Lazboarded Ski Festival: The event, organized by İkizdere District Governorship, Municipality and Meşeköy Headquarters, in Petran Plateau at 2200 meters altitude, was attended by İkizdere District Governor Halil İbrahim Kazar and Mayor Hasan Kösoğlu, along with Turkish goods and an estimated thousand others.
Participants of the event came to the highland track to ski with boards called "petranboards" or "lazboards." Citizens who tried to get used to the board by building experience before, then enjoyed skiing. It was seen that some of those who tried to build skis with a "petranboard" fell in the festival, which was also attended by the residents of Meşeköy.
Turkish citizens participating in the plateau and other tourists burned the barbecue in the festival by enjoying the horon by playing in the festival, a group of citizens with nylon bags, tried to slip. In the festival where health teams took precautions against possible accidents, participants were offered meat pilaf.
Governor Halil İbrahim Kazar stated that the ninth festival was organized in Petran Plateau and said, “Previously, citizens used this board to go from one place to another, since there was no access. It has been using it for an estimated 250 years, but we are organizing it for the ninth time as a festival. Today, our ambition is to keep our old tradition alive. In this way, to increase the feeling of brotherhood and togetherness. Our guests today are far from over in Turkey. From now on, we demand to continue this activity in the same rhythm. "It will continue in the same rhythm every year to be wider and more wonderful."
Stating that “petranboard” is accepted as the beginning of snowboarding in the region, Kazar said, “Tourists and professional skiers participating from abroad consider this as the beginning of snowboarding. In the past, our people used this board not for sports, but for meeting their daily needs. Recently, it has been used for sports and entertainment purposes ”.
"We claim that this is the homeland of snowboarding"
Mayor Kösoğlu, arguing that the homeland of snowboarding is Petran Plateau, “It has been done here for 200 years. Foreigners who participated 5-6 years ago also confirmed this. "We claim that this is the homeland of snowboarding, since this ski, which has a history of 50-60 years in Europe, has been performed on this plateau for 200 years."
Kösoğlu stated that the construction of accommodation facilities and chairlift is a must for both winter and summer tourism in the region and said, “The region is very suitable for this regardless of weather conditions and physical conditions. I hope there will be a ski center here, ”he said.
"Nylonboard is also very enjoyable"
Barış Belli, a member of Kaçkar Mountaineering Rafting Ski Specialization Sports Club, stated that they came to the plateau to participate in the festival and said, “We also wanted to make nylonboards other than petranboards. This is also very enjoyable. I strongly recommend everyone to do it, ”he said.
Ayşegül Memişoğlu said, “I was very scared at first because I never did it, but I mean that it is very enjoyable when I get used to it. It's fun. Everyone should say this ”.
Stating that the event was a lot of fun, Pınar Sarı said, “We also learned how to slide from experiment to experiment. When you enjoy it, you don't feel like leaving. I recommend everyone to say ”he said.