Today was a great way to finish off a very snowy week here in Bansko. Since our last Snow Report, we’ve gotten over 50cm of new snow over the course of a few days and had some great powder skiing conditions, today being the best of the year so far. Conditions in the resort are good and there is plenty of snow now all around the mountain. The forecast is for another 30-ish centimeters of snow Tuesday night, fingers crossed it comes true.
Got Powder?
In general, all lifts and slopes in the resort are open, however, bad weather kept some lifts closed last week, mostly due to heavy winds. The biggest problem this week was on Saturday when fallen trees and snow closed both the gondola and the car road up the mountain. This meant that the whole resort was paralyzed and only at around 1PM did the resort staff turn on the 6-seat Todorka lift for those who waited all day for something to start running and got to the ski area by car. By Sunday all problems were resolved and the resort was operating normally. Lift queues on the mountain are still negligible, however, there is a serious lift line at the gondola in the morning. Waiting times can be around an hour at peak times, but if you get to the gondola station early enough, you should be on your way to the slopes in no time. The most eager to get to the slopes start queueing even before 8 AM, while the lift opens its doors around 8:15 AM.
The early bird gets the waffles.
Slope conditions today were perfect in the morning, thanks to all the new fresh snow. If you love skiing really fast down groomed slopes, it’s definitely worth getting up as early as possible. By 10-11AM the slopes had already become very choppy, again thanks to the fresh snow. On days like today, with fresh snow from the previous days, there is no getting around the inevitable deterioration of the slopes. The best option is to ski the main ski zone until the bumps become too big, then to head down to the Chalin Valog ski area, where the slopes were in good condition even in the afternoon. The only downside is that the Chalin Valog ski runs are for intermediate and expert skiers, but there is a green slope there as well.
The Plato Ski area
But today was more of an off-piste powder day, best suitable for fat skis with 100+mm underfoot. Conditions were just amazing, 30+cm of fresh snow from Friday night, a closed resort Saturday which meant the snow had some time to homogenize and a sunny Sunday to shred it. Due to the high risk of avalanches, some of the steepest freeride areas were best to be avoided, but there was plenty of snow to be plowed in the wooded areas and around the ski area. Even though the snowpack is more stable now, than it was two weeks ago, we still advise extreme caution when skiing out of bounds, especially down the western faces of the mountain, which lead towards the Vihren hut.
Read more about freeriding in Bansko HERE.
Ski & Board Traventuria is a leading provider of lift passes, equipment rental, airport transfers and ski school for the Bansko area. To book your next ski vacation in Bansko with us, please check our website – www.skibansko.bg
