"My father is passionate about mountains and snow. Since I was a forty day-old baby he used to carry me on his shoulders and take me to the highest tops of the mountains. My mother didn't agree with that, but she had patience, she couldn't do otherwise. So I have the same passion. Even my wife was tested before I married her, she had to love the snow and learn how to ski".

Snow roller driver

When I met George Petropoulos from Tripolis a couple of years ago, he drove a huge snow groomer machine with caterpillars on Mainalon's ski resort. It used to snow heavily back then and his skills were sought-after. During the winter nights, he used to flatten the snow on the slopes to make it safe for skiers.

The slopes are so steep up there, that it is breathtaking for people unfamiliar with this type of work. "I have worked in temperatures of minus thirty degrees, where the snow is like crystal. Once the machine starts to slide on the ice, things get very hard, because it crashes into the trees until it stops".George waits for the right time when the temperature begins to lower, to start the snow flattening. He presses the snow and then the cold makes it compact. While doing this job he has seen many avalanches, but fortunately he didn't get caught in any of those.

"I love the snow very much; it doesn't bother me at all, no matter how much it is snowing. If I didn't love it I wouldn't be here all day and night. I don't back down before weariness and fear. I also work in extreme weather conditions and I'm always prepared. This job poses risks for people like me, but not for the visitors of the mountain. They are safe".

Magic mountain

George has climbed Swiss, Austrian and Yugoslav mountains while he has also studied to become a ski trainer in France. But of all mountains, he adores Mainalon, which is full of firs. This mountain has a sacramental charm and it has symbolised people's nostalgia for returning to nature. That is why it is the centre of international philosophical trend "Arcadismo".

Romantic people from around the world, think that Mainalon hides idyllic secrets. Since Virgil and Boccaccio's era, it was a shelter for free thought, even for people who had not visited it.

Not only the "Arcadists", but every single person needs a "magic mountain" of his own, a place free of suffering and stress, where he can be mentally transported every time he reaches a dead end.

TEXT-PHOTOS: GEORGE ZAFEIROPOULOS
SOURCE: www.greecewithin.com

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