Bulgaria Ski discussion board

The reporters get drunk when on a visit there and can produce fake facts based on some kind of image.
Facts are that at 55levs about 22 or your notes is towards the cheaper end of lift prices in Europe but not the cheapest at all.
This season for the last few weeks when the whole resort is open and appart of the weekends the bodies on the slopes are minimal is not too bad considering.
The real price reflecting the ski areas should be no more than 35levas or 15 of your notes.
Even that is a little bit too much me thinks.
Prices as well. Around the resort are just average if not above.
In every resort you can find supermarket or sometimes cheap deals from establishment if you look hard.
The same goes for BG resorts.
It is difficult to judge them by this season because this time round the snow is at record level which looking at stats is not going to be repeated.
The good thing is go with the snow : this year? -everywhere in Europe without exception, next year? who knows.
Good snow means good skiing nice views nice and tired ski bodies and happy tourists.
Tell that the owners around BG resorts( they are not having a ball at the moment) the takings are well down , the hotels are not full even in the peak weeks which is a huge concern.the ski hire is running at 10 percent busy and there is another month max before end of real season.
If the snow has fallen only in Bulgaria maybe then was going to be sudden rush from skiers.this season because of the brilliant winter accross the European montains there are plenty of bargains to suit every pocket shallow or deep.
Whatever place you go take plenty of photos be part of the once in a lifetime snow dump so you can talk tales with your kids for years to come of a thing called:perfect winter 2012.

Difficult one to find the answer.
I would start from asife;
Pete it is a fact of life.
Even when Kaspar the president of the Federation International du Ski (FIS) was interviewed on Friday last after meeting wth people in the ski racing and others business. In Bulgaria he said that as a priority for the Bulgarians and the state , it should be developing (I know this word is a dirty one when it comes to Lego building of flats and speculating without thinking about the future of ski in the resorts) of Borovets and Vitosha.
1.Borovets as a classic place with a lot of potential and advantages: good snow cover convenience (which is a main thing when looking to enlarge a ski areas),also good height which is a must in this day and age,
and of course good flow of potential clients which is not a problem for the big city(Sofia) nearby.
The other one which has been neglected for too long according to the President of FIS Gian-Franco Kasper, is Vitosha mountain which even he thinks is such a Jewel with its position height and convenience and traditions.
That one will be a clear winner in the type of ski resorts for city World cup Competitins (like Moskva, Zagreb Oslo Munchen etc)within few years.
The foundation is there attached to a capital city reianle snow no need to build hotels up there just good lift system and that's it.
Savvy people are viewing and hovering above like vultures right now.
Sofia is going to be the main one:
biggest city with close mountain,
Pop into Sofia stay there have a ball in the bars plenty of chioce to eat go visit watch etc and then in the morning take a gondola for 30 minutes and you are higher than Pamporovo and half of Bansko.
Even Bodde Mller (USA known rebel and alpine racer) when he did atractively did not finish last weekend right in front of the public, has decided not to stay in Bansko for the night but headed to Sofia for quality experience .
The tandem: Sofia-Vitosha will be a winner very soon
How cool is that?
The same President has had talks with BG president Plevneliev which is very keen skier (trust me) and now just watch little by little how there will be movement on that front.
Vithosha weather is more severe that the rest:windy almost everyday if not stormy.real dangerous skiing up there when the lifts are opened of course.
I remmember in the past (in the good old days )regularly skiing there until beginning of May almost every single season.

This season is a ground zero for Vitosha but things can get only better.
I would say V sign (Victory) is for Vitosha.
He has not mentionned Pamporovo in his speech.

This year has seen the slight rise of the the very small ski places in Bulgaria (Berkovitsa ,Beklemeto-Troyan, Semkovo-south Rila and Ribaritsa-Teteven)
This though is this season only because of the huge snowfalls.reliability is a big issue with all of them.

And now
as far as Pamporovo is concerned I think that there is still future for your surname
Not a massive one I must say and certainly not in the same speed as the B's. And the small V but still a
reasonable future.

