Crete in our minds is a summer destination; it is the beaches – Fragokastello, Elafonisi, Falassarna, Finikodasos, Preveli, Agiofarago and countless others –, the sun, the wonderful seaside villages, the flavours.

But it is also an island with large mountains, picturesque villages perched on the slopes of Psiloritis, the White Mountains and Dikti, and an excellent mountaineering destination.

Crete boasts three mountains that exceed 2,000 metres, namely Psiloritis with its highest peak, Timios Stavros, at 2,456 metres, the White Mountains with the peak Pachnes at 2,454 metres and Dikti with the peak Spathi at 2,148 metres.

The island has a long history of mountaineering, the Greek Mountaineering Club of Hania has been operating since the 1930s and there are mountaineering clubs all over Crete.

However, ski mountaineering was almost unknown, it remained a little secret among mountaineering fanatics. A group of mountaineers from Crete did something that at first seemed futile if not crazy: they held the first mountaineering ski race in Crete, known today as Pierra Creta, which became a well-established event.

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