Bulgaria Ski discussion board

just come back from pamps. An have to say it was brilliant. We stayed at the perelik and had no complaints about the hotel at all was very nice and staff were all so friendly. Food was nice to. The slopes were a bit icy at first but after the blizzards of snow all day wednesday and night made them all brilliant and lots opened up. Bottom of slopes was bad tho as there was rain there. Didi our ski instructor was amazing an couldnt have been any better and had us all on the reds by the end. Had some messy nights with her to till half 6 in the morning an then back on the slopes for half 9! All in all it was amazing and want to come back very soon.

Hi there,
A very nice post Mark, thank you, good to hear you had a great time.
As for the other two replies. (Damo, tills66)
Please guys don't let bad posts ruin your enthusiasm about your up-coming holiday in Pamps.
It is a great place amd so is Chepelare.
Apart from some unconstructive criticism, which there was a bit, but not too much, the "good - bad posts" are trying to constructively criticize things around here so there can be an improvment done on those.
There are things happening here, which are not right. Some of them touch you guys as holiday makers directly and some indirectly.
People like I and many others are trying to improve things around here so your experience is great at all times as holiday makers.
A lot of times that isn't the case, and as you probably know it takes one really unhappy customer to put many people off Pamps or elsewhere and a lot of happy customers to bring a few people back into the area.

So before this gets too long and complicated .....
Please come over and have a fantastic time.
Make sure that if there are some things that you're not satisfied with, that you'll make yourself heard at the time and place when that something bad happens.

It's always best when people make the complaint right at the time and something can be done about it straight away.
If you'll have suggestions on improvements, please come back here and post those as well. I think that somebody is listening now to these, not like in the past.

Have a wonderfull time, that I'm sure you will. And look forward to your holiday with exitement, you have a reason

From Chepelare
Pavel

Hi we also just came back from pamporovo and also had a great time .We stayed in the orlovetz hotel which was a lovely hotel , very warm and large rooms and extremely clean. The staff i would have to say let it down entirely . They are functional and that is all you will get from them.The food was nice and the spa great



All of the people involved directly in the snowboarding and skiing were great .Friendly and extremely helpful. I could not praise them more . Our snowboard instructor nic was brillant .

It was very icy for the first three days with only two long runs open but then after a lot of overnight snow on wednesday i think , it was great many more slopes opened . Our rep said that those two days were probally the best so far this season. I did hear that the temp might rise to 10 degrees next week though.

Some advise though
If your snowboarding dont bring your own board it is a bit stoney in places at the moment and will break your heart to hear it scrape but if you are serious about snowboarding bring your own boots cos the ones they give are crap or try hiring from the snow shack accross from the slopes. (This is my only real gripe about pamporovo ).

Also on the slopes choose your restaurant carefully some are expensive and charge to use the toilets everytime .The restaurants at the bottom are cheaper . One we found one good one towards the end of the week the golden eagle. Its big brand new & the toilets are free .Its at the top of the slopes under the tv tower.

Dont miss the fridaynight party ours was in daks and was completely mental .

Overall we had a great time and met some great people .
I suppose its what we make of it .

I couldn't agree more with Mark. Myself and the family have just got back from Pamps yesterday. We all had a blast. This is our second time to Pamps and we were bitten by the Pamps bug last year, hence re-booking for this year. We went in the first week in March last year and the snow conditions were poor. It had not snowed for three weeks prior and the runs were very bare and in some places very icy. We could not use he green run from Mid-Station to the bottom, nor a few at the top of the mountain. As it was our first time skiing we did not know what to expect, anything was good for us. However this year I thought the snow conditions were perfect for us. I don't know what the panic was about. This was only our second time skiing. We were now intermediates and started skiing the greens on the first day. After that we were split into groups depending on ability. Our instructor was Romano (he does like his whiskey - many 'drink' stops !!!). He was brilliant with us all and especially the kids. He taught us how to parallel ski and we were skiing the reds by Tuesday. It was exhilarating. I agree the greens were a bit patchy and icy for the first two days, some greens had patches of the concrete road coming through and were impassible. However we were taken on the blue shortcuts. Then came Wednesday, never seen a blizzard like it. Woke up on Wednesday morning depressed as it was raining outside and had been all night. Over breakfast, one of the hotel staff told us not to worry, as usually when it rains hard in the resort it will be snowing hard on the mountain top. Was she right or what!!! We went to the top and it was blizzard conditions. The snow was belting down. This lasted way into Thursday morning. We had booked Ski-Dooing on the Wednesday afternoon. What fun that was, doing it in a blizzard. Couldn't see 3 ft in front of you. Absolutely fantastic experience.
Thursday and Friday were just perfect. Loads of snow at the top and more runs open. Yes the nursey slopes were poor, as the snow was thawing, but those beginners were taken to the nurseries at the top. There was loadsa snow, nicely groomed and prepared. We skiied the reds / blues / greens non-stop for the last two days, - 5 hours a day. Heaven !!!
Hopefully the temperature will not rise to much and the conditions at the top remain. Hopefully there will be snow soon to cover the bottom, but don't worry there certainily is alot of snow about to satisfy all. OK I am not an expert and I assume the blacks are not that prepared, but those intermediates using blues and reds will have a blast.
We stayed at the Snezhanka again as we liked it last year. Excellent location, good food and nice atmosphere. We had an apartment with views to the mountain. The only down fall was Daks Bar underneath. Those leaving at 3.30am in a rather drunken state woke the kids up at times, however its understandable as it is a holiday for all.
Our kids are 10 and 12. They love the place. So much to do for them.
Watch the prices as they are going up. Food and drink in the mountains are very expensive. I got caught out once, where I was told there was no menu as it was being revamped, but was told I could have a burger and chips. What the waiter did not tell me, it was 15.50 lev for it. The portion was like a Macky Ds Happy Meal.
After a days skiing, I would recommend a cold beer in the Markony Bar, near to the Snow Shack and coach drop-off point. Very reasonably priced, lovely burning log fire and it does a cracking pizza.
Hopefully the snow will continue for all those going soon. I looked at different forecasts / webcams for two weeks solid, 4 times a day, prior to going. Such a difference in all. Listen to those who are there and have just returned. Don't panic it will be 'alright on the night' as they say.
We booked through Crystal Ski and cannot fault their service.
We will definatley be returning next year. 'The Wall' - here we come ( I wish, but the kids will force me down - no chance !!!)
I don't understand the Politics of what is happening in Pamps, i.e prices, rip offs, un-prepared slopes etc, but nothing effected our holiday.As said previously, we had a real blast. Missing it all ready.
Back next year.Yes Yes.