Bansko – tracks
Most skiers adore Bansko – for the great tracks of course.
Bansko is the best Bulgarian destination for skiing, snow boarding and toboggan.There are tracks of any difficulty – 5 easy, 8 medium, two hard ones. The tracks are located high enough to provide quite a long season – in its best years – from December to May. The highest point of the ski centre is at 2560 m, and the lowest is at 1000 m. The total length of the ski tracks is 65 km, of the ski lifts – 26 km, and a 16 km ski road connects Bansko with the ski tracks. The equipment and the facilities are the last word of technology and the snow is guaranteed by 70 snow tools so even in warm ski years the party continues! Bansko is a paradise for extreme skiers and snowboarders. The hotheads descend on the so-called off tracks of the Banderitza gullies and in the Echemishte area. On the table-land there is a snowboard park and there is already equipped a 120 m run for slope down with inflatable tires. At the tracks there are amusements for the children as well – kinder-garden, snow Children’s Park, conveyor belt, baby slope and roundabouts where kids enviably fast learn how to ski successfully.
Try the night skiing on the illuminated track and after that a sauna in the hotel, mulled wine and “kapama” in the restaurant – it’s just great!
BANSKO
Bansko is a modern, fast developing resort in the Pirin mountain foot. It is located at 165 km from Sofia and from the nearest airport, at 300 km from Thessalonica and at about 600 km from Istanbul.
The climate is mountain with a small Mediterranean influence.
In Bansko there live together past, present and future. Interesting things for themselves will find the lovers of history, of old churches and of the paintings of the Bulgarian national revival – the middle-age Assumption church, the Saint Trinity church from 1835, the bell tower with the town clock, plenty of century-old house-museums and museum expositions.
Here are combined in a very interesting way the narrow lanes and the winding cobble-stone streets and the century-old houses with the brand new super-luxurious hotels. You can come across an old lady with national dress who drive in her cow from grazing or see a lot of our national celebrities in their ski outfits on the tracks. It doesn’t take much time to find a good restaurant, a night bar or a disco for the evening. You should absolutely try the local “kapama” (traditionally prepared meat and vegetables stewed in an earthenware dish) with house red wine in any of the local taverns with live music.
If you get bored of the tracks you can take a walk to Melnik, Dobursko or Obidim / it seems that there the time has stopped/.
Useful references:www.Banskoski.com - Ski zone Bansko
www.pirin-np.com- National park Pirin
www.bulgariantourism.com - Information for the tourism in Bulgaria
www.bansko.bg - the Official site of Bansko
