I hit up Palandoken (Mt Palandöken) in late January of 2012 with a mate. What a great mountain. We flew from Istanbul into Erzurum on a cheapo ticket and the next morning we were on fresh, dry powder. Lift tickets were criminally cheap for us at less than $20 (we normally pay over $100au here) but the lifts were top quality and the runs were long and varied.

There was really no cheap accommodation that was easy to find but we stayed in one of the on-mountain hotels. Comparatively, it was pretty good value and the food, service and facilities were fantastic. The staff were very good too and helped us out wherever they could.

The mountain really is massive and the snow that falls on it is beautiful dry powder. On piste the runs are pretty much groomed snow pack but nobody seems to go off-piste at all so there are huge runs of untracked powder literally right next to the main runs. All the runs are long and are nice and open with really no trees anywhere.

The mountain is pretty much all about free ride and if there was a park we didn't find it. There is a half pipe but it wasn't ready when we were there. The snow depth is something you need to be wary of as underneath it's all pretty gnarly volcanic rock that can really rip up your base.

What made it a great experience were the locals. Doing tricks and presses gets you plenty of attention and locals are willing to try new things, show you where to ride and have a beer with you.

The only problem is that I have to resist the urge to tell everyone about it otherwise everyone else will rock up before I can get back there again.