Learning to Ski in Borovets
The good, the bad, and the ugly of the Bulgarian ski resort.
First things first. I had never skied before my trip to Bulgaria. I was not interested in skiing. The sad fact is that my husband snowboards. I was fed up with being left behind while he holidayed in magical snowy wonderlands. So we went on our first ski trip together, along with a couple of friends, one of whom had also never skied before.
We picked our resort based on three criteria:
- It had to be ski in — ski out: the only request of our one experienced skiing friend.
- It had to be good for beginners. Half of our group were complete newbies to the slopes. It was no good going for a resort that was all black runs.
- It had to be cost-effective. This was a new experience, and I wasn’t keen on spending a lot of money.
We decided to book the hotel Yanakiev in Borovets, Bulgaria, through travel agent, Crystal Ski. The hotel was situated on a green slope. Crystal Ski offered a great package including flights, half board hotel, transfers, ski rental, lift pass, and six days of lessons. it was around £800 per person. Still a pricy trip, but by far the cheapest of the places we had looked at.
Crystal Ski is owned by TUI, which meant we got all the benefits of booking a package holiday. Updates on what we should pack, a dedicated travel rep, and airport transfers by coach with a rep. On the coach from the airport, our rep gave us all sorts of useful information on the resort like restaurants and medical facilities. They also handed over our ski passes and lesson vouchers and let us know when our rep meeting would be.
Our coach trip was also the first sign of what sort of location this was going to be. While there were a few other couples around our age on the bus (late 20s — early 30s) there was also a large group of what could only be described as “laaaaads”. Young men, who had been drinking since breakfast time, enjoying the freedom of being away from their usual pressures and responsibilities.
Borovets is a location for bargain skiing. The same things that attracted us, also make the resort an ideal spot for laddy holidays. This was amplified by the low cost of alcohol in the bars and restaurants, where you can pick up a pint for 5 lev (around £2.50). While this didn’t ruin our holiday, it did put a dampener on what we were hoping would be some romantic moments. Moments lunch at the top of the mountain, which was somewhat disturbed by the group slamming shots at the next table.
Lessons started straight away on Sunday, following our arrival at the resort on Saturday evening. We picked up our skis and other equipment from the hotel Rila at the center of the resort and joined a group waiting for lessons to begin. There was no clear start time for the lessons. A milling group of instructors let us know that lessons would begin once we had a big enough group. “Around 6 people,” he said. We met up around 8.45, but by the time lessons started it was past 10 am and we had a group of 10 people. If I’d known lessons were not going to start until later I would have stayed in bed for longer. We hadn’t got to the hotel until past midnight!
I was disappointed with the lessons. No one had ever skied before and the large group size meant we didn’t spend much time skiing on the first day. The instructor taught us the technique and then had us ski down the nursery slope one by one. I wasn’t getting the hang of it and fell over a lot, which the instructor blamed on me being too tense. I felt a complete lack of control over my movement, which was causing me to fall, as I felt unable to stop. We also didn’t go over things more than once. He would demonstrate, we would wait our turn, I would fall over and then we would move on to the next thing.
I didn’t go back after the first day, though our package included six days of lessons. I was tempted to return my skis and sack of the skiing part of the holiday. Ultimately I got talked into doing some one-on-one sessions with my husband instead. This allowed me to take things at my own pace, and practice until I felt confident, rather than trying to keep up with a group.
On the other hand, the friend we traveled with loved the lessons and was a confident skier by the end of the trip. I’d say if you’re an anxious person try and get some one-to-one tuition rather than going to classes. If you tend to pick things up easily Borovets can be a cheap place to learn to ski.
As a holiday destination, I did enjoy a lot about Borovets. The weather was pretty consistent, between -6 and -2 and we had snow every day of our trip.
While some complained that this meant we didn’t get a lot of sun, and the views from the mountain weren’t great, I enjoyed leaving footprints in the fresh powder each morning and thought the fresh white snow added a lot to the atmosphere of the resort. I suppose this might get old if you’re used to mountain escapes. But since my only other experience of snow is the occasional flurry over Manchester, which rarely sticks and quickly turns to slush if it does, I found the weather quite magical.
It also didn’t actually feel too cold. When it gets below zero at home, it tends to be pretty unpleasant, but I’d been well prepared with the right cold weather gear. This meant that I got a little warm on some of my ski sessions and needed to remove some layers.
Outside of skiing there are some other activities to do in and around Borovets.
The hotel we were staying in, Yanakiev had some nice facilities that were free to use for guests. We spent some time in the pool, sauna and steam room each day. There were also heated lounge chairs in the spa area. I haven’t seen these anywhere else. They were a great way to warm up and relax our muscles after a morning on the slopes. Unfortunately the pool was quite cold, which was off-putting . It also didn’t open until 1pm with the sauna and steam room not openning until 3pm. Not a problem if you spend all morning on the mountain, but not ideal if you take a day off from skiing.
We also took a trip to the Sapareva Banya hot springs, which was organised by Chrystal Ski. It took about an hour to get there by coach. I have previously visited the hot springs in Bath, which were a tranquil, spa-like experience. The hot springs in Bulgaria were certainly different. There was early 2000s pop music playing throughout the outdoor complex.
The resort boasted a swim-up bar. People were lounging in hot tubs with cans of cider and couples were making out in quiet corners. The result was less of a spa, more of a 90’s teen movie pool party. Ultimately I had a good time. The view over the mountains was incredible and the hot mineral water relaxed my muscles. It wasn’t what I expected, but I’d go again with refreshed expectations.
Our final excursion was a torch-lit walk around the woods of Borovets. This was followed by a traditional Bulgarian meal in a local restaurant. This was a lot of fun, and we got some really great photos. We met outside the restaurant and our tour guide gave each couple an old-fashioned gas torch (think garden tiki torches). We ventured into the woods. Our guide shared some of the history of the area, showing us abandoned hotels, haunted restaurants and the abandoned ski jump, which had been used in the skiing world cup in the 80’s. The meal after was a tomato salad, grilled chicken and a Nutella crepe. A word of warning, vegetarians will need to specify whether they eat fish. Most restaurants assumed my veggie friends wouldn’t mind sea food.
Overall, Borovets is a great location for those looking to try skiing or snowboarding for the first time. The costs for rental and lessons are very low compared to other regions. Because of this you don’t get the luxury ski experience you might get in other resorts, and it is a hot spot for laddish behaviour. If you’re an experienced skiier and have the cash to spend, Borovets might be a disappointment.
If you enjoyed this article, I hope you’ll follow for more content, and leave me a comment about your skiing experience.
If you enjoyed this article you may also enjoy…
