Bulgaria Ski discussion board

Ok so here's the report from a first timer to bulgaria.

On arrival we were very impressed with the hotel panorama, very good in terms of finish etc considering its a 3 star. Food not so good, always the same thing in the morning and at night but i never seem to enjoy food abroad.

The slopes were good on the first day. Up top had plenty of snow and was good enough to glide over. As the week went on it slowly melted in the bright sunshine and got a bit slushy. Snowed a little on thursday but not enough to cover bare patches. One thing which annoyed me is every run ends up at a bottle neck corner (very icy in morning) and by afternoon it is slush and water as so many skiiers boarders pass over. Saw a few accidents here with ambulance involved. Black runs were fun, especially over on the right hand side of the piste map. These were untouched when me and friends went over. Just a shame it broke up as it got lower. Ski centre 2 has a lot of boarders and is lower down the mountain therfor less snow. The snow cat ploughs done well every night to make it skiiable for the next morning. I'd go back fior sure but after asking a ski instructor about weather conditions, he recommended mid/end of Feb.

The bulgarians were very plesent on our visit, i never had a ski instructor but one member of the party did. His name was Rumen. Very nice guy, went out his way to help us when one member of our party (not even in his class) lost a ski on the black run "the wall" he and another guy, ski patrol i think look for it in snow up to thetre waist, gave up their lunch break for it. In the end they did find it for us and saved is paying 150 lev for a lost ski. Obviously we tipped them for their help however they were trying to give us the cash back.

The resteraunts on top of mountain near the tower are very expensive, worked out about £4 for a beer and £6 for a chicken skewer. There is a place to eat on top of the tower too but you pay 7 lev to get up just for the view. Best place to eat is the resteraunt at the flat bit where the bottle kneck is. Oh, and always request local beer as they will give you Becks and make 1000% profit, lol

If you go to town the white heart pub is rip off. Its the one that claims its a british pub and charges an absoloute fortune for any drink. a few doors down there is a bar with a constant happy our, 4 levs for 2 pints of beer. Thats where I re-hydrated most nights.

Toilets are a joke, they always expect you to pay 0.50 lev I asked Rumen if bulgarians pay and he said yes, and it was only after he started to travel he realised no where else in Europe makes you pay.

So to round it all off....

Apart from the toilets, the lack of snow and food prices i enjoyed my experiance in Bulgaria. Its not the Alps, its not rockies but it is a cheap week skiing. Yeah Scotland has more runs than Pamporovo but try and stay up there for a week with £150 spending money and a hotel for £160. We booked through www.directski.com and everything seemed to be fantastic. Oh and our rep Anastacia is a fox

120mph winds up the cairngorms adds to the experiance. I've only ever skiied there when its been -30 windchill, foggy and still snowing. visibility was about zero and it was a pure whiteout on top. Loved every minute of it.

For anyone interested. It is about 8 hour drive from London (M1, M6, M74 etc)

Not a bad drive really, best to leave early morning or drive through the night to avoid traffic in the south.

If you've not been, try it. Just once Late january, feb is best times. Check the webcams and weather before you go.