World’s most dangerous ski resort

The contrast of the idyllic conditions of a luxury ski resort setup right next-door to raging warfare make Mt Hermon a destination like nothing else in the world.

A friendly Mt Hermon ski instructor. Well, either that or an Israeli soldier from the Alpine unit carrying an M-16 (M16) and two gas masks during an exercise on Mt Hermon. You decide. Source: News Corp Australia

Yep, this IS REAL (See what we did there?)

Its name is Mt Hermon and it's about as far from the north pole as our own Aussie skifields are from the south pole.

It's also marginally higher than our own Mt Kosciuszko at about 2300m above sea level, so you can see understand why it gets more than the odd flake of snow, especially in winter which is the wet season in Israel's Mediterranean climate.

Kind of looks like Perisher on a busy weekend. Source: NewsComAu

All ski resorts are dangerous, we know that. If the rocks and ice and out-of-control beginners don't get you, the price of the après-ski drinks will.

But Mt Hermon is a little scarier than most ski resorts because the top of the mountain is basically the Syrian border — and the gateway to one of the world's bloodiest civil wars.

The Israeli-controlled sector of Mt Hermon first became a part of Israel after the Six-Day War in 1967. Syria got it back a few years later in the Yom Kippur war in 1973, then Israel grabbed it back again soon afterwards.

Rickety old chairlifts aren't the scariest things here, either. Source: NewsComAu

The Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Police patrol the mountain constantly, keeping it safe for the winter throngs, which can number as many as 10,000 on a busy day.

There is even a UN post atop the peak, which is the highest UN post in the world.

For all the threats of violence, Mt Hermon faces a grave threat which many other ski resorts across the world face nowadays — the threat of climate change.

As in Australia, a warming climate has led to a considerably shorter snow season each year. Lifts first turned on Mt Hermon in 1971. The question, for all sorts of reasons, is how long will they keep turning for?

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