Bulgaria Ski discussion board

The following is my review of Pamporovo as a first time skier; we were there 17-24th Feb. Note the views expressed are mine, and are intended to inform, not influence.

Ok we booked the holiday for 2 reasons, 1. value for money as a resort and 2. value for money for learn to ski package. Seems only fair to review against these criteria.

1. We were in the Orlovetz, which was wonderful, could not fault it at all. Ok so the food was not great, but it wasn’t bad either. The rooms were spacious, very comfortable; we had booked two rooms and had interconnecting rooms. A great personal touch by the hotel I found. The spa area was great and free! My wife had a massage, which she thought was really good and excellent value for money. The staff were very helpful and polite. Not a 5 star hotel by European standards but from looking at the other hotels definitely 5 star for the resort. I would return to this hotel again, no question about that. The rest of the resort was ok, White Hart a particular favourite. If I’m honest the prices were higher than I had anticipated, but still cheaper than home. I suspect this upward spiral of prices may continue. I was pretty annoyed at taxi charges though, 20lev to ski depot 2 was/is excessive for the actual distance travelled. My wife and I had to use taxis a lot at lunchtime, our youngest broke his leg and we had to ‘swap’ at half time. I though it was exploitative, working on the ‘there isn’t any other choice pal’. Overall though I was reasonable impressed with the resort, it was value for money, mostly due to the hotel we were in.
2. Skiing then, as previously stated our 11 year old broke his leg on day 2 of the holiday; this meant my wife and I only had half a day each on the slopes. The snow cover was great on the Sunday, and as first timers, not knowing anything about skiing only being asked my shoe size at the ski depot was not surprising. I didn’t even baulk when I received size 9 skis but size 11 ski boots (ok perhaps I should have known more about this, but I booked it through a reputable High Street travel agents, and trusted they had competent staff at these places). Our instructor was not good, he was impatient and had a higher expectation of my ability than I actually had. After one day of his impatient/rude challenging of any mistake made by the group by day 2 our group had gone from 20 to 12. Day 2 was disaster day, my son went forward on his skis, the bindings did not release and he had a spiral fracture of his tibia. The instructor was 20m uphill form him and not even watching him, even though the little boy was really struggling with the snowplough. Day 3 on the green run, I wiped out no less than 12 times not once did my skis part company with me. Day 4 and I wanted to go back to the nursery slopes to gain confidence, as did my entire group, which now numbered 8. The instructor wanted to take us on green run, and when we refused he skied off! One massive complaint to rep later he was replaced. I never saw the new instructor as I had to take private lessons to catch up. My wife said the new one was really good, and the two private instructors I had were fantastic. They took me from Wednesdays “I’m never doing this again” to “when can we come again”. However overall I was unimpressed by the level of fitting of skis and tuition, as a beginner I feel this was not good value. Maybe you get what you pay for.

My main concerns were the steps taken by tour operators and local agents to protect my health and safety. Since returning I have discovered the wonders on DIN settings, its almost criminal that only shoe sizes are taken in this resort. Also the sheet ice from the depot to three man lift was extremely dangerous, surely something could have been done for those of us who had to walk on it (skiing was completely out the question).

I know there is nothing they could do about lack of snow, and as others have said the blue/red runs were ok. But for beginners the only green slope was only half skiable, unless you had a death wish, and that half was icy/slushy/bare. It is also very narrow and extraordinarily overcrowded.

Without snow, and at half term Pamporovo is most definitely NOT a beginners resort, make no mistake about this intermediates were fine us poor beginners I’m sorry but last week it was not good.

Again I’m not trying to influence anyone, make your own minds up, but this is a factual review of my experience as a first timer at skiing and in Bulgaria.

Thanks for taking the time to read this

JW

Hi JW we were with you in Pamps last week (with the Welsh contingent) and I agree with your review. The ski instructor was very poor and the snow conditions dire - the ice totally freaked me out even on the last day. Unfortunately you cant tell what the weather will do and our previous year in Pamps was great with a fab instructor - so its luck of the draw. I can see they have had snow so those lucky souls going this weekend should be fine - my advice is if you are not happy with your instructor tell a rep ASAP!!

Having skied before in France and Austria I was somewhat concerned when just handed a pair of boots in my size and not asked my weight or age. But I did insist to my instructor that he check my bindings - I am almost 50 and slightly overweight so I knew I had to have them set a bit looser than for a younger person. He checked them and got out a screwdriver and adjusted them. I had no problems.

Great trip report jw, I hope your son is recovering well. How did you find the medical services out there? You didn't mention any of that. One of my boys broke a wrist on our day 2 - and having had children with broken bones before on the ski trips to France and Austria, I felt I knew what to expect! It wasn't actually too bad (we went to the Medical Centre at Studenets) - and the Xrays being dried on the radiator amused me! Bit of a lack of concern and urgency, plus the language barrier but we managed and the Post Office paid out for the balance of medical expenses and the 4 days loss of ski pack almost at once. I hope your insurance claim goes well, and your experiences haven't put you off skiing again.