Off the Cretan track: skiing and climbing on the Greek island

Away from Crete’s sandy shores, tall peaks dominate the landscape, offering great skiing without the crowds – or ski lifts

At the summit of Mount Ida on Crete, I discovered a stone chapel with a frozen free-standing bell leaning against it – it was as if time had stood still. Outside winter, Eastern Orthodox priests and worshippers hike to the highest point on the Greek island, and services are held in the chapel. But it was February, when Ida is often buried under several metres of snow and only mountaineers and skiers climb the almost 2,500-metre peak. I took a moment to admire the 360-degree panorama – the Aegean Sea to the north, the Libyan Sea to the south. There was no one else in sight.

Akis Parousis, my guide, claimed that on a clear day you can see the lights of Alexandria in Egypt from here before he skied off, racing through the fresh, light powder. I took one last glance at the horizon, where a marine blue sea met a pale blue sky, and set off in pursuit.