Post by fairweatherfan on Jul 28, 2023 0:19:55 GMT -5
A former user on this forum was famous for the phrase 'ski citrus climate'. These lucky places have climates capable of growing citrus, and are also within reach of snowy mountains for skiing. These types of places are not super common throughout the world, and typically have temperate Mediterranean climates, as you will see here.
Criteria:
1. The city must be within around a 2 hours drive from a ski resort under ideal conditions (i.e. no traffic or snow chain restrictions). The ski resort must have at least 1 square kilometer of skiable area. No bunny hills here!
2. The city must be capable of growing citrus. Citrus are not particularly cold hardy, and generally cannot tolerate temperatures far below freezing. Most citrus can tolerate at least brief freezes though. Some types of citrus (kumquat, mandarins) are more cold hardy than others (lemon, lime). My basic criteria is that a citrus climate must have a USDA hardiness zone of at least 9b, meaning that a typical year can be expected to get no colder than 25F.
Here's a comparison of some well-known cities with ski citrus climates. Which one do you like the best?
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is close to Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada mountains, which has lots of ski resorts nearby.
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, the land of surf and sunshine, is known as a place where you can go skiing and surfing in the same day.
Santiago, Chile
Santiago, Chile's capital, is right next to the Andes mountains and has world class ski resorts a stone's throw away.
Marrakesh, Morocco
Looking at Marrakesh's weather box, you wouldn't believe that there is a large ski resort less than two hours away.
Santander, Cantabria, Spain
Santander, on Spain's northern coast, has a mild, wet and gloomy climate. But the Cantabrian mountains are nearby to offer a change in weather and scenery.
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Unlike Santander, Barcelona has a generally warm and sunny climate, but its proximity to the Pyrenees means that good skiing is not far away.
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Nice, France
Nice's beautiful environment and climate has led to the city being called Nice la belle, Nice the beautiful. If Nice's climate isn't your thing, the Alps are nearby.
Catania, Sicily, Italy
Sicily is well-known for citrus, hot weather, and Mediterranean climate, but also boasts skiing on a massive volcano. There is a ski resort on Mount Etna, Europe's biggest volcano.
Antalya, Turkey
As Turkey's main beach resort and Russia's unofficial summer capital, I was surprised to find out that there is a ski resort nearby. It seems mediocre though.
Beirut, Lebanon
Even though Beirut is a warm city on the Mediterranean coast, Lebanon is a small and mountainous country, meaning there are great mountains for skiing very close to the coast.
Sari, Mazandaran province, Iran
Ok, Sari is not a ski citrus city. Chalus, also on the Caspian Sea coast, is. Sari is close enough, and a certain user that shares the city's name likes ski resort climates, so I'll keep it. Sari, along with most of the Caspian coast, has a mild and wet climate by Iranian standards.
Chengdu, Sichuan, China
Chengdu has a favorable climate (for agriculture, that is) but tall snowy mountains are not far away to the northwest.
Albury, New South Wales, Australia
Albury is close to the Australian Alps.
Motueka, New Zealand
Ah, the climate that started it all. A user from here was famous for using the phrase 'ski citrus climate' often, referring to his own hometown. Its winter temperatures seem a little cold to be ideal for growing citrus, though.
Criteria:
1. The city must be within around a 2 hours drive from a ski resort under ideal conditions (i.e. no traffic or snow chain restrictions). The ski resort must have at least 1 square kilometer of skiable area. No bunny hills here!
2. The city must be capable of growing citrus. Citrus are not particularly cold hardy, and generally cannot tolerate temperatures far below freezing. Most citrus can tolerate at least brief freezes though. Some types of citrus (kumquat, mandarins) are more cold hardy than others (lemon, lime). My basic criteria is that a citrus climate must have a USDA hardiness zone of at least 9b, meaning that a typical year can be expected to get no colder than 25F.
Here's a comparison of some well-known cities with ski citrus climates. Which one do you like the best?
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is close to Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada mountains, which has lots of ski resorts nearby.
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, the land of surf and sunshine, is known as a place where you can go skiing and surfing in the same day.
Santiago, Chile
Santiago, Chile's capital, is right next to the Andes mountains and has world class ski resorts a stone's throw away.
Marrakesh, Morocco
Looking at Marrakesh's weather box, you wouldn't believe that there is a large ski resort less than two hours away.
Santander, Cantabria, Spain
Santander, on Spain's northern coast, has a mild, wet and gloomy climate. But the Cantabrian mountains are nearby to offer a change in weather and scenery.
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Unlike Santander, Barcelona has a generally warm and sunny climate, but its proximity to the Pyrenees means that good skiing is not far away.
Nice, France
Nice's beautiful environment and climate has led to the city being called Nice la belle, Nice the beautiful. If Nice's climate isn't your thing, the Alps are nearby.
Catania, Sicily, Italy
Sicily is well-known for citrus, hot weather, and Mediterranean climate, but also boasts skiing on a massive volcano. There is a ski resort on Mount Etna, Europe's biggest volcano.
Antalya, Turkey
As Turkey's main beach resort and Russia's unofficial summer capital, I was surprised to find out that there is a ski resort nearby. It seems mediocre though.
Beirut, Lebanon
Even though Beirut is a warm city on the Mediterranean coast, Lebanon is a small and mountainous country, meaning there are great mountains for skiing very close to the coast.
Sari, Mazandaran province, Iran
Ok, Sari is not a ski citrus city. Chalus, also on the Caspian Sea coast, is. Sari is close enough, and a certain user that shares the city's name likes ski resort climates, so I'll keep it. Sari, along with most of the Caspian coast, has a mild and wet climate by Iranian standards.
Chengdu, Sichuan, China
Chengdu has a favorable climate (for agriculture, that is) but tall snowy mountains are not far away to the northwest.
Albury, New South Wales, Australia
Albury is close to the Australian Alps.
Motueka, New Zealand
Ah, the climate that started it all. A user from here was famous for using the phrase 'ski citrus climate' often, referring to his own hometown. Its winter temperatures seem a little cold to be ideal for growing citrus, though.
