Bulgaria Ski discussion board

There is another point, and maybe this will take time. The acceptance that Bansko is a tourist town. It has lost its mountain charm, as most Spanish port towns lost their seaside charm after development, but this does not mean that it has lost all its charm, it has changed, that is all. There needs to be a common aim and involvement of all parties, municipality, local business, investors, developers, National Park etc. With no consultation it will continue blindly. There has to be a plan of which all are aware and can work towards. Today most of those who raped Bansko have gone, to do their deeds elsewhere, but those who are left hopefully have an affinity in wanting the area to prosper, to make it a destination for prospective tourists, to cater with facilities and activities that they will enjoy and feel well served. The opportunity is there, to try to reverse the negativity and build on the positives, i do wonder though if it will be taken up....

Prospective tourist coming in droves to Bansko?

In this day and age there are a hell of a plenty of places with done up infrastructure and very strict planning law preventing the rape of the resorts and the surrounding areas for the last God knows how many years.
Competition is fierce and almost non existent if I have to try to place BG resorts in the running.
That's why I think if Bansko was left tiny but with the lifts which were build, the attraction would be there now.Examples are all over the Globe.
People will go to visit the completely different way of a exotic resort which is surviving differently and maybe return again and again for that reson.

After years of complete strugling (and believe me things are going to get harder for BG resorts)maybe something will be corrected-maybe some buildings will be demolished to give way to fresh spaces which Bansko needs badly.
As for the competitiona lets look this issue.
If a resort (Bansko) is more expensive on the lift's side than most of the French, Swiss, Au and Ita resorts(only USA ones are more expensive) the only way is to go down in price-which will not happen cos ULEN is there for the profit only.
If anything --the pressures are upward in BG.

Who is the typical tourist going to BG NOW?
1.The one which is friendly with the alcohol and the tobacco.
These are dying breeds.
2.The other type is the one which has not got a clue what's available around the world,
That client will visit BG and will put the scates on and very quicly move on.
Of course not 100% of them.
3.there are always some wonderer's type of skiers which try see and move on gracefully.

4.this type is the one for you to make sure you pull and convert.
Some will find charms here and there or make friends for the time being>
with the first problems they envisage though they will fly away so you will be there to try to save them.
Or shall I say they are flying away like a migrating birds.

So your job is going to be very hard to swim against the general tide.

Frankly life is too short to try this,I think.

Challenges are everywhere but when there is order and laws in place things are human and very rewarding.
I will keep an eye on the situation in there and if miracle happens I will be landing fast and strong in the place and re-invest again in where I learnt to race and developed my love for the mountain which will stay with me until the rest of my days.

Until then though there is a lot of water to flow, alot of winters to pass and maybe to surpass all of us including you .
Nobody knows.
With the possitive attitude you have adopted, Guard this and look always behind your back in BG and actually try to view from position of outer-shell so you will judge and read the place CORRECT without tinted spectacles.

Steve
Funny you haven't mentionned the fact that Bansko is ONLY 900m which is going to be always a drag back doesnt matter what.
(Climate going warmer,ski resorts moving up and up,lower resorts on the brink of total collaps and bancrupcy and trying to resasitate and prolong their dead end lifes)
Pirin terrain is just too steep and the valleys are too low to be able to financially extend it in any direction.(or too expensive)
Even Pamporovo if I am honest has a bit better chances because the base is higher(kind of, but with different issues there -reliability of snow, lower peaks etc)
Lucky Borovets seems to have the correct terrain: (Rila mountain is like an upside down bowl and the middle bit in the centre is constantly well above 2000m without steep cuts-that is accross the whole of Rila mountain), Plus Boro is with the correct height and position
kind of: ''the best of'' the 3 BG ski places.
I am not talking investment and profit here only nature advantages-pure and simple.
Would you agree with me or you are looking at a different angle and with the glass half full attitude.

