Ski in Zakopane

Skiing in Zakopane

Zakopane, Poland (1030m to 1960m)

Originally a seventeenth century forestry settlement, Zakopane has been a centre for Polish intellectuals for the past century. This lovely town ( with a few ugly Communist era blocks and now Burger King and McDonalds ) is also Poland's best known ski centre. There are seven ski areas around Zakopane offering more than 50 lifts between them, but most are short drag lifts, either running parallel or not connecteed to one another. Many are also privately owned lifts requiring separate tickets. The nearest ski area (3km) is Kasprowy Wierch where there is high Alpine skiing in two treeless bowls. Other nearby areas are Gubalowka and Nosal. 14 of the lifts quoted locally are drag lifts dotted around the town.

Zakopane has hosted: three FIS World Ski Championships (1929, 1939,1962), three Winter Universiades (1956, 1993, 2001), Biathlon World Championship, several Ski Jump World Cups, and several Nordic Combined, Nordic and Alpine European Cups.

Zakopane

Sponsored Links

Zakopane Ski Facts

Zakopane Ski Facts

		Expert Skiers
		Beginners
		Snowboarding
		Snow
		Apres-ski
	7	Black Runs
	7	Red Runs
	2	Blue Runs
50km		Cross Country Trails
20		Ski Lifts
1029m		Max Vertical
1960m		Highest Lift
1030m		Lowest Piste
931m		Resort Altitude

Zakopane

The Polish ski resort of Zakopane has direct access to 16 individual pistes, served by 20 ski lifts.

Snowmaking :- Zakopane is able to augment natural snow, on 12km of ski runs,.

Ski Lift Capacity :- The 20 Ski Lifts of Zakopane are able to uplift 10,000 skiers / snowboarders per hour.

There is an airport within two hours drive, so ski weekends, snowboard breaks and short ski holidays to Zakopane are perfectly feasible.

Skiing in Zakopane

Zakopane has several small skiing areas. Kasprowy Wierch, 3km from the town centre, has high alpine skiing in two treeless bowls. Skiers are transported to the top by cable car running in two sections, the first section goes up to 1350m in about 7 minutes while the second