The 2023-2024 ski season is nearing its end, and despite being short this year, it was a busy one.

Like last year, a longer than usual wait for snow delayed openings of the slopes.

Nevertheless, the season was a success. “The Lebanese turned out in force” even more than last year said Youmna Rizk, manager of Mzaar Ski Resort, the country’s largest ski resort located in Kfardebian, Kesrouan.

“As soon as the weather allowed us to open the slopes, people flocked. We soon realized that the Lebanese needed to come and ski, especially this year. This has enabled us to achieve our best turnover since 2019,” Rizk said.

Tourism in Lebanon, which was affected by the economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic in the past years, was again compromised by the outbreak of conflict in the country after Oct. 7, 2023 between Hezbollah and Israel. Fears that the ski season would be compromised by the security situation were high.

Safety

But this did not happen. Far from deterring winter sports fans from hitting the slopes, the ongoing war in southern Lebanon — which has so far claimed more than 300 lives on the Lebanese side, including at least 46 civilians — has catalyzed a desire for fresh mountain air among many Lebanese who say they feel safe on the slopes.

“Many customers told us that they need to come to us to feel ‘like being in Switzerland’ for a day,” said Carole Murr, a member of the executive committee of Zaarour Club, located in the heights of Metn.

Besides residents, Lebanese expatriates, who visited the country in large numbers despite the security situation, also turned out in force. This influx of ex-pats has been particularly noticeable on the slopes of Faqra Club, which caters mainly to families.

“It’s thanks to the Lebanese expats that we’ve been able to make an acceptable turnover,” said George Karam, Faqra club’s manager. “Without them, it would have been very complicated, because we had absolutely no foreign tourists.”

The same was true of Laqlouq, where manager Nour Saab dealt with many last-minute cancellations. “Visitors follow the political developments,” Saab said. “Last week, almost all the bookings made from abroad were canceled because of the heightened tensions in the South. People are deciding at the last minute whether to stay in Lebanon or not.”

Late snow

Apart from embassy staff, there are scarcely any foreigners on the horizon. The risk of all-out war in the country, linked to the war in Gaza, has also dissuaded professionals from visiting Lebanese slopes.

Besides tourists, usually from Europe, Cyprus, the Gulf, and the rest of the region, there was a shortage of instructors and technicians this year. “I had employed a team to come from Italy and carry out maintenance work of the ski lifts and snow groomers,” said Elie Fakhry, manager of the Cedars Ski Resort above Bsharri, where one can ski down the highest slopes in the Middle East. “It’s not easy to find alternative solutions, and it costs even more,” he said.

For a second time, French ski instructors hired by Zaarour Club had to postpone their visit to Lebanon till next season.

But besides the war, Lebanon's ski seasons have been undermined by another problem that has been recurrent in recent years: a lack of snow.

“We were only able to open the slopes for two or three weeks in February,” said Murr. “Both in terms of time and quality of snow cover, we are increasingly feeling the effects of global warming.” Murr, like her counterparts at Laqlouq and Faqra, manages a ski area located below an altitude of 2,000 m, where the average snowfall this year was barely over 50 centimeters.

Although he didn’t have to wait until February to open his doors, Fakhry misses the days when the season would start in December. “Christmas holidays used to account for between 30 to 40 percent of our annual turnover,” he recalled.

“Yet, this year, it didn't snow until mid-January. It’s unfortunate because our customers generally had more purchasing power than in previous years. There was no need to offer discounts to encourage them to come,” he said. Fakhry explained that there are still discounts available to civil servants and military personnel, for whom a day of skiing has become a luxury they barely afford, with prices this year varying between $22 and $70 a day.

Regular visitors, including locals, expatriates, and schoolchildren, enabled the country’s ski resorts to have a “satisfactory” winter in 2024 — at least compared with previous seasons.

Despite this slight economic recovery, the challenges facing these resorts in years ahead remain profound. Even if regional and national economic conditions improve, the country’s snowfall levels remain an issue. Faced with this problem, the only solution is to climb higher. “We hope soon to be able to extend our ski area to gain a few hundred meters in altitude,” said Karam. “It’s the only solution we have left. It is to follow the snow.”