Azerbaijan promotes the Caucasus as a winter destination: resorts, prices and FIS competitions

Unknown mountains near Baku

Azerbaijan took part in the London Snow Show for the first time, promoting winter tourism in the Greater Caucasus mountains, just a few hours' drive from Baku. According to Florian Sengstschmid, head of the Azerbaijan Tourism Board, visitors to the stand were regularly surprised to learn that the country has mountains at all — and the task now is to turn that surprise into interest in winter holidays. This is reported by Euronews.

Resorts, prices and uncrowded slopes

The Shahdag and Tufandag resorts have invested in modern infrastructure, including Austrian snowmaking technology that consumes less water. Prices are noticeably lower than in the Alps: a day ski pass costs about £25, a two-hour private lesson with an instructor £50, a beer £3, and lunch £10. Sandra Spitz, FIS Director of Sport and Events, who visited Shahdag in person, described the skiing as

The sporting component

Azerbaijan has been a member of FIS since the 1990s, and the current five-year partnership with the federation is aimed not only at hosting competitions but also at training local athletes and coaches. This season the country will host a FIS Alpine European Cup stage in February, and from 5 to 7 March the FIS Freestyle World Cup finals; national ski mountaineering teams have also been created under the auspices of ISMF — a discipline that made its Olympic debut at Milan-Cortina this year. Shahdag provides free equipment to children in its clubs — a model that Spitz cites as an example for other resorts. For comparison of scale: in September Baku marked ten years of hosting Formula 1 stages, and in Sengstschmid's view, it was precisely F1 that