Bulgaria Ski discussion board

Nigel

Dunno where your friends went in france for their skiing,i have skied many places in france some small many big.France would be more popular than bulgaria so therefore meybe they went to a smaller resort which could of made it busier than bulgaria.
I went to france ( meribel twice this year) 1 x in jan and 1 x in march i also went to borovets in feb.The slopes were far more packed in bulgaria and the lift ques,well what can you say about that especially then main gondala at the yastrebets 45 mins just to get on it,i never qued in france for say any longer than 5 mins.
I also never got short changed or payed my change back in sweets because they never had change !!!

As for the rude statement,i`d say both can be equally rude
I went to bulgaria with an open mind................but what really done it for me was the having to check your change,i have never had this problem in france ( altho the drinks and food cost more but not alot more)

To me and bulgaria will never be able to compete with france unless they sort the snow cannons out and also get rid of the drag lifts and stop trying to short change ppl.

I queued over an hour to get on the Gondola in Chamonix early April 2003 - low season. The slopes were very buzy.

Also the price for food and drink was ridiculously expensive and found the place cold and unfriendly. When I go to Pamporovo (early Jan and March - not school hols) there are small to non existant queues and empty runs (I ride the blacks) and If you have your head screwed on you can still get a quality two course with a couple of drinks for a £10.

However the boarding in Chamonix was far, far better than Pamps will ever be but boy did we pay for it - Kerching!!

chamonix is not the best location for the average ski holiday. Out of all the resorts france has to offer it falls behind spectacularly in its lift system which in some areas is in need of replacement. It is not a good example of a french ski resort.
In trying to compare bulgaria to france let me give my own experience. Jan this year, tignes in france, package all in 700 euro. never ever qued,had pistes to myself with unbeleievable snow+found poeple and infrastructure top notch.
Start of march, borovets. 620 euro all in. qued alot, snow was awful on lower slopes, pistes busy,gondola closed 3 out of 6 days. Due to lack of skiing ended up spending more money than i did in france. Kept on getting ripped off in shops with my change, friend got beaten up by two bulgarian guys.
Overall i spent less money in france, had a far superior holiday with endless skiing 9-5 everday.
With bulgaria i vouched never to return, i was so dissapointed with the place. Already have france booked for next year, all in 600 euro.
The only way i can see bulgaria being a cheaper deal than the alps is if you are goin as a family and even then i'd still question it

Sounds like you had a bad time at Boro Steve I've never been so not qualified to comment. For France I can only go on Chamonix as its the only french ski holiday I've had, even though I was lead to believe by friends that it is classed as one of the best resorts in the Alps. I did have a great time in Cham, just a costly one where I had to queue a lot.

Other than the infrastructure in Cham to give you a quick example of the costs in 2003, I ordered Fondue - bread and melted cheese for two; £25.

Contrast with the Perlik Tavern in pamps, one time I ordered a sizzler a plate of pork, chicken and vegetables for two at 20Lev; around £3.80 each.

I flew from Gatwick to Sofia with easy jet in March for £51, you can get digs for 4 for around £350 in a swanky villa or apartment. Transfers for Euro 50. Works out about £180 - £190 if you box clever.

But you're right as I said in my previous post - the skiing in Chamonix is far superior.

well i have only been to borovets so i cannot comment on bulgaria as a whole but i really think it was the poor snow conditons that made my experience quite negative. It was cheaper to eat out and drink was also cheaper than in France. Funnily enough i got a beef fondue in France, was 20 euro a head, lovely but expensive but we mainly self catered.

From what i know about chamonix, its great for off-piste+ i dont mean skiing in between slopes but proper 1000m faces where you have guides that bring you around. I have never been so can't really comment, its just i read some reviews about lift system and queing being a problem and friends of mine have been. The way the town is you have to get a gondola to get up the mountain. Where i was in France it was ski in-ski out so queing wasn't a problem, literally stepped out the building onto a slope.

I agree with you in booking it individually as oppossed to package holidays. I wait for the airlines to put out their flight schedules+the first thing i do is book the flights. It really helps in cutting the cost and gives you more options in where you want to stay etc. Have flights to geneva for 80 euro in december, early season ski, cant wait, bring on nxt year so

Just been for a short break in Tignes, 3 days catered chalet with free wine at dinner including free transfers from Geneva £99.00 Flight from Luton with Easyjet £50.00. Fantastic snow no lift ques, and massivarea of great slopes to ski.Fantastic value we could also ski in ski out from the chalet. But beer E5.50-6.00 per pint and lunch a bit more than Pamps .Had a great time in Pamps but if you box clever in france you can also get a pretty good deal and the Lift system and skiing is far superior(In tignes at least) Eating and drinking out in pamps is undoubtedly cheaper Exept on the mountain .But I also got short changed a couple of times.
I liked both places for different reasons but getting ripped of (even if it was only for a couple of levs) leaves a nasty taste in the mouth

Hi forest

Never been to cham so cannot comment on the lift situation.Yes i agree the pricesare steeper in france than in bg but have a look at the pistes you get to ride.

Get yourself off to the 3 valleys and then you will see a decent skiing/snowboarding resort.Ok its more expensive but if you were to pay for the kms you get to ride Bulgaria would come out more expensive.

I have been to andorra/finland/france and bulgaria
price wise ( drinks&food) i`d say finland is more expensive than any of the other resorts and funny enough they have proberley the smallest pistes to ride.But the snow conditions are virtually garanteed from the beginning of november until late,sometimes well into may.

I am sure most ppl on here have not gone out of their way to give bulgaria a hard time but clearly they have problems and they need to be addressed.