Anogeia Ski Centre (Nida)
A ski centre begun on the Nida plateau high on Crete's Psiloritis, never finished, worked for only a couple of seasons and then left to be looted; its shell is being turned into a mountain refuge.
- Region
- Crete
- Country
- Greece
- Status
- abandoned
- Year opened
- 1990s
- Year closed
- 1990s
- Reason for closure
- The centre was never completed. Conceived in the early 1980s, it got as far as an access road, some lifts and buildings by the early 1990s, ran only briefly and partially, and was then abandoned unfinished. Snow on Psiloritis, while real, was never dependable enough at 1,400 m to justify finishing it.
History
The Nida plateau lies at around 1,400 to 1,450 m on Psiloritis, the highest mountain in Crete, 22 km above the village of Anogeia and close to the Idaean Cave. A ski centre here was floated in the early 1980s and by the early 1990s a good deal had been built - the access road, buildings and some lifts. It never got further. Accounts of how much skiing actually happened differ: some say the lifts and a 700 m slope worked for about two seasons in the 1990s, others that operation was partial and minimal and had petered out by the end of the 1980s. Either way the centre was never completed, and it has spent decades derelict and picked over by looters, its long low buildings sitting on the empty plateau among the mitata, the traditional stone shepherds' huts. The Region of Crete has committed about 500,000 euros to convert the surviving shell into a mountain refuge, under a programmatic agreement signed by the regional governor Stavros Arnaoutakis and the mayor of Anogeia, with the site to operate year-round inside a Natura protected area for winter recreation and environmental education. Note on the location: no accessible source gives coordinates for the ski centre itself, so the position here marks the Nida plateau and should be treated as approximate.
Lifts
| Name | Type | Manufacturer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unnamed lift | Some lifts were installed and reportedly operated for about two seasons alongside a 700 m slope. Their number, type and manufacturer are not documented, and the installations have since been stripped from the site |
Sources and further reading
- https://www.cretalive.gr/kriti/psiloreitis-egkataleleimmeno-hionodromiko-kentro-ginetai-oreino-katafygio
- https://www.protothema.gr/greece/article/961396/anogeia-to-egataleleimmeno-hionodromiko-kedro-metatrepetai-se-oreino-katafugio/
- https://www.iefimerida.gr/news/466544/hionodromiko-kentro-fantasma-ston-psiloreiti-moiazei-me-stavloys-polyteleias-vinteo
- https://agonaskritis.gr/%CF%8C%CF%84%CE%B1%CE%BD-%CF%84%CE%BF-%CF%87%CE%B9%CE%BF%CE%BD%CE%BF%CE%B4%CF%81%CE%BF%CE%BC%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%8C-%CE%BA%CE%AD%CE%BD%CF%84%CF%81%CE%BF-%CF%86%CE%AC%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%B1%CF%83%CE%BC%CE%B1/
Location
35.2100, 24.8400