Bulgaria Ski discussion board

Hey

I will be visiting Bansko with my girlfriend the 2nd week in March. We are both beginners (although I have spent 4 days snow boarding in France a couple of years ago) and we have been reassured that Bansko will be a good place to learn as we have read many good reviews on various websites as well as this one.

In order to make the most out of our stay we thought it may be useful to have answers to some questions we have in advance, any information anyone could give would be most appreciated by us, and would be useful for others who wish to make the most out of their first skiing holiday.

1) As we have not skied (and having experienced how energetic snow boarding is) we would like to prepare ourselves so that this new type of exercise is not too much of a shock to our bodies. Could anyone suggest some exercises that would help us prepare (we both have full gym membership at a large well equipped gym)?

2) Does anyone know the location of some historical data of previous year’s conditions or know what conditions we can expect in the second week in March?

3) How beneficial would it be to have a lesson on a dry ski slope prior to departing?

Any information on the above will be gratefully received.

Thank you

Martin

Hi Martin - we were first timers last year and were worried about fitness - mind you, we're both over 50! Pleased to say we had no probs - if you're fairly fit generally, it seems to be ok. We had lessons at Xscape - I've been on a dry slope before and found that really hard. Learning on snow was easier, although it was easier still on the 'real stuff'. Glad we'd had the lessons - it meant we avoided the queues at the nursery slopes altogether. Instructors out there are fantastic - we managed two red runs by end of week. We are completely hooked now - going back next month. Have a fab time!

Hi Martin,

My girlfriend and I were also first timers to bansko last year and you will have a blast!
In terms of fitness, some basic level of fitness is good but not essential. Neither of us go to the gym regularly and we were fine.
conditions are best (from our research) around february/march and sometimes even into early april.
We had a couple of lessons at a snowdome in the uk and it did help, although the instructors out there are great.
We are hoping to book soon for a return trip, have a good one, we loved it, hope you do too!

Wow, that was quick! thanks for that, may pop over to leeds and get a lesson or 2 before we go, feel much more confident about our fitness levels now thanks alot!

Is there any other words of wisdom/ tips that we should take with us, we are currently looking to buy an appropriate ski jaket and were actually thinking of getting a Gore Tex hiking jacket (as we do a lot of hiking and they are cheaper than ski jackets!). We were thinking of getting good quality thermals to go underneath, would this be advisable, or would we be better with a specialised ski jacket?

Just had our firs tweeks skiing ever in Bansko last week, it is a fantastic place, I fell in love with it. You will have a ball.

Although intending to, we did practically no physical preparation prior to the trip - we didn't suffer too much, but I do have a fairly active job where I am up and down scaffolding all day, maybe that helped.
The main problem was getting used to the boots - agony day one two and three, after that I was fine.
Mind you, some in our ski lesson group gave up entirely after the second day due to the pain.
As you already have a gym membership, I would say get working on those lower legs - calves and shins. They were the sore bits for me.