From Summit to Sea in a Single Day
Welcome to
CRETAN SKIER
Ski the Legendary Psiloritis & Lefka Ori
Our Mountains. Your Adventure.
Cretan Skier
If you’re looking for the ultimate mountain adventure with skis on your feet, then you’ve chosen the right island. An island overflowing with mountains, gorges, and peaks that you climb and descend always against a backdrop of the sea.
Most people know Crete as a summer destination. Yes, it is certainly famous for its incredible food, its generous hospitality, and its beautiful beaches. It’s an island that many compare to a small continent, as the landscape changes so dramatically and so quickly that even we who live here are often surprised. Our mountains literally rise from the bottom of the sea, and their unique character makes them special — and in some cases difficult to access. In the mountains of Crete you won’t find comforts, development, or facilities. They have remained almost untouched and authentic, and this is what makes them a unique destination for ski mountaineering in Europe.
You wake up in the morning and drink your coffee in a summer climate while listening to the sea, and only a few hours later you find yourself in an alpine landscape surrounded by 54 peaks over 2,000 meters. Life in Crete remains authentic as well, with locals who are still genuine and hospitable, staring at us wide – eyed when we tell them we came from the peaks of Psiloritis and the White Mountains. The high quality of hospitality and the excellent pure traditional food make you realize immediately that ski mountaineering in Crete is not just an ascent and descent on a mountain. It is a complete travel experience that you live to the fullest every day through the contrasts it offers. Welcome.
Who we are
We are Christos and Annie, and together we will organize the ideal trip for you.
Christos is a very experienced mountainguide, born and raised in Chania. Since childhood, he has been skiing in the mountains of Crete and beyond. He holds climbing and mountaineering instructor certifications from the Hellenic Federation of Mountaineering and Climbing.
Together with his wife Annie, they also run a sailing company in South Crete —Sailing South Crete.
Our Excursions
We organize ski mountaineering trips and adapt them according to your preferences. There is the option for day trips based in Chania or Heraklion, as well as a full week-long program in the White Mountains and Mount Psiloritis.It is also possible to do a traverse of the White Mountains or Psiloritis.In every case, you can be accompanied by an experienced guide, or we can organize the trip for you to do it on your own.
How the Cretan Skier Began
Chania has always had a strong mountaineering culture. The Mountaineering Club was founded in 1930 and began organizing group excursions to the mountains at a time when people were still struggling to survive. The fact that the mountains are so close to the cityand always visible gave people the motivation to climb them.
Shortly after the end of World War II, while mountaineering groups were reorganizing, two active and restless young men —Antonis Plymakis and Christos Houliopoulos —found some old skis left behind by the Germans in a storage room. They strapped them onto their backs and started hiking up the mountains, trying to learn on their own. In 1955, they became the first local skiers to leave their tracks on the Cretan snow.
These first ski tracks caused quite a stir in the villages at the foothills. A shepherd who saw
them believed that two enormous snakes had descended from the mountains! Terrified, he rushed to spread the “bad news,” since snakes were considered a bad omen in those days. Fortunately, people who had seen the two young men climbing with skis on their shoulders reassured him.
Over time, more and more people got involved in skiing, and by 1975 national ski races were held in the White Mountains, with many participants from outside Crete. Afew years later, the Mountaineering Club of Chania began organizing trips to ski resorts around Greece for training. By the early 1990s, many children and adults were learning how to ski in a place… that didn’t even have a ski resort!
In the mid-1990s, a small ski lift was installed on Psiloritis and operated for a few years. Perhaps it was ahead of its time, and the effort didn’t last, but the foundation for a community of Cretan skiers had already been laid. I myself was part of these groups and rememberthat about 50 of us would travel to organized ski resorts to train with instructors. For many years, our guide was Christos Houliopoulos, one of the two pioneers of skiing in Crete.
The next step came naturally: all those kids, now skilled downhill skiersand experienced mountaineers, began ski mountaineering. Many of them competed successfully in the national ski mountaineering championships, and the tradition carried on.
Today, there are more than 150 active ski mountaineers in Crete, and together we support and organize Pierra Creta, which is undoubtedly the trademark and evolution of the Cretan Skier! Ski mountaineering is now embedded in our culture and is clearly a sport with a bright future on our mountains.
