Tufandag Azerbaijan

Tufandag Mountain Resort is a modern ski resort in Azerbaijan, located near the city of Gabala, which was the ancient capital of Caucasian Albania. Tufandag Mountain translates to “hurricane mountain” or “blizzard mountain” in Azerbaijani, and whilst the upper parts of the mountain may attract some wind, the Tufandag Ski Resort is definitely not renowned for blizzards that bring big snow dumps. Just as a fun fact, Tufandag Mountain is home to a rare species of Caucasian snowcock, which makes the mind boggle.

Tufandag Resort touts themselves as offering “world class skiing”, probably because they spent a fortune on the place. It offers lots of activities and is popular with beginners, and for snow play and snow posing, whilst not many people who are good at skiing or snowboarding frequent the ski resort. It’s a ski resort with a lot of pomp and fluff, and not of the snow kind.

Pros and Cons of Tufandag

Pros 

• The ski resort is relatively modern and has excellent lift systems.
• Proximity to the city of Gabala, which was centrally located on the Silk Road, is a plus as it offers plenty of historic and cultural interest. Gabala (also spelt Qabala) has a rich history, including ruins of the ancient walled city of Chukhur Gabala from 4BC.

Cons

• Despite being called “blizzard mountain”, Tufandag relies heavily on snowmaking and is not blessed with a lot of natural snowfall.
• The piste offerings are quite limited, whilst off-piste offerings are also generally restricted due to the lack of snowfall.

Tufandag Ski and Snowboard Terrain

Tufandag Mountain, at an elevation of 4,191 metres (13,750 ft), is one of the highest peaks in Azerbaijan, whilst the ski area vertical ranges from 1,920 metres down to 956 metres. Tufandag Mountain Resort is a reasonable size, yet the skiable terrain is quite small. It only offers 12km across 10 slopes, with a breakdown of 2 beginner, 2 intermediate, 3 advanced, and 3 expert runs, which may or may not be open depending on snow cover. A couple of the “runs” are really just narrow cat tracks, whilst the beginner runs are quite spacious, which provides plenty of room for the pedestrians to take selfies on the snow.

Tufandag Ski Resort is serviced by 4 lifts, which are a combination of modern gondolas, fast chairlifts and chondolas (mix of gondola cabins and chair lifts). One of the lifts is primarily an access lift from the Riverside Hotel up to the ski area. There is also a magic carpet and another short surface lift for beginners. On Saturdays a couple of the slopes are illuminated for night skiing.

Pending snow conditions, backcountry touring in the alpine above the ski area is a possibility.

Tufandag Snow

The region doesn’t get much precipitation, so the ski resort relies heavily on modern snow making guns, and some of the steeper piste may be closed if natural snowfall is not adequate. The Tufandag snow season typically runs from mid December until the end of March. 

Where is Tufandag Mountain Resort?

The Tufandag ski area sits in the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range, in the Qusar region of Azerbaijan. Tufandag is in the central northern part of the country.

Tufandag Mountain Resort is just 6km northeast of Gabala (Gebele) and 29km northeast of the Gabala International Airport, which receives a couple of flights a week from Baku, and international flights from Dubai and Russia. From the local airport you can get a taxi or private transfer. Or from Baku, there are trains and buses to Gabala City.

Lodging

There are various hotels and lodgings in the area. The main resort hotel is the Qafqaz Tufandag Mountain Resort Hotel, which sits in a ski-in ski-out location. It claims to be a 5 star hotel, and whilst it is upscale, it lacks the amenities and service levels to be considered 5 star elsewhere. It has reasonably priced hotel rooms, and deluxe suites and condos with living space and a kitchen. The hotel has a kids club, day spa with hammam, and restaurants.

Or the Qafqaz Riverside Hotel is also a good option, with easy access to the slopes via a gondola.

Facilities

The Tufandag ski resort amenities are well developed and include ski and snowboard lessons in English if you book well in advance, equipment rentals, and on-mountain restaurants.