Winter Stories · October to April · Weather
Snow on Psiloritis
The highest mountain on Crete carries snow from the first storms, some years in late October, through to April. On a clear day it shows above the hills.
Psiloritis, the Ida of the ancient Greeks, rises to 2,456 metres in the middle of the island. From the south coast it is the wall at the back of the view. The first snow usually arrives with the first big autumn storm, some years as early as late October, and the summit stays white into April.
The contrast is the point. You can sit on the terrace in a shirt in January, 17 degrees and sun, and look at snow. Half an hour north, in the villages at the foot of the mountain, people are lighting stoves.
The photograph is from the road above the house after a clear night. The best mornings are the ones after rain, when the air has been washed and the ridge stands out sharp.