Some things are stacking against Pamporovo as you well know.
The place is Bril for total beginners but the ones not knowing what is ski or snowboarding and having a first try.
A hell of a good number of Brits have STARTED their ski days exactly there,
Some of them are ski instructors in the alps or axxross the pond.
Some of them involved with ski industries .
Mainly in the past though. These days the choices are massive and people want all advantages in one basket put on a plate.
A resort which is deep in the middle of a mountain range and the access is tiresome is a problem.
Even Bulgarians when choosing their place for seasonal ski loving, shy away from P.
Too much drive unreliable to reach , parking problems, electricity problems because it is deep in the middle.
One other factor is the mentality of the locals (ask Bulgarians and you will find the answer)
This is what I hear around in the ski circles.
Plovdiv airport is OK and Rayanair has decided to go there but I won't be suprised if they go to Sofia in the future.
Sofia is nearly 2milion and to annoy half of the airplane knowing that after landing there is a nearly 2hrs drive to city is not good when Easyjet or other cheap amd regular airlines are landing just 10 minutes from the very center of Sofia is a problem.

The only thing which pushed them Rayanair to Plovdiv was the cheap (free landing fees for the moment given by Plovdiv which has undercut and made the deal at the time)
Plovdiv is fine for Pamporovo but only for Pamporovo.
Unless pamporovo Chepelare Smolian Plovdiv. Pazardjik and Karlovo on the north decide to pour fresh cash to do the proper spin and pull some planes into that airport I don't see it enlarging.
Sorry.
Sofia airport as the big boy is watching and soon will lower the guard to make it viable as the only choice of flights into the Bulgarian mountains.
I know it is hurting especially when your heart is set in Pamporovo.

One factor is that if the airline wants to fill seats on a regular basis they have to fly to well sought after place not in the middle of a corn field with bleak views, piping and unbearably hot in the summer and far from signs of life.

The place of Pamporovo is in the different type of resort maybe if they make it for example(maybe) posh place with a lot of pampering and full services kind of exclusive and expensive I see more sence in that.
Of course the times are hard and no one is going to do these changes in our lifetime.
There is just not enough high mountain to expand Pamporovo viably.

Don't get me wrong Pete!
P is different jewel.

In my League I place Borovets firmly first then both Pamporovo and Bansko second, not because the skiing in Bansko is equal (It is not) to Pampovoro's, but because Bansko is a town like Brides des Bains in France or Insbruck in Austria or Sion in CH.
They are towns but as far as the resort league is concerned the best ones are far up the mountain where there is snow, picture perfect views no pavements and direct skiing with the exception of Chamonix which is just different fish altogether-one off legend.

Bansko will be always with a problem as far as the getting to the ski area is concerned.
That creates queues without a chance to avoid or you have to play a game and make srtict plan day by day and still can get caught in the nasty queue here and there and ski in a very crowded pistes..
If Pamporovo makes all of the lift facilities more reliable WITHOUT these stoppages and cutting cost exercises, skiers will be more happy and more loyal.
Look at me I ski all over the continent but still have a special place in my heart for Pamporovo.
Of course a bit of memory lane a bit of nostalgy simply small part of my life.
For an average skier which has decided to do snow for a week in the year time spent queueing is the worst or crowding on the slopes.
Pamporovo for the queues is better positionned that Bansko.
But NOTE:
All of the ski runs to skiers ratio and lift pass to run ski lenghts Ratio, has to be of a good quality if you want returning clients year after year (appart of the ones which are in love with one particular place of course).
The price of lift passes is a issue.figure HAS to be 35leva MAX. Not 55 if you want clients to return and be loyal for what are offering Bansko Pamporovo and Borovets.

