Israel's only ski resort on Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights was in the news recently.
This video of the Iron Dome intercept of an Iranian missile fired at Israel got me thinking about skiing again.
It was my birthday recently and, inspired by this video, I announced to my wife that I wanted to go skiiing for my present.
What could be better than a beautiful day on a snowy mountain overlooking the Mediterranean Sea with fireworks thrown in!
Seriously though, Mount Hermon is a 3-4 hour drive from Tel Aviv and there is always heavy traffic when there is good snow, and the good snow doesn't last long.
So I looked into other options.
My sister lives in Oslo, Norway and I discovered during my birthday call with her that there is a nice ski area less than an hour from her house called Oslo WinterPark.
A 3 day Ski Pass there costs 1080 NOK = US$127. That's $42 a day.
On Hermon a 3 day Ski Pass costs 695 NIS = US$189. That's $63 a day or 50% more than Oslo.
Norway is well known for being very expensive but there is one thing that they have no shortage of: snow.
For comparison I also priced Falls Creek in Victoria, Australia, where I have skied a number of times before.
A 3 day pass there is A$300 = US$215 = $72 a day or 70% more than Oslo.
So I decided to go and visit my sister and nieces in Oslo because there are cheap direct flights for less than Eu200 return.
I've never skied in Norway before so I am excited.
I hope to take lots of good photos for posting on Steem, and don't expect to see any missiles (unless Russia decides to invade Norway next weekend!)