petran in the Kaçkar Mountain region where they were invented, are wooden planks hammered together then waxed to allow them to glide over snow, with a steering rope and a wooden stick for holding to balance.

These days, throw in great value – with lift passes considerably cheaper than in western Europe, at around £10-15 a day – the absence of long queues, modern infrastructure, good snowfall and plenty of off-piste and backcountry action, and Türkiye as a ski destination begins to make a lot of sense. So, where to start?

The Erciyes ski resort, with a total track length of 112 km, represents the country's biggest investment in the sport, according to Erdem.

It is situated on the 3,916 metre-high Mount Erciyes, an extinct volcano and one of the highest peak in Anatolia, with its highest points covered in snow all