Is there snow in Sochi in summer?

The short answer is: no. There is not much snow in Sochi in the summer for skiing. You will not find skiing in the summer season.

And yes, it is totally possible to swim in the Black Sea and go skiing later that same day. The ski lift is about 40-50 miles from the sea. I saw a man body surfing in -20 degree weather in the Sochi port. Anything is possible in Russia.

I have visited Sochi and the Black Sea, during a cold January and during ski season. We first stayed at the beach one night. The next day we took a taxi to the mountains, and we went up the ski lift and stayed at the Korporativnyy Tsentr hotel in the Upper Town part of Gorky Gorod resort (which I highly recommend for you to check out). I think we were the only people who were not skiing there?? Gorky Gorod was specifically built by European investors for the Sochi Olympics, and is made for tourists. And in particular, ski tourists. Many Russians enjoy skiing. Gorky Gorod has a ski lift in the "Upper Town" section, and different slopes levels for your abilities.

The Black Sea is a 1-2 hour taxi ride away from Gorky Gorod. It took our taxi two hours in the snow to get there.

The official Russian Gorky Gorod website has good information related to your question. It seems that the ski season is December to May.

Winter

In consequence of special arrangement of mountains, our resort has the longest ski season - from December to May. In winter we offer 30 km of slopes of different difficulty levels, illuminate slopes for night skiing and slopes with artificial snowing. Also we have 11 gondola and chair lifts with through-put 2400 people per hour (the largest capacity in our country).

The resort run skiing schools, skiing mini club and ski accessories hires.

We pay close attention to security: we have the most skilled personnel of the search and rescue service, start to prepare and test our cable lifts in June.

Ski slopes of different difficulty levels from green to black (total length – 30 km from + 2300 to + 960 meters) Illuminate slopes (3,1 km, evening skiing from +1500 to + 960 meters) Slopes with artificial snowing (4,9 km from + 1500 м to + 960 meters, 70 snow production cannon) Cable lifts (11 gondola and chair lifts with through-put 2400 people per hour) Optional services: 3 skiing schools, 1 skiing mini club, 5 ski accessories hire

If you decide to visit during summer (June) they offer extreme mountain biking, rafting and even yoga!

Summer

We offer mountains activities both in winter and summer. For example, our resort has the only complex of slopes for downhill mountain biking in Krasnaya Polyana - Gorky Bike Park. We have wooden and dirt pump tracks, wooden skill park to set up mountain bike skills.

Also we offer hiking roots of different difficulty levels and sightseeing ascension by cable lifts to + 2300 m above sea level.

The whole family can visit Adventure Park in altitude +1500 m above sea level with separate child route. Among other activities there are quad biking, rafting and yoga in mountains/

You can use the bicycle, scooters and segway rental services or services of roller school.

We are a part of the group of companies, which has infrastructure in Imereti lowland. This fact gives us an opportunity to organize for our guests the rest in mountains and on the seacoast. In summer season we provide shuttles to the private beach several times a day.

Gorki Bike Park (downhill routes at height +1000 meters) Wooden and dirt pump tracks, wooden skill park (to set up mountain bike skills) Hiking roots of different difficulty levels (from +2300 to +960 meters above sea level) Sightseeing ascension by cable lifts (to +2300 meters above sea level) Adventure Park in altitude +1500 meters above sea level (with child route) Other activities: quad biking, rafting, yoga in mountains Optional services: city and mountain bike hire, scooter and segway hire, roller school Own beach on the seacoast (with transfer service)

If you ever do go to Sochi for skiing, I highly recommend you stay in the "upper town" section of the resort. It is closest to the ski lift and will save you extra hassle of getting up to the lift. Go in winter and they have Alice in Wonderland theme everywhere.

Upper Town (Gorky Gorod Russia)

(+960 m) Upper Town at a height of +960 m is more suitable for calm and private rest. Its architecture is more aristocratic and resembles resort towns in Italy, Spain or South France.

Here you can find hotels with wide territory, townhouses and chalets. They are Rixos Krasnaya Polyana Sochi, Gorky Hotel (ex. Solis Sochi Hotel), Gorky Hotel & Suites (ex. Solis Sochi Suites), Dolina 960, Gorki Panorama, Gorki Art, Gorki Grand, Apartments Gorki Gorod +960 with a total capacity of 1070 rooms.

Hotels have their own exits in the skiing area and on the main square the cable lift station is located. Upper Town offers restaurants, bars and cafes, places for running sporting and cultural events.

Rixos Krasnaya Polyana Sochi – 114 rooms Gorky Hotel (ex. Solis Sochi Hotel) – 120 rooms Gorky Hotel & Suites (ex. Solis Sochi Suites) – 52 rooms Dolina 960 – 48 rooms Gorki Panorama – 302 rooms Gorki Art – 166 rooms Gorki Grand – 194 rooms Apartments Gorki Gorod +960 – 74 rooms Corporate Centre Sberbank – 47 rooms

Not much snow in the summer, no. Consider Rosa Khutor Alpine Resort, 30 miles from the Black Sea and host of the 2014 Olympic Alpine Skiing events. As of this writing, it's 17˚C with 0cm snow height: "spring snow." If you view their webcams, you can see some snow is still present at the high elevations right now, but not that much, and none at all lower down. It operates as a resort in the summer and the ski season usually starts sometime in December.