Bulgaria Ski discussion board

So a day after i have returned from Pamporovo..

In brief, Pamporovo is an incredible resort, let down by its awful lift operations.

So is a shame it's so far away from the main airport used, about 3 and a half hours plus a break in the middle, which didn't help on the way being in a cramped and extremely bumpy (i know the roads are awful anyway) minibus; on the way back had a minibus still but was far more spacious and more comfortable so wasn't too bad.

Stayed in the castle, which i didn't realise was made up of loads of blocks which we'rent connected so having a lift in your block wasn't really that special when the whole complex is set on the side of a hill and had to carry our suitcases and ski stuff when we arrived down tonnes of stairs, and then back up when we went home which wasn't the easiest; that aside, the hotel was lovely the location next to run number 7 was ideal for us, as we would hate to have to get a mini bus every day... plus it only took us about 15 minutes to walk into the village when we did most nights, was shocked how narrow and steep run number 7 was for a green though!!

The conditions for the week were incredible, didn't stop snowing from when we got there saturday night (and was snowing the Friday and Saturday before) til wednesday morning, so ended up with almost 2 foot of snow in places over that period of time; some of the runs, mainly the steep sections on Stoikite and the long red and blacks (usually non snow cannoned), 4, 5 & 11 were really icy in quite a few places to be fair. Although advertised online and even when i emailed them, as every run open; in the resort they were advertising only run 9 closed, when Stoikite 1 and Red 10 and all the fun park sections were also closed off, so the website should have shown 13/18 runs open, i don't trust them; Red 10 was probably the least icy run in the resort and really nice, so unsure why it was closed off and Stoikite 1 was lovely until it dropped down to the flat section where it started getting a bit thin and sheet ice in a couple of places, but easily skiable and the barriers did get taken down on the last day although lots of people were skiing it all week.

The off piste opportunities with the amount of snow we had was incredible, i've never had so much to do in my life, and never got bored the whole week, was doing the mountain bike trails through the forests, and my favourite was the open area round the back which leads down to the drag lift (run 8?), skiing in fresh snow of up to a foot for first half of the week. For the most part under the lifts and even in the woods are clear of tree stumps and rocks which is what lets Bansko and Borovets down as there isn't a lot else to do besides the runs as there's lots of trees and rocks, well more aimed at Borovets, as there is some good bits through the trees on run 10 and between 7 & 8 at Bansko, but noway near as much as Pamporovo. Also done night skiing on the Friday night which was great fun on blue number 10 and then onto the wall, not much variation to be had with one run really, but being quite quiet and freshly pisted was skiing about 30 meters down the wall and then just going straight down getting over 60mph; and the chairlift was lit up so could do the off piste under the chairlift all the way down

Now for the downside, i've noticed that Bansko and Borovets seemed to be running their lifts quite slow, and would vary throughout the day and then on the last lift of the day would speed it up just so they could close up... the lifts at Pamporovo (except on the last day when they were running okay) were literally the slowest chairlifts i've ever seen, and the difference in the speeds when they speed it up on the last lifts of the day was ridiculous, i would love to hear what their reasoning is behind it... it is pathetic how slow they are, and they wonder why the queues on the 2 main chairlifts reach 10 minutes plus on what was probably a quiet week, i would go back to the hotel or spend some time on the t-bar lifts which i hate just to avoid queueing, after being spoilt with Bansko and Borovets and never having to queue except maybe the odd few minutes; so the the speed of the chairlifts and the queues really ruined it for me. We also seen the 2 man chairlift operating so having never seen videos of run 9 to smolyan i was dying to do it; well the first 1/3 or so was a foot or so deep and wondered why they hadn't even tried pisting it yet, then we got further down, and found 3 or 4 trees across the whole track we had to climb over, massive boulders in the run, streams running down and across it, and new trees growing across the whole run... this run couldn't have been open for years and doubt it will for the foreseeable future, just seems like it's a case of what Bansko do with red 14 to make it look like they got more runs.

