Ski Through History in Lebanon

Ski Through History in Lebanon.


For many New Zealanders Lebanon may seem to be an unlikely place to consider for a Northern Hemisphere ski holiday but, despite the ravages of the 1975-92 Civil War and the brief 2006 Lebanon war, there is a thriving and well developed ski industry high in the Mt Lebanon range above the coastal town of Jouneih.

We were introduced to the area by our guide, Khalid, who, when he wasn’t guiding, was a professional ski instructor based in his home town of Kfardebian with a dream of skiing in New Zealand.

The ski fields were developed in the mid 1960s and, after the Civil War, expanded into the present 20 lift, 42 hill resort with over 80 kilometres of slopes which are hugely popular with the local Lebanese who drive the hour from Beirut for a day of great skiing.

We drove up from Jouneih through villages dotted along the ridges, past snow shrouded Greek and Roman ruins, cliffs with waterfalls cascading down their sheer faces and rock arches carved from the mountain sides by years of wind and erosion which span gorges at the bottom of which houses crouch huddled in snow to the ski fields of the 2465 metre Faraya Mzaar. Here, the car park and the lifts buzzed with activity as cars and vans filled with well bundled families pulled in, parked and unloaded excited skiers and snow boarders heading off for a day in the snow.

Khalid told us that during the four month ski season (December - April ) the mountain villages are bustling with activity as hundreds of cross country skiers, downhill skiers and snowboarders enjoy the many opportunities the fields offer.  For those who prefer a less physical form of activity on the slopes there are lots of snow mobiles and toboggans for rent from the numerous stalls dotted around the village.

We rode a lift to the top of one of the fields from where we were able to gaze out over the wine producing Bekka valley towards the impressive Phoenican, Byzantine, Greek, Roman and Crusader ruins of Baalbek until, wind and sun burnt, we descended for hot coffee and food at the Austria cafe and Bar. Khalid told us that the highest mountain, Jabal el Mzaar (2465 metres), had had a small Roman temple on its summit until it was destroyed during the Civil War. The temple area was reputed to be used by the Romans as a fire signal point to communicate between the coast and the temple complex of Baalbek or Heliopolis as there is a line of temples that stretch up the range from the coast to the Bekka valley.

We drove, from the cafe, to the private ski resort of Faqra with its ski fields reserved for the hotel guests and chalet owners,  which nestles among the remains of Greek tombs, temples and the ruins of homes from an ancient township dedicated to the worship of Adonis. Here you can take time off skiing and send time exploring the semi-restored ruins before heading back to the slopes for more exhilaration!

Khalid took us to meet his family who welcomed us with warmed cider, Lebanese coffee and apples chilled from the snow covered storage shed before we headed off, down the mountain, to Harissa, the religious centre for the Maronite Catholics, where the huge, white painted bronze statue of “Our Lady of Lebanon” stands, judging from the number of monks and large modern Maronite Cathedral, as a pilgrimage site, on the hill above the town. We climbed the spiral staircase around the base to grab some spectacular photographs of the bay curving from Jouneih around to Beirut which could be seen in the mid afternoon light.

We finished our day sitting, enjoying the warmth of the late April sun, at a cafe-bar that sprawled along the narrow ridge beside the road and ate deep fried whole sardines, hummus, bread and tabbouleh washed down with local beer and coffee amid groups of chattering locals celebrating a family birthday while we watched the little fishing boats and merchant ships plying the bay far below. Perfect!!


( We flew to Lebanon with Emirates. Our tour was organised by Atlas Tours. )

Lebanon Holiday March 2012 Day 1

LEBANON - MARCH-APRIL 2012:  Day 1

Pigeon Rocks - the symbol of Beirut

Washing on the porch - Apartment on side street Beirut

March-April 2012
Lebanon Day 1

After hearing great reports from friends who had been to Beirut Joy and I decided that a trip to Lebanon was an ideal for the end of trimester 2. We used the agency, Atlas Tours, we'd used when we went to Jordan.

We arranged a tour taking us around Lebanon for six days from Beirut through Sidon and Trye, to Baalbeck and the Ksara caves , the Dog River, Harrissa and Bylbos and then on to the Qadisha Grotto  and Faraya finishing off with three days to explore Beirut by ourselves.

Lebanon certainly lived up to the reports we' d had from our friends in Abu Dhabi, with its long and eventful history of continuous human settlement and its geography that allowed us to experience all weathers from sun, to drizzle, to thunderstorms and snow all in one day!

The ruins of The Hilton Hotel in Beirut.
Burnt out and bombed during the Civil War.

Our hotel in Beirut, The Charles, was basic but centrally placed near the corniche and within easy walking distance to the town centre. It was also very close to the Hilton Hotel which exists now as an empty bullet and missile pocked ruin over looking what was once the Green line killing zone during the Civil War and Israeli invasion that ran from 1975 through to 1989. From what I could see from the hotel window the empty Hotel across the road had also been a target for snipers from the Hilton as there were a series of bullet holes stitching their way up the face of the building.

A reminder of the Civil War (1975-96)

We took the opportunity to wander along the Corniche in the evening to watch the passing parade of those with a mania for fitness, those whose purpose in life is to be seen walking an expensive dog, the couples in earnest contemplation of each others eyes and the weather beaten fishermen and mahjong players enjoying the evening light.

Our driver-guide, Waleed, picked us up early in the morning to begin our tours of the country. This took us to the south of the country ... To the ancient Phoenician port cities of Sidon and Trye. These cities are a treasure trove of the history of invasions and rebuilding that characterizes the country. The crusader sea castle built in 1228 on top of a Phoenician temple with building blocks scavenged from the Roman ruins that dot the town dominates the harbour and provides a link to the old town with its souqs and remains of Ottoman caveransi and trading points.

Souq- Sidon

In the souq The Khan al-Saboun  a  building which has been in constant use since the 13th century but since the 17th century has been a soap factory. Introduced us to the tradition of soap making. Here, the different materials to make the natural soap were bought together and processed in a giant vat until everything had fused together and could be poured out and smoothed into smoothness and made ready for cutting into hard blocks of soap.

Sidon Souq butcher shop

Bread making in the street Souq Sidon

From the factory we wandered through the Souq, watching the bakers pounding dough and baking batch after batch of Lebanese breads, the wrinkled and bearded old carpenters assembling stools and tables or turning piles of wooden spoons and the women haggling over the price of large, incredibly red and sweet strawberries or lush vegetables with the stall holders, until we emerged on the fore shore and the Khan Al-Franj or caravansi which was the centre of trade and hospitality from 1610 until the mid 19th century.

From Sidon we headed for Tyre, a city originally built on an island by the Phoenicians in the 3rd millennium BC and which withstood numerous sieges until 323 BC  Alexander the Great built a causeway from the mainland to wheel his siege engines across to smash the walls and, after killing the inhabitants, rebuild it to suit his purposes. After Alexander the city was taken by successive waves of invaders who all added their buildings and cultures.
Now the excavations have revealed the ruins of  Roman Tyre with its market and huge bath complex.

Victory arch marking beginning of Roman Necropolis Tyre

Byzantine Necropolis - Tyre

Outside the city a sprawling necropolis filled with sarcophagi from the Byzantines through to the Romans leads to the largest Roman Hippodrome in the world. It, apparently, could seat 40,000 keen supporters of the Blue and Green teams who, judging by the carvings on the doorways, raced their chariots around the tight hairpin turns of the track.

Already the archeology of Lebanon was proving to be more than we had seen in our travels around the Mediterranean and Middle East. But the most impressive was to come when we headed into the Beeka Valley and on to Baalbeck.