All your points are relevant Mikey, at the moment tourism for most is something that has to be thought about very hard. The economics of holidaying when money is tight makes the individual think hard of the overall costs of any trip. This is where BG perhaps has an advantage over other countries on the basis of price especially in the winter. I accept the lift pass is expensive per km compared to similar sized resorts elsewhere in the Alps, but in virtually every other respect, accomadation, food, drink, instruction, facilities... it is markably cheaper, thus resulting in an overall lower price for the holiday.
You made the point of Bansko if having small development with the existing lift system, would have been a jewel... I totally agree, and for those investers who were lucky enough to have bought, would have bought riches in so many ways. Unfortunately this is not the case so we are left with what we have, a resort that effectively will support around 40,000 guests in all levels of accomadation and a mountain that strains with more than 12,000 skiers, the result being that occupency never exceeds 20 - 25%. Your constant referance to Bansko being only 900m really is irrelevant, the skiing is above the village, the former only effecting snow in the town. This has advantages for access and general `getting around' (note last season) and on the same subject, snow ??? if last season was an example of global warming ? i say `bring it on !!'
I do agree with the terrain, expansion would not be on the scale of altitude resorts where the areas above the tree line offer easy installation, but there are areas where it could be done relatively easy (rear of Todorka), ok, on viewing i could not predict much more than 100km overall with the addition of this area, but with the expansion (in a small way) of surrounding resorts it could result in a `ski circus' as was available in Austria in the valleys where a number of smaller resorts were available for guests to ski. This is attractive to a number of skiers who like the unique atmosphere of individual resorts.
There is another angle which you have not covered, the summer season which i personally feel has far more potential than the winter, it is longer (nearly twice the winter) and surely you must accept that the climate has its benefits where visitors are concerned. Basically the opportunities for activities are endless where any visitor could be entertained, the same benefits apply from the winter, low prices compared to similar Alpine areas, good reasonable accomadation but with the advantage of the weather, al fresco style eating, mountain back-drop...
I worked for 12 winter seasons in the Haute Savoir, returning only in the summer months one year to ski on the glacier. I was amazed at what was available, and the number of visitors, possibly even more than the winter. You could ride (bike/horse), climb, walk, swim, parapent... There was tennis, golf, football camps, mountain tours... even French cookery courses... but my main interest was mountainbiking, new at that time. They ran a round of the then new `world cup' in Tignes, it coincided with an X games in the resort. Now i appreciated the love of cycling from the French, but was unready for the numbers of spectaters, there was possibly more there than would be in resort in the winter...
The point i am making is that i could see the same in Bansko, it has all the ingrediants, it would only remain for someone to mix them together...
Tell you what Mikey, i have an idea for an investment in Bansko, long term.... We'll build a themed waterpark, utilising a deserted apartment complex where the waterslides are contained within an Alpine style aparthotel, it will be available winter and summer, the summer months extending out into a landscaped pool area with lazy rivers, sundecks, bars and the pieste de resistance, a standing wave... We could make it the biggest in Europe Imagine surfing with the mountains as a back-drop .... Would cost no more than a large apartment block, and would offer locals and visitors alike something that was unique in any Alpine area... Hahahaha, Disney comes to Bansko... Interested

let me think first for one nano second:
The answer is ..
Ha ha ha
The problem with the activities in the summer is that in The Alps there are a lot of activities and it is very lively but there is a neatness and tidyness everywhere to the extreme which pleases the eyes and make the tourists to return again and again plus THE PRICES ARE RIDICULOUSLY CHEAP fot the accomodation less that 100euros per week on average(that is everything organised) which in Bulgaria will not even pay for the expences if you want to rent out.
I would not want to stay in Bourg St M or say in Chambery or Grenoble as a base for daily skiing (the comparison is only about the height not about the activities provided in there any season and the beauty of these towns. )
Tourists need Alpine athmo not pavements and block of concrete for their yearly winter holidays.
And mega easy access direct to the skiing so ski in and out and high in the mountain with snowy feel (different that the lower towns its a must)
This is the mistake Bansko had entered.can be reversed only with demolision on a large scale.
You have to work with what you have got of course.

One point about the ski runs:
Cmon be honest to yourself and admit that these days Bansko is a very very crowded place with jam packed limited runs which are full of danger from X with others.
Too little and not too late to be corrected.
The gondola is a pure nightmare and NOT ENOUGH CAPACITY.
Luckily there are less and less people going there relatively speaking but is on its way to become the bottle neck jam.
Unesco is steppint right to sort out the greediness surrounding Pirin.Most of the builders and investors there got very cold feet and are packing out anyway.
It is just the sort of place where one can see is on the way down (in general turns)
And again Infrastrusture not only in and around the resort but the GREAT BULGARIAN DISEASE all over the country which is not something which can be patched within a generation at least.
From the moment you step out into the pavement at the airport or out of your Sofia hotel or anywhere.
Unless you are blind of course.
Quite impossible battle isnt it?
Of course there are some charms but the opposite well outweight the total experience.
One way is to correct it with some fusion of a lot of alcohol.
Some thought on the cost you have mentionned above:
Allow me to be able to judge the general cost of food and clothes and to tell you that these days BULGARIA IS NOT CHEAPER AT ALL.Winter destinations Fra Ita Au can very easily compete on that level and win it.
Food is around 10-20% more that UK one (supermarkets,for food andf necessaties not luxury items)
Luxury items are not cheaper anymore.
Cost of running vehicles is getting closer to the West almost there so what is left is cheap alcohol.cheap fags,cheap coffee and thats about it.Pointless to mention even more.
I know BG like my own body so there is nothing you can say whch can convince me otherwise.I am sorry.
Steve
of course the air is still fresh in the mountains as in any mountains in Europe or elsewhere,
the weather is good as in anywhere in the Alps,
there are walks here and there as in the Alps for example,
we are talking the general feel taking into account every single angle and putting it on the table.
One thing for you about the Akademika ski runs comming from the very very top:
Akademika runs will not be developed because the area can never be insured from satery point.
As for enlarging the area - i dont want to finish this sentence because it will be couterproductive and it will be deleted from fear of further damage.

take the views of most of the Bulgarians mountain lovers hard skiers and walkers.
Most of them have voted with their feet .
the same goes for the critical Black sea coast where now the water lovers are moving in droves into the neighboring countries for quality and p[leasure and MORE RECENTLY THE COST AS WELL.

Cycling will be fine in Bansko though.
Stick to that and hope for more visits during summer months because if you wait for the winter months to bring you some cash appart from the taxi-ing trips it will be long wait.
How is the weather in there?
Did you get the nasty rains as in other part of the country.
Are you geting ready for the music festivals?
Have a good week!