Mount Hermon ski resort

Coordinates: 33°18′29″N 35°46′21″E / 33.30806°N 35.77250°E / 33.30806; 35.77250

The Mount Hermon ski resort is situated on the south-eastern slopes of Mount Hermon, a few kilometers off the Israeli-Syrian border, in the Golan Heights. The site is surrounded by the Hermon nature reserve. While the nature reserve is open year-round, the ski resort is open only at the peak of winter (usually January–March), when enough snow is accumulated on its ground.

Overview

Since 1981, the Golan Heights have been governed under Golan Heights Law, and during this period the resort has expanded considerably. The resort includes a wide range of ski trails for novice, intermediate, and expert levels. It also offers additional winter family activities such as sledding and Nordic skiing. The resort is unusual in not having been built by a town, and there is still no town at the resort, so those who operate the Hermon Ski area live in the nearby Moshav of Neve Ativ and the town of Majdal Shams. The ski resort has a ski school, ski patrol, and several restaurants located at either the bottom or peak of the area. The base of the resort is at 1640 meters, and it peaks at 2073 meters. The resort has 7 red pistes, 3 blue pistes, 2 black pistes and one green piste. The resort also has several facilities for summer visitors. As the highest point in Israeli controlled areas overlooking Syria and Lebanon it is also in a very strategically important position for the IDF. In peak season more than 12000 people can be on the mountain each day. The resort also recently added a snowpark.

Ski resort

A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe a ski resort is a town or village in a ski area – a mountainous area, where there are ski trails and other supporting services such as hotels, restaurants, equipment rentals, and a ski lift system. In North America it is more common for ski areas to exist well away from towns, and the term ski resort is used for a destination resort, often purpose-built and self-contained, where skiing is the main activity.

Types

The ski industry has identified advancing generations of ski resorts:

The term ski station is also used, particularly in Europe, for a skiing facility which is not located in or near a town or village. A ski resort which is also open for summer activities is often referred to as a mountain resort.

Facilities and amenities

Ski areas have marked paths for skiing known as runs, trails or pistes. Ski areas typically have one or more chairlifts for moving skiers rapidly to the top of hills, and to interconnect the various trails. Rope tows can also be used on short slopes (usually beginner hills or bunny slopes). Larger ski areas may use gondolas or aerial trams for transportation across longer distances within the ski area.

Mount Hermon

Mount Hermon (Arabic: جبل الشيخ or جبل حرمون‎ / ALA-LC: Jabal al-Shaykh ("Mountain of the Chief") or Jabal Haramun; Hebrew: הר חרמון‎, Har Hermon, "Mount Hermon") is a mountain cluster constituting the southern end of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range. Its summit straddles the border between Syria and Lebanon and, at 2,814 m (9,232 ft) above sea level, is the highest point in Syria. On the top, in the United Nations buffer zone between Syria and Israeli-occupied territory, is the highest permanently manned UN position in the world, known as "Hermon Hotel". The southern slopes of Mount Hermon extend to the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights, where the Mount Hermon ski resort is located. A peak in this area rising to 2,236 m (7,336 ft) is the highest elevation in Israeli-controlled territory.

Geography

Mount Hermon is actually a cluster of mountains with three distinct summits, each about the same height. The Anti-Lebanon range, of which Mount Hermon constitutes the southernmost part, extends for approximately 150 km (93 mi) in a northeast-southwest direction, running parallel to the Lebanon range on the west. The Hermon range covers an area of about 1000 square km, of which about 70 km² are under Israeli control. Most of the portion of Mount Hermon within the Israeli-controlled area constitutes the Hermon nature reserve.

Mount Hermon (disambiguation)

Mount Hermon is a high mountain on the border between Syria and Lebanon. The name may also refer to:

Places in the United States

Schools

Other uses