Bulgaria Ski discussion board

Time for me to give MY view of Pamp and my week there.....

May not fly with Balkan again due to the aircraft that they use - old Tupelov things - never seen a hand painted plane before, very interesting, but it got us there and back I guess so cann't complain too much. We were delayed for about an hour at Gatwick which meant a later than planned arrival to Pamp, somewhere around 2.30am I think.

We stayed at the Malina Chalets (I sorted the rats out, Pamp Pete!!) which I have to say were alot better than I expected. OK they were basic, but very clean and more spacious than I had thought - If you can expect to live out of a suitcase for a week then you will be fine. Very picturesque location within 5 mins of the slopes, handy for Markonys and hehe.... As for food, well to be honest, breakfast was a little hit and miss, usual continental stuff was fine, but the hot section (sausage, eggs, bacon etc) was usually tepid at best. We often opted for cheese on toast to guarantee some thing hot, but it sufficed. Evening meal was something we weren't expecting much from - very pleasently surprised. We had a decent choice from the menu and all was cooked freshly for us each night - I don't think we had more than 1 or 2 iffy meals between the 8 of us all week, so pretty happy with that...

Top instructors for the week, 5 of my group were 1st timers and had Denny teach them fantastically well - all were skiing from the top by day 3 or 4. I had Katy - senior instructor - looking after me for the week and she was fabulous, had me carving and check turning and 360ing in no time, was the first time since my first ever week that I had had lessons so I didn't know what to expect. Katy made the week better than it would have been had I been left to my own devices, and being in the top group for the week also helped.... Had a day in Chepelare that was pretty good fun, some where else to go, apart from the bottom 200m or so which was very icy and patchy. Good runs there though, a little longer and quieter than Pamps.

When it comes to snow conditions, well the beginning of the week was great, a small amount of snow early in the week to help things out. It did start to get a little warmer though, and as said in previous posts the rain and mist and sleet and hail and slush started on Thurday pm. Skiied all day Thursday no problem, a little limited visability in the afternoon at the top, but no problem. Seemed to rain most of Thursday night and we woke up Friday to find it horrible.......... All seemed lost for our last day, but we went to the hire shop (which was as well orgainised as PPete had promised) to see what was happening, and between Katy and the rest of our group we decided that we would give it a go and see how it was. Horrible on the lift - really wet, cold and haily, but OK skiing once we had got there. Only did the one run in the morning with a long brandy & hot choc break and then met the rest of my lot in Markonys for lunch. My previous posting explains that we went up again for a last run at around 2.30 - so glad we did, one of the best runs of the week for Mrs IMT because it was so quiet. Really does need more snow though - I will pray for those that are going soon....

Because we were so close to Markonys and had several beers there each day after skiing, then had several more with dinner we were either pi55ed, tired or both by about 10pm so I cann't give to much comment on the nightlife (sad git I know...) except for a couple of nights at the White Heart. Cracking place, though I never got the chance to meet Steve, the party there on Friday night with all the ski classes together was a top night - staggered to bed around 2.30am.........

If I was going to moan about anything (apart from the damn bell sellers..........very good price my friend...aaaaaaaaarrrrrghhhhhh) it would be the fact that on a few of the runs, you either need supersonic speed at the end, or else you end up pushing your self along a flat or slightly uphill section to get to lifts - that did pi55 me off by the end of the week, but a fairly minor point. All in all, we loved every minute - even getting soaked and freezing on the ski doos in the rain and thunder ( worth every penny though, those things move like hell) Mrs IMT is always glad to be home after a holiday, but even she wanted to stay and ski some more so another convert. Just thinking about next year now - not long eh!!!

IMT

Sorry to go on a bit!!!