MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
It is ski season in many parts of the world, including one destination that might not be on your radar - Lebanon. The snow-capped Mount Lebanon range remains very popular among devoted skiers, despite turmoil in the country. NPR's Emily Feng brings us this audio postcard.
EMILY FENG, BYLINE: I'm here skiing. It's the first ski of the season. And I'm not in Switzerland. I'm not in Colorado. I'm in Lebanon, on the Mount Lebanon range, where, believe it or not, there's skiing. And we're here today to take our first - my first ski of the year.
(SOUNDBITE OF SKIS SWISHING)
FENG: Behind us are white peaks, though Beirut sprawls below us. The city's just an hour's drive away. On a clear day, you can even see the blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea.
BASSEM BOU HABIB: In April, if the ski season is longer, you can enjoy the same day skiing in the morning and swimming in the Mediterranean in the afternoon.
FENG: That's Bassem Bou Habib, who's been skiing here in Lebanon since he was 18.
HABIB: I've done it last year. We went to the beach after the ski.
FENG: Today, though, he's enjoying some hot chocolate while watching his two kids learn how to ski, and he reflects ruefully on how skiing in Lebanon has changed over the years.
HABIB: We lost a lot of tourists because of the situation.
FENG: The situation - shorthand for the trifecta of problems Lebanon's been dealing with - a struggling economy, political deadlock, and last year, a hugely destructive war between the fighters of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Israel. But despite it all, people are still coming to ski and to enjoy life.
RUBA ZGHEIB: (Speaking Arabic).
FENG: Ruba Zgheib is the manager of the ski rental shop at the resort. She says last winter, before a ceasefire with Israel, the ski season was actually pretty good, even though one strike last March landed about four miles away from the resort.
(SOUNDBITE OF SNOW CRUNCHING)
FENG: Near one of the pistes I meet Ralph Sfeir, who's teaching his son, Rohan.
RALPH SFEIR: I come every year.
FENG: Even last winter, before the ceasefire ended the fighting.
SFEIR: I would imagine for people outside, they think it's not safe, but, yeah, it's totally safe here. It's always calm, always ready to ski (laughter).
FENG: At this point, I'm ready to ski, too.
FENG: NPR's Lebanon producer, Jawad Rizkallah, and I get on the lift. We're both a little out of practice. He last came 15 years ago, and I'm more used to the icy artificial snow of slopes in China, where I was based for NPR before.
JAWAD RIZKALLAH, BYLINE: Maybe we can do this one a couple of times.
FENG: The bunny slope? OK.
At the bottom of the bunny slope, we meet Chadi Tannous, his dreads covered in snow. The season started a little late this year, but he says we're lucky.
CHADI TANNOUS: Yesterday night it was, like, just a bit of snow, so fresh snow today.
FENG: And the conditions are about to get better.
TANNOUS: So we're expecting the next storm in 10 days.
FENG: That means double the snow and more perfect skiing days ahead. Emily Feng, NPR News, Kfardebian, Lebanon. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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