Bulgaria Ski discussion board

i remember there was a roll call for those heading to bansko on 5th february but seems that topic has sunk a long way down the list so have started a new one - so who's coming?

suprised at how little mention there is of bansko on the opening page of the opening page of the board so thought the run up on conditions can be mentioned in here.

it was looking pretty bleak a fortnight ago but then the snow came - i cant see any more snow being forecast over the coming days - what are the current conditions, and what can people expect come saturday!?

thanks in advance for all input on conditions!

We have been here a couple of days now and the resort is free of snow but there is plenty on the mountain. I drove up yesterday as there was about a 90 Minute gondola queue, got turned back just before the end of the road as there was nowhere to park!! seems all the weekend travellers who drove here had the same idea.

We just came back down, got out the snow sledges and had some fun with the kids under the gondola, queue didnt seem to calm down until way after 1 or even 2 pm!!!

Walked into town this morning to get my lad a helmet and at 9am the queue was back as far as the main road!! they have the snow coaches that take you up but even that queue was huge.

We picked up our ski hires(see other thread) and drove past the gondola queue at 10:30am and at this point the police seemed to be struggling to keep the line from over running the Main Road I guess this must be at least a 120min line, by which point you may as well just buy a half day pass!!

We decided to give it a miss and drove to Dubrinishte which took us 25 minutes into the car park (no fee) and a further 3 minutes to get on the lift!!

Skiing is limited but it was our first day and we were a bit rusty so it was great for us. 20Lev adults 15 for kids so it was 85 Lev for our family instead of about 225 Lev. We took some food with us as the carpark is 100mts away from the lifts, bought a few plates of chips (2Lev) and a few hot chocolates (2Lev).

Snow was mostly ok, its a little lean in parts but if your more than a beginner you can ski around the tufts and few rocks on the lower slopes.

The beginner slope at the bottom was in superb condition, I noticed a fancy new snow blower which must of been working hard.

We will probably go back to bobri tomorrow and give Bansko a try on Wednesday.

Take care

Marc

Today was better, but it took until 11:30 for the queue to go. At 9am it was back as far as the Happy end (sp) bar.

The rest of the town seems quite quiet, as was the car park. so I have no Idea as to why, other than Bansko just got its sums screwed up when it comes to getting people into the ski area! It seems no different to when we were here 3 years ago.

There are some options of driving to a chair lift, which inturn takes you to the gondola mid station, or even higher up, so we may try that.

We just dont relish waiting 60-120 minutes with 3 kids for the gondola.

its always the same every year. busy over new year..quiet for a few weeks then busy again end jan. think last jan it got busy just after the europa cup...quiet then until half term then manic for a week or so depending on if the uk has the same holidays all over uk or different weeks between the north or south. generally march is great with good snow and quiet slopes...if you do go in jan or feb def check out the busy times cos if you dont like the queues, it could spoil the experience. otherwise get to the gondola before 8 and you wont have to queue. a ski on newly groomed pistes down to bla bla for a hot choc and some cheesy chips. perfect