Above 25 cm of snow has accumulated on Mount Hermon, but due to the closure, no one will benefit from it.
The snow was left alone
Photography:
Eyal Margolin
Raphael Naveh, the manager of the Hermon site, looked yesterday (Saturday) at the snow that painted the mountain with blind eyes.
As of the afternoon, 25 cm of snow has accumulated in the upper level and 5-10 cm between the lower level, and tomorrow morning the system is expected to reach its peak. But for the first time since the site was established, in the late 1960s, all site workers Apart from the IDF's snow levels, the levels of the ski resort are disabled. The reason: As in the period between the second and third closures, even after the current closure ends, the site will remain closed due to its definition as a tourist attraction, so the site was not prepared for visitors.
Photo: Hermon site
"It is sad to see snow so beautiful and do nothing with it. Already in October we submitted to the Ministry of Health a proposal for a strict and strict outline to operate the site in the few weeks of the year that there is snow here to deviate us from our definition as 'attraction' and allow us to open. He is good but they left the definition honest, "Naveh explained.
The Hermon site is the main economic anchor of winter tourism in the Golan and Galilee.
In the weeks when the site is painted white, the hotels and B & Bs enjoy high occupancy, and the tens of thousands who come to the site every week, bring prosperity to the rest of the businesses that are eagerly awaiting the season.
"The vaccines are encouraging, but they will not speed up the opening of the site in the few weeks when it is snowing here. Many of the visitors and surfers are young. They will receive a green passport only a month after they receive the first vaccine dose," Naveh concludes.
"It is a unique place - the only ski resort in the country, it combines outdoor recreation and individual sports for a very short period of the year. It is delusional that mental fixation and procrastination in providing a solution will make us and the public miss the year."