Palandöken: the back story

About Palandöken: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Ski Resorts Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Palandöken rises straight out of the southern edge of Erzurum, on the high plateau of eastern Anatolia, and its cold, dry climate gives the powder snow for which the resort is known. Lifts climb towards Büyük Ejder Tepesi at 3,176 metres, and the city’s Seljuk monuments are a few minutes’ drive below.

A mountain range above the city

The Palandöken mountains run east to west for about 70 kilometres south of Erzurum, rising from 2,000 metres to Büyük Ejder Tepesi, the Great Dragon Peak, at 3,176 metres, according to the Governorship of Erzurum. Winter here lasts about 150 days, from December to April, and in a normal season the snow is more than two metres deep. Erzurum’s cold, dry climate is what gives Palandöken its celebrated powder.

A master plan for winter

Palandöken became an international ski centre through the Erzurum–Palandöken Winter Sports and Tourism Master Plan, the first comprehensive winter tourism project in Türkiye, which identified three ski areas on the northern slopes of the range: Palandöken itself, around Ejder Tepesi; Konaklı, 18 km south-west of the city; and Gez Yaylası to the east. In 2011 the city hosted the 25th Winter Universiade, the World University Winter Games, and the venues built for it include the biathlon and cross-country centre at Kandilli.

Dry powder above a Seljuk city: Türkiye’s high-altitude ski capital.

The ski area today

Erzurum Metropolitan Municipality describes 55 pistes and 87 kilometres of runs, served by 19 lifts carrying 24,000 people an hour, with an 8-kilometre night-skiing piste, a 943-metre traditional sled run, an ice-climbing wall and a snowmaking system. It notes that Palandöken was the first ski centre in Türkiye certified for sustainable tourism to GSTC standards. The resort hotels sit at the foot of the slopes, and Polat Palandöken’s own chairlift climbs towards Ejder Tepesi.

Erzurum below

Five kilometres down the road lies Erzurum, with the twin minarets of the Çifte Minareli Medrese, a masterpiece of Anatolian Seljuk architecture, and the city’s own dish, cağ kebabı: lamb marinated with spices, threaded on a horizontal spit and cooked slowly over a wood fire, served on pide with onions.

Every budget

Palan Hotel offers room-and-breakfast, half-board and full-board packages a three-minute walk from the slopes, with a baby lift for beginners; the two Dedeman hotels and Sway Hotels sit by the pistes; and Polat Palandöken, redesigned by the architecture studio Autoban, brings a chairlift, a 500 m² ski room and MOMO après-ski to the top end.

Our advice: fly in, since the airport is minutes from the slopes, dress for real cold, and give yourself an afternoon in Erzurum for the medrese and a plate of cağ kebabı.

Palandöken in brief

From the Governorship of Erzurum (erzurum.gov.tr) and Erzurum Metropolitan Municipality (erzurum.bel.tr), October 2026.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Palandöken: the back story before you go.