So with the conditions we had, i'd probably say Pamporovo was my favourite skiing and snowboarding holiday yet due to the off piste (and skiing mountain biking trails ) opportunities and some great solid runs, after visiting Passo Tonale (Italy) twice, Borovets twice and Bansko three times... so glad i got to try the resort. But doubt i will return there in the future, unless it's on a last minute deal and they have lots of snow, as i fail to see the appeal to the resort with just the snow cannoned runs open as the resort didn't have as much percentage of snow cannons as made out online, and that percentage of the least runs out of all the resorts is no way near enough especially as there wouldn't be any off piste either with lack of snow..

So for value for money, anywhere outside of Bulgaria is out of the question, and for Snow reliability, back to Bansko it is!!

Honest report from Dean.

"reamporovo Report (07-14/02/2015)If that run isnt open/ hasnt been open for as long as it would appear, dare i ask the purpose of that 2 man chaiirlift they seem to be running? to my knowledge it is the only ski run that goes down that side of the mountain."

As someone said to me on a previous topic when i asked, it's to bring guests from the Smolyan village to and from the resort... we asked the lift operator in the afternoon at the top, and he said it's only open for going back down, well something along the lines of that in broken english, which means it's open in the morning to take people up, hence why we decided to try run number 9, and got told off by the chairlift operator at the bottom; as they don't run the chairlift all day and only start it up when it's needed as it's really not used that often, was stopped more than going from what i seen throughout the week.

The new lift half way done the green 6 to Malina will be running either the first or second week of march 2015.

This is going to ease the pressure on the long three man lift from Malina to the top. Lets wait and see on that one

Re the green 7 down to ski centre 1. Grading of slopes vary from country to country and even within the same resort within the same country. Its always wise to get local knowledge first before attempting a piste.

The ski run down to Smolyan lakes is rarely open due to the nature of the slope.
The 2 man does run just as access to and from the man ski area,but will operate if requested. You just turn up to the gate to use it no problem.

I am aware of the 3 year plan for the resort which will really get Pamporovo to move upin the world. The contracts have been signed and 2018 will see everything in place and operating……..Watch this space….!

Happy skiing

Jody…..Back in Pamps Feb 20th until Easter!

I'll ski anything lol... just as we had to walk run number 7 from half way down where the castle is down to the bottom of the chairlift and then on into the village and back up, wasn't the flattest of slopes to walk up to say the least, especially for a green, but did find the gradients of pamporovo to be pretty steep, which was pleasing.

that 4 man would definitely help, no work was being done on it, and had about 2 chairs and a maintenance thing under the station if i recall correctly, shame it couldn't open sooner.
Pamporovo does seem to be improving their infrastructure though and building for the future like with the 6 man chairlift for the Stoykite runs which isn't really needed, but allows the resort to be prepared for the future if/when it gets busier... i looked back at the piste maps and seen what they've done replacing a few lifts etc.

A bit i don't understand just as you get on the flat bit of the wall (number 2) at the top from run number 10, on the right i spotted a sign down in the trees for a red run, my curiosity got the better of me and went down to have a look to find a reasonably short, but relatively wide bit of slope which ended up on green 6... then looked on old piste maps and was actually an old red run before the now number 10 blue from the top continues onto green 6... just wondered why they decided to get rid of the run - surely a resort so small would want as many runs as possible to boast about!?

Super Borovets was supposed to happen... but nothing ever came of it. So hopefully whatever is planned for Pamporovo goes ahead and maybe i'll return in the future

Thanks for the info.

Dean.

Glad you had a good ski time. And you really had a good explore around,by the sounds of it.

This project concerns Chapelare and linking the two mountain's.

Pamporovo resort purchased Chapelare last year.

They have been bogged down with the courts re the new Pamporovo lift.

THis was resolved at the beginning of Jan and hence the March commencement date this year.

Since purchasing Chapelare, Pamporovo Resort have been very careful to ensure they have all they correct permissions for new lifts from Malina up to Mechai Chai.

They successfully signed a contract with the French Lift company 'Poma' to install all the necessary equipment and have it in place to start running for 2018.

if Poma fail to meet this deadline, there are penalties written into the contract.

The new pistes to be cut running back to Malina will have snow making equipt on them too.

This is not rumour,this is direct from the Pamporovo Office and piste management team.

So,good news for all BG ski enthusiastS!

Happy Skiing.