Bulgaria Ski discussion board

Hi - I was very late to skiing - 44 yrs old now. Tried it briefly in 2005 for a few hours then decided to go in 2013 when I lost my job when my company closed down its offices. I've been to Borovets the last two years running. March 2013 on my own. Feb 2014 with a friend.

I feel I am very much a beginner still. I made reasonable progress in 2013 however didn't really get many ski miles under my belt due to being a beginner and getting unlucky when the gondola was closed towards the end of the week. In Feb 2014 the slopes were very bad and for much of the time our group was limited to the nursery slopes. I did get onto parts of the blue and red runs from the chair lift from opposite the Rila and also on Yastrebetz (which was a nightmare to get down!). I did get down it eventually - albeit very slowly.

Now I have a week off from the 7th Feb and will be travelling alone. I am intrigued by Pamporovo as I think I could possibly handle the runs there better and gain some valuable ski miles. Is Pamps a good resort to visit as a single traveler? I am happy to meet people in the ski school and afterwards in the bars. I am put off by Bansko as I am worried about the Gondola queues.

I've also been looking at Andorra as I hear there are lots of long blue runs there.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated - thanks.

Hi, know what you mean about being late to skiing, my husband and I were in a similar boat!!! (Ah!! 10 years ago now!) Were still, (well I am, a very steady skier.!!! My sons not so!!) We love going to Bansko. Unfortunately we always have to go when there are big queues in the most popular weeks , but we just get up half an hour earlier, this suits us, but not everybody and really cuts the time down. I heard that over the christmas break there were mini-buses up to the start of the ski runs that few people used. These are free and provided by Ulen as part of your lift pass. The good thing is that your week is before the busy week and this makes a lot of difference to the size of the Gondola queue in Bansko. I would be inclined to have some lessons just to get you used to the slopes, terrains and directions. There are loads of people who can give you advice on lessons, accomodation and ski schools etc. Bansko is a great place with lots to offer, slopes, culture, partying, and well priced food and drink, I would really recommend it. Hope you enjoy your ski, where ever you go.

Having been to both resorts I would definitely reccomend Bansko for you , there are some nice challenging blue runs , and the ski road which is an easy long blue a very good way to clock up some ski miles , there's also chalin valog which is a wide and quite interesting beginners area , good for practicing .
As for the gondola queues if you book your lesson package with ulen ski school the main one you can use the VIP lift queue by showing your lesson voucher to the security guys .
I like both resorts but I think the bars and restaurants are better in bansko and as its a town the facilities are better quality . The hotels ive stayed in there lucky bansko and hotel lion were both excellent . As always the hotel food is just average even in good hotels but there are so many decent and quite cheap bars and restaurants that it's better to go B and B and eat out .
Havnt said all that im going to borovets on the 10 th but I'm taking my 5 yr old and think he'll love the sledging / tubing on the rila slopes at night and it's just a smaller more cosy resort than bansko .
Hope that's some help
John

HI I think you can book Ulen ski school through this site, the all in package with lessons, lift pass and equipment seem to work out a little cheaper, however i think there maybe other site users who would recommend other ski schools, possibly because group sizes would be smaller. We have gone through Explore Bansko before and use them because they can be a little bit more flexible in their arrangement. They do packages and lessons - here is the link, you could drop them an email. Good luck. - I havn't been to other resorts, would be good to compare.
http://www.explore-bansko.com/ski_hire.html

Everything will depend on the snow conditions-if Borovets has good snow conditions (seems good at the moment) you have the Mussala path which is a great end to the day-the other advantage is that most of the hotels are situated near the ski lifts and you have a choice of the 2 areas. I am sure that if you join a ski group that the runs that you found difficult on your last visit will seem much easier now (you need to face the demons) and with a good instructor you will succeed. It is also comforting to ski tracks that you have done before. I started skiing at 46 and can remember the pain at moving up a level but I stuck with it, always joined ski school and can still get down most of the slopes in Borovets at 73.You can also meet people at Bobby's bar which seems to be a good place for single skiers-I enjoy being in the centre of the skiing which you find in Borovets. I found Bansko a little isolated from the slopes.

Some really good replies so far. Thanks to everyone for contributing

I like Borovets a lot but really fancy a change this year. So for now I have decided to rule Borovets out for this season.

I'll like to go back there in the future if I feel more comfortable about my abilities. Pamps or Bansko for this season now looks likely. I also wouldn't mind going to Andorra although it seems as expensive as going to Austria now.

I think there is a monarch flight to Plovdiv (for Pamps) so similar transfer time to Bansko.