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Seen from the two-seat chair lift the snow-covered trees below are like sugar decorations on a children’s cake. While you are approaching the 2,100 metres high peak, the clouds are thickening. Pindus Mountain is emerging in the distance. Below us, skiers are drawing their lines in the white snow. We are west of Grevena, in Vassilitsa ski resort that, due to its natural beauty, competes with European resorts. However, it does not have the necessary infrastructure to attract sportsmen and tourists from abroad on the one hand, and on the other hand the villages nearby (such as Samarina and Smiksi) are not developed tourist destinations to be able to offer organized tours.

The situation in Kaimakchalan in the Pella area is similar. There is one tourist resort 17 km away from it, namely Agios Athanasios village with its stone houses, but the ski resort is trying to build a reliable profile. In both cases, however, the regions are not sufficiently used as tourist destinations in order for the ski resorts there to support the development of the local communities and vice versa.

Until recently, the lack of a legislative framework for the operation of ski resorts in Greece and the inconsistent management were the main reasons why the country has not developed the model of winter tourism, which is successful in other countries, despite the favorable conditions in terms of natural resources.

Operating without permits

Only last August the Greek parliament undertook to address the issue of granting licences to ski centres. Until then, they had worked without the special sign of the Greek tourist organization and without approved topographical plans. In other words, no one knew the exact area of these ski centres.

The unclear legal framework previously created a whole host of problems. The municipalities of the regions, for example, were issuing permits for restaurants, which did not have a fire safety certificate and which had not been subject to inspections by health authorities. The new laws, namely 4178/2013 (Article 16) and 4179/2013 (Article 13), settle the issue of illegal construction, and finally determine the boundaries of ski resorts. Now as they have all the necessary documents required by law, they can be included in the European programmes.

Although the legislative framework helps solve a lot of problems, a number of obstacles are still "freezing" the development of ski resorts in Greece.

One of them is the lack of clarity in terms of ownership. For example, one part of Vassilitsa ski resort is owned by the municipality of Grevena, another by the municipality of Konitsa, a third part by the state and the fourth belongs to the General Secretariat for Sports, which actually controls the centre. In this situation, in order for the investment plan (masterplan) of 20,000,000 euro, which the municipality of Grevena is now drawing up along with the management board of the ski centre, to start, the ownership of the ski resort must first be clarified through a programme agreement. Of course, the illegal establishments in Konitsa municipality will continue functioning until the investment starts. "When the development plan is implemented we will upgrade our equipment, we will be supplied with artificial snow machines and we will double the ski-runs (from 17 km at present they will be almost 30 km). Then we will surely compete with the ski resorts abroad," says Yiannis Nasikas, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board and Deputy Mayor of Grevena.

The lift stops working due to the cold

It is about 11:00 am on Sunday. There are eight buses parked in the parking lot in Vassilitsa. Because of the crisis, the majority of the visitors prefer to arrive the same day and to save the quite high cost of an overnight stay (in mountain villages, the overnight stay in a double room costs 60 euro on average). On the other hand, the card for the ski runs is economical since it costs 13 euro on weekends and 8 euro on weekdays. The rule "what you pay is what you get" is particularly true here. A long queue for the three-seat chairlift has formed down there, at the beginning of the ski runs, in front of the two huts. The people usually wait as long as 10 minutes. "The lift is slow and therefore queues form. It sometimes stops working due to the cold. It must be immediately replaced with a cable one which is faster," says Kostas Vlachos, technical manager of the ski centre.

In Vassilitsa, one has the feeling that the ambition and the desire of the people fill the gaps in infrastructure. For example, Dr. Michalis Vassiliou, a specialist in traumas incurred in the mountains, has been a volunteer here for more than 20 years, since the General Secretariat for Sports (which is responsible for this) has not recruited medical staff, nor has it provided an ambulance. However, the small hospital is fully equipped to be able to provide first aid. "All the problems are arising from the instability in the government. It is impossible to change the management board every two years, and for each government to appoint its members who usually have nothing in common with ski tourism," states Gerasimos Avramidis, formerly a manager of the only legitimate hut in the mountains.

Abandoned two years ago

The control over the management of the ski centres really plays a key role in their development. Even in the case of Kaimakchalan, the ownership of which has always been clear (it is owned by the company for state property), the period 2011-2013 was catastrophic. It turned out that the contractor, Giorgos Paraschos & Co. Ltd. (which was in charge of the management of the ski resort on the basis of a two-year contract), was totally unsuitable. On 26 July last year when the company for state property took over the ski centre, which did not have any of the necessary permits, it found ski lifts that had not been maintained, inspection documents that had not been updated, destroyed hydraulic equipment and "frozen" heating systems.

The safe and legal operation of the ski resort, which was closed last February because of power supply suspension (due to unpaid bills amounting to 45,000 euro), was the first concern of the company for state property. It took 468,000 euro to repair the damage and put the ski centre back into operation in December. After the repairs were completed and the equipment checked, the difficulties related to obtaining all necessary permits started. It is significant that the seven rooms of the chalet, which are situated above the main restaurant, were not open due to the lack of a fire safety certificate.

The next task was the daily functioning and advertising of Kaimakchalan to gradually restore its former glory. Finally, the company contacted the schools in the area to organize trips, at a symbolic price, in order for students to explore the mountain.

According to the official data of the company for state property, which will manage the ski centre for a period of two years, the number of tickets sold reached 12,654 up to 2 February and the revenues 148,324 euro. Moreover, these figures do not include the visitors who do not ski but just visit the resort and use the lifts.

Meanwhile, during the two year period in which the ski resort was not working at full speed, the agency and the tourist activities in Agios Athanasios (having 2,000 beds) declined.

According to local estate agent Thassos Psichoios, one could meet more saleswomen and landladies at the traditional tavernas of the village and property prices had fallen by 40%.

In 2012, not even 50% of beds were booked. To the contrary, this year, when the ski resort is trusted and operating at full capacity, bookings have increased by 100% and there is even a small wave of tourists from Macedonia. Undoubtedly, the ski centre and Agios Athanasios are like communicating vessels," states Deputy Mayor for Tourism of Edessa Christos Verikoukis.

As is clear from discussions with the financial managers of both ski resorts, their own revenues comprise 65% to 70% of their budgets. In order to become more attractive and to attract tourists, contributing towards the development of the region, they should get rid of the makeshift huts with opaque commercial contracts and build their own facilities, which will have a stable management.

The experience of the neighbours

Since 2003, using as a basis the exemplary Bansko ski resort, Bulgarians have turned an unknown mountain town into an affordable tourist centre. For example, from Thessaloniki, which is only 210 km away from it, a three-day half board package at a four-star hotel costs 120 euro. "Bansko is a well organized tourist ski resort with an ice rink, spa, nightlife, and it has the capacity to offer five-day vacation packages. The ski centre greatly increases the flow of tourists as worldwide competitions take place there, popular sports representatives are invited and the resort constantly organizes various events, such as the game in which one had to search for the lost treasure during this year's season opening. If the airport in Gotse Delchev were built (40 km away from the ski resort), it would be very hard for us to compete with them," explains Argyris Vlachopoulos, owner of Discovery Travel in Kavala, who has an office in Sofia too.

"If our neighbours have been able to implement such a well-organized pattern of tourism development, why couldn’t we do the same?" Greek journalists are wondering.