Freeheeler 2nd International_Edition Saison_19_20

was my next call. I knew he would be very interested, as we both think alike. I got an affirmative from Jakub
within 24 hours. I flew from Geneva to Kiev to Tel Aviv, while Jakub flew direct from Bratislava.
The very nice immigration lady at Ben Gurion airport eyed my ski bag and asked where I was flying from. ‘I
came from Geneva, Switzerland this morning,’ I told her.
Eyebrows raised and smiling, she said, ‘you came from Switzerland to come skiing in Israel?’
‘Yes, ma’am, I did indeed.’
‘Welcome to Israel!’ she beamed, as she loudly stamped an attachment to my passport.
It was great to see Jakub at the other end of the hallway. We stopped for a quick in-airport midnight beer,
then packed my gear into the sweet station wagon that he’d rented. We passed a pleasant three hours north on
the impeccably smooth motorway. At 2:30 in the morning, with no cars around, we got pulled over by a solo
policeman. He kept his distance, flashlight in hand, as Jakub rolled down his window. Jakub explained he was
Slovak, and that we were going skiing. Wary, the policeman said, ‘what about him?’
‘Oh, he’s from California...’
A bit of hesitation, before he said, ‘ok, have a good night and drive safe.’
We checked into our cool hotel in the town of Majdal Shams, the ski area, a further 9 kilometers up the road.
Majdal Shams is a Druze Village and is the closest thing Israel has to a ski town. As we found out skiing the
next morning, most of the employees, including almost all the ski patrol, are Syrian Druze. The origins of
Majdal Shams, population 11,000, date back to the 11th century. The name, Aramaic in origin, means ‘Tower
of Sun’ and it is here that the Syrian Druze employees live. Although there are communities of Druze all over
the world, Majdal Shams is perhaps the only one that has bars.
The 32 Israeli families that operate Mt Hermon Ski Resort all live a further six kilometers west of Majdal
Shams in the village of Neve Ativ. Although the Israeli’s and the Druze all work together, no Jews live in
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