The views, however, are equal opportunity: Skiers can see Israel’s Mount Hermon, the Syrian border and the Mediterranean from Faraya’s peak. But when the sun shimmies down the mountain, it’s back to Beirut, back past the soldiers and the stalled cars, past the town of Ouyoune-El Simane, where hungry skiers stop for ground lamb and flatbread, past the disheveled apartment buildings and into the city.

if you go, Faraya Mzaar is 26 miles from Beirut. Hire a driver through the resort—