Bansko 6 Day Snow Forecast

Rodeo Girl from United Kingdom writes:

Just back from the most amazing week of skiing in Bansko, a mixture of sunny days and 3 days of whiteout which left us with brilliant snow coverage and powder snow. We were at the ski store by 8.20am each day to collect our skis then straight onto the gondola queue. I think the most we waited was about 10 mins on the first day but that was as everyone was in a muddle about where to go after getting fitted for skis, boots etc. No probs at all. The queues for the chairlifts, tows etc were about a couple of minutes at the most and they do their best to fill each seat going up no the chairlifts each time. I went to Ulen Ski School, prebooked through Balkan Holidays and our instructors Mario and Marianna were fantastic. I had previously only skied about 6 or 7 times in Scotland and by the end of the week I was skiing red runs. Their English was very good and they taught us well. The food around the gondola station can be expensive but we mostly had a large slice of pizza and a bottle of coke for about 10 levs which we thought was fine. If you go inside the restaurants it can get pricey depending on what you have. The queues to sit inside can get long also if you don't get in for about 12.00. All the locals we met were very friendly and helpful and we couldn't complain about them. We stayed at the Stratzhite Hotel which was about 5-10 mins away and found this very comfortable too. The food in the hotel was a bit bland but it was edible. We ate out a few nights in the local town and the food was good. There is a good selection of places to eat and drink and at a mixture of prices depending on your budget. The only concern we had was the packs of wild dogs wandering about at the top gondola station and in the town. They follow you or come and sit beside you when you are eating outside but the don't bother you. They can just be a bit daunting as they are so big and especially when you are eating! All in all we had a great holiday, great skiing due to the major snow dump and met great people. So good we are all planning to go back as a massive group next year! It's not an expensive place to go and it's cheap for food and drink. This is not because it's bad but just as the Bulgarians have not yet caught up with prices in other parts of Europe but give it time and they will probably catch up.

2012-02-01