Bulgaria Ski discussion board

For all those who would like to offer some advice - have been congregating lots of good advice thus far about the resort etc so many thanks to all those for putting titbits of info up (and to the main man PP too!) but was wondering if people could give some good advice relevant to our party who consist of:

2 x 60 'ish year olds (1 been ski-ing couple of times, other a beginner)
5 x late 20/early 30 somethings (inc 4 beginners)
3 x children (aged 8, 5 and 3)

Now everyone bar our 3 year old is booked into ski school/ski kindergarten so does anyone know how ski school times pan out as the 3 year old will need keeping occupied so intention is some kind of shift pattern but if that means people missing a days ski school then so be it.

Guess I'm kind of asking as well that, location wise, do the schools operate out of the same area (all packages booked thru Balkan if that means a specific ski school they use?) Just hoping it's easy enough to leave the kids to their school while everyone goes to theirs then meet up again?

Also staying at Hotel Pamporovo (very mixed bag of reviews so any comments on that are good!) so wonder how that fits in with getting to and from the slopes and location wise for eating out etc.

Basically considering there's 11 of us inc the 3 children what's the best way of organising things etc or will the rep be on hand to make this all very easy for us ... ?! Sorry lots of questions but all answers, recommendations very welcome.

As an aside with flight changes looks like transferring from and back to Sofia so guessing coach transfer may be long .... good job for DS's to keep the kids (and me!) busy ... ! Thanks everyone!

Several things I would advise Jenno.

Firstly there are 2 main ski depots (Malina 1 and Malina 2) If as you say, you have all booked with the same tour company then you will almost certainly be using the same Malina. If for any reason you are not, then inform your rep on arrival of your requirements. This should be easy to change if necessary. I would be almost certain you will be using Malina 2 with Balkan which is the one where the Snowshack and Markony is situated.

Your transfers will take 4 hours with a stop at McDonalds after about 2 hours.

Ski school finishes approx. 3pm and your instructor will see you all safely down the mountain to the spot where the Kindergarden is - so you can all meet up again there. If you want then to ski together as a group for another hour you can do so but without an instructor.

If the kids are old enough to use a walkie talkie you can keep in touch with them easily by using these.

Pamporovo Hotel is good, but it's midway between everywhere. Busses to the slopes stop every 10 minutes or so, but often they are full by the time they reach your hotel so you may have to miss a few before one comes along that can fit you in.

It's about 1/2 mile from the resort centre which is walkable but I would advise using taxis as it can be very slippery in the evenings, (especially after a few beers.)

The Balkan reps are great at sorting out all your concerns so just be sure to spend 30 minutes with them at some time to iron out any issues.


E N J O Y B U L G A R I A

Pete

Getting on the ski buses at Hotel pamps will be the biggest pain as its the last stop before the slopes and therefore can be quite a wait as there is limited or no space on the bus when it gets there.

As for kids have you thought about some 1-1 lessons for the youngest 2 or even all 3 - my son was 4 the first year in pamps and had 1-1 lessons as I didn't fancy leaving him in kindergarten and wanted us to be able to ski together. He was skiing black runs by the time he was 6 and has been a much better skier than me since the end of that 1st hol. This will also help with keeping the youngest occupied.....they do say the younger they start the better.

There are plenty of activities on the mountain during the day .....buying a couple of bumboards will be one of the cheapest and most fun options my son will happily bumboard for hours. Also there are husky rides, sleds and ringo's. Plus building snowmen and snowball fights lol

Thanks for all the good advice, am slightly dreading the transfers as originally were due to fly to Plovdiv which was far better. Am hoping the kids (all girls) will take to it, the 2 eldest have done some dry slope stuff at the back end of the summer so are used to the boots and skis etc, so fingers crossed they'll pick things up quick enough. Hopefully the wife will too!

I've done a bit before so will have some lessons to improve technique etc but am hoping by the end of the week we can do a bit as a family tho our 3 year old may have to miss out this time around - would love her to have a go but she's a 'small' 3 so not sure she's quite ready for it yet but bum boarding, building snowmen and snowball fights would suit her just fine!

Shame about the bus situation hope we don't end up standing around too much - would a taxi to and from the slopes be feasible on a daily basis at all?