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Visitor reviews for Mavrovo-Zare Lazarevski Ski Resort

Mavrovo-Zare Lazarevski Ratings

Overall: 3.6. Based on 41 votes and 47 reviews.

Snowsure: 3.7

  • Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing
  • Is often closed due to a lack of snow
  • Occasionally suffers from a lack of snow
  • Rarely suffers from a lack of snow
  • Mavrovo-Zare Lazarevski is snowsure even in the poorest seasons

Variety of pistes: 3.8

  • The ski runs are featureless and unvaried
  • The ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week
  • Mavrovo-Zare Lazarevski has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain

Off-piste: 3.5

  • No off-piste worth mentioning
  • Off piste is out-of-bounds
  • Some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days
  • A vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days

Scenery: 4.1

  • An ugly resort in a bland setting
  • Average mountain views and resort
  • A spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town

Access: 4.1

  • At least one overnight stop
  • Requires a whole day
  • Requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns
  • Arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon
  • There is a main airport within an hour of Mavrovo-Zare Lazarevski

Public Transport: 3.4

  • There are no buses or taxis to Mavrovo-Zare Lazarevski
  • There are slow or infrequent buses / trains available
  • Getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections

Accommodation: 4.2

  • No places to stay in/near Mavrovo-Zare Lazarevski
  • A few places to stay in the resort
  • A wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets

Cheap Rooms: 3.9

  • No budget accommodation available
  • Just one or two hostels so book ahead
  • Several cheap hostels and pensions available

Luxury Hotels: 3.7

  • No luxury accommodation available
  • Just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead
  • Several up-market hotels in Mavrovo-Zare Lazarevski

Ski in/Ski out: 4.1

  • The ski area is located far from any accommodation
  • A free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip
  • Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available

Childcare: 2.8

  • There are no child care facilities at Mavrovo-Zare Lazarevski
  • The resort has limited child-care facilities
  • the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche

Snowmaking: 2.9

  • Mavrovo-Zare Lazarevski relies entirely on natural snow
  • There are just a few snow cannons
  • There are snowmaking facilities on all pistes

Snow Grooming: 4.1

  • There are no snow groomers at Mavrovo-Zare Lazarevski
  • Occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state
  • All the runs at Mavrovo-Zare Lazarevski are groomed daily

Shelter: 3.7

  • There is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut
  • There are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close
  • Mavrovo-Zare Lazarevski is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close

Nearby options: 3.1

  • If snow conditions are poor at Mavrovo-Zare Lazarevski, it will be poor everywhere nearby
  • There are good alternatives within an hours drive
  • Other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions

Regional rating: 3.7

  • Mavrovo-Zare Lazarevski usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region
  • Has average conditions for the region
  • Usually has the best snow conditions in the region

Lift Staff: 4.1

  • The staff at Mavrovo-Zare Lazarevski are rude or unhelpful
  • Lift staff at Mavrovo-Zare Lazarevski are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help

Crowds/Queues: 3.7

  • The resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues
  • It is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays
  • It is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare

Ski Schools: 3.9

  • No ski schools available
  • One or two ski schools but local language only
  • A few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors
  • Plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available
  • Excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors

Hire and Repairs: 3.9

  • Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex
  • There are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance
  • Good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible

Beginners: 4.3

  • Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard
  • A few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week
  • Vast areas of gentle terrain

Intermediates: 4.1

  • No intermediate terrain at Mavrovo-Zare Lazarevski
  • Intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days
  • Vast areas of cruising runs

Advanced: 3.7

  • Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders
  • Enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste
  • Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week

Snow Park: 2.9

  • Not even a kicker at Mavrovo-Zare Lazarevski
  • Average sized park quite well looked after
  • Huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails

Cross-country: 3.6

  • There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Mavrovo-Zare Lazarevski
  • There are some cross country trails available
  • The area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails

Luge/Toboggan: 2.3

  • No designated luge or toboggan runs
  • There are toboggan runs that open quite often
  • Mavrovo-Zare Lazarevski has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages

Mountain Dining: 3.8

  • Nowhere to buy food by the pistes
  • Some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive
  • There is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets

Eating: 3.9

  • Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop
  • There are a few places to eat in the resort but nothing special
  • A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants

Apres-Ski: 3.7

  • Nothing to do, not even a bar
  • There are a few bars in the resort but nothing special
  • Clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere

Other Sports: 3.3

  • No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts
  • Resort has just a small public swimming pool
  • Resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool

Entertainment: 3.3

  • Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here
  • The non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week
  • The resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports

Winter Walks: 3.5

  • Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails
  • A couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails
  • Extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities

Ski Pass Value: 3.2

  • A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available
  • The ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts
  • Ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area

Value (National): 3.3

  • Overall, Mavrovo-Zare Lazarevski is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money
  • Overall represents average value for money
  • Overall offers the best value resort in the country

Value (Global): 3.5

  • Overall, Mavrovo-Zare Lazarevski is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world
  • Overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries
  • Internationally the resort offers excellent value for money

Show all 35 ratings

February 19, 2025
Local
The lifts are almost destroyed, many bars are missing. You're waiting in line and many people are skipping their place in the lift line. Even though there are two seater chairlift and T-bars, many people are riding singles on their own, frustrating the people waiting in line. One mother with 7 year old child didn't know how to scan the lift ticket, and some guy from the staff started yelling to the young child and the mother. I was disgusted from his behaviour. There was some guy skiing like crazy, he could hurt someone. Somebody told me that he acts like this ski are is his own (his grandpa used to be a politician), measuring how fast he's skiing. Watch for you own safety, no one cares about nothing here. Four lifts are not working, even on weekends when there are many people. They are charging a full priced lift ticket even though some runs are closed, and some of the lifts are not running at all. Save your money and go somewhere else. Don't pay for non working lifts, flat runs, rude patrollers and managers and expensive bars. The lifties, on the other hand, are very nice people, and I feel sorry for them: they work like crazy, but they don't get paid enough, don't get gloves, hats, goggles, glasses and boots. Obviously, money is wasted for marketing, instead to pay and buy gear for the hardworking lifties.
January 07, 2025
Dimitar Popov
Although small, it's a very cosy and fun ski center. In good season offers perfect skiing. The lifts are short, but if you have good route planning you can connect the whole mountain and get some serious piste skiing. Definitely not the mainstream, which makes this ski center have its own character. The ski patrol MZSS at the moment works with the latest standards of international ski patroller association (FIPS) and the unit is consisted of heavy duty professionals with serious training to respond in every situation. There are several bars up there that offer food and drinks and some party programs. Al in all, small place with big character.
October 04, 2024
Local
I visit this ski area almost my whole life. A couple of years ago, I've witnessed a dangerous behavior of most of the member of the ski patrol: One young guy (14 or 15 years old, I don't know how the local laws allow him to work in the ski patrol) tried to tie the huge pad on one of the towers of a popular ski-lift. Obviously, he didn't tie the pad as he should and the pad started to slide down the ski slope. Luckily, noone was hurt by the sliding flying tower pad. Watch out for your safety when ski patrollers are near you in Mavrovo.
December 12, 2023
Steve from Ski France France
This is probably the worst ski mountain in Europe. All the trails are flat. It's hard to get enough speed on this mountain to even cut a turn. It's so flat that when there is powder, you just stop because there's not enough inertia to make you move. If an engineer tried to plan a worse trail map, he couldn't do a worse job than the guy who designed this mountain. Utterly horrible. However, the lodges and bars on the mountain are perfect and it's recommended to leave your skis at home and go only for the afterparty.
February 16, 2023
SVETO
Do not go skiing in Mavrovo, they do not level the terrains except for two steep slopes. All other terrains are not groomed except on Saturdays and Sundays. It's easy to get hurt. The staff is very rude.
January 10, 2016
Benjamin
What a disappointment; we have all been waiting for years for this place to get it together. When there is snow the staff at Zare don't know how to manage it. They don't even use the snow blowers. When there isn't snow they don't offer alternative activities to keep the place running. It's like they want to lose money. I wonder why? ! :-) ... Another sad Macedonian story. Go to Bulgaria instead.
January 24, 2011
Darko
All tracks at Zare Lazarevski are open, new 35 cm. of snow at the bottom, night skiing from 19:00 till 22:00, Mavrovo is the great :) again!
January 05, 2011
Ollie
WHY IS THERE NO DATA ON THE CURRENT SNOW COVER THICKNESS IN MAVROVO? [Editor's reply. We have obtained regular snow reports for approximately 1500 out of 2500 ski resorts. Mavrovo (Zare Lazarevski) is currently not one of these. Sorry about that. We provide various ways for resort managers and local skiers to submit snow reports online. The simplest it to use twitter. See http://www.snow-forecast.com/pages/eyeball_report. With twitter you can simply send a text message and it will appear on our site right away. We hope that this new feature will allow us to increase the proportion of resorts with regular snow reports]
December 01, 2010
Darko
Godishen ski pass do 15.12.2010. za samo 10.000,oo denari. Super!
January 03, 2010
Visitor
There is snow today but not enough for skiing. At the bottom almost 30cm snow, but higher at the slopes due to the strong wind there is almost none. It's freezing! For further information regarding the skiing conditions in the next days call the Ski Center: 00389 42 489 065. I haven't tried yet calling this number but I hope it will work!