Forums like this one are vital info-platform for skiers to make their decisions of a place to spent their money and at the same time to enjoy their stay if only there are less repeats of few places which come again and again and trumping specific business all over the place.
Spoke with many clients which have mentionned that this type of targeting for business is a touch irritating for them.
But
For now there are no problems at least with the snow which is 90percent of a the ones ski holiday, I think, so I don't see there will be much complaints this. Record snow season.
E N J O Y the record snowfalls as much as you can !
Be part of the pictureframe!

Mikey,
You seem to be a different chap this year and I read your post with great interest and agree with an awful lot of what you have written.

Firstly I agree with your point that Pamporovo is an excellent place for beginners and the thrill of skiing from the very top of the mountains to the bottom in the first week always makes people feel really proud of themselves and a great memory to take back home. I also know that Pamporovo is less challenging than the other resorts. It does have some decent reds and blacks but not as many as the others and for anyone seeking testing skiing all week on different runs then they may feel short-changed. But you have missed out one very important place - Chepalare. A little while back there was talk of the 2 resorts being linked by a Gondola. I think it was widely known as the Perelik Project. Although many of us thought - Yes we'll believe it when we see it, it was a consideration although it never ever got off the ground.
However, Chepelare is only a 10 minute ride from Pamporovo and boasts the longest runs in Bulgaria. Some great blacks and a very pretty winding green/blue which is suitable for anyone who can master a snowplough turn.

I don't return to Pamporovo each year purely because of the quality of the skiing. My friends and I always ski somewhere different in January, the last few years we've been to Sauze Doux, Tignes, Livingo, and Sestriere and have really enjoyed some tough skiing there. No, we go to Pamporovo for the beautiful scenery, the friendships we have built up over the 20 odd years we've been going there and the feeling it gives us that it's almost going home to our 'special' place.

Often you question the snow record in Pamporovo - and I do think this is a little unfair. Maybe I've just been lucky, but having now skied there for 32 weeks of my life I have only once ever had any days that I could not ski and that was over Xmas in 2007. Other than that we've seen some fantastic conditions, and occassionally some icy and even bare ones - but 31 out 32 weeks we've always been able to ski.

I have skied both Bansko and Borovets, nothing wrong with them whatsoever and we enjoyed our time there, but neither place had the same feeling for me as Pamporovo. What that feeling is - I don't know. If I did maybe I would bottle it up and sell it and make a fortune!

You will never ever find a post from me that knocks the other resorts. Vitosha should be developed I agree. It's very location would make it extremely popular expecially for Sofia residence and for those who just want to hop on a plane and ski the same day. In Vitosha that's possible.

So what the future holds for Pamporovo - who knows. But I will never stop doing my best to praise the place for what it has given me - and that has been some of the happiest days of my life.

Cheers

PP

This year was our 3rd visit to Pamps (I've only skied hereand half day in Aviemore!).

I encouraged a family of 5 to come this year - they were used to Bansko, so I warned them it was smaller and less runs etc. I was apprehensive how they would find it.

I should have had no worries - they really loved the place, the beauty and even said i would find Bansko quite 'developed and ugly' in comparison. Like Pete, I will keep coming for the beauty of the slopes, the top food, the people I have met. It's that sort of place.

We did do Ryanair to Plovdiv and it helps a lot. If Chepalare could be linked, it would be even better.

Chepelare to be linked with Pamporovo with a tourist level lift? Don't count on it.
Chepelare is OK as a one lift wonder ending lower than Pamporovo and in there the snow reliability is concern I think.
More viable were the plans for Perelik peak closer to the border where there is the highest peak in Rodopi but we kind of knew that that one won't happen being in nature reserve and very much further away from big villages etc which can feed that area in the future.

You should try( this season)the combitation of Markudjik 2 ski run and then straight into Musalenska Pateka (Mussala Path) right into Borovets and all the way to the gondola or turning into Baraki ski area in front of Rila for lenght and pure joy.
That one knocks down every other long run in Bulgaria..
From 2500m down to 1350m of non stop skiing.I think the combination of them two is nearer to 12-15kilometers if not more.Of course this season the snow is specially thick.
I don't put down a place but simply line the 3 in a league combining all to do with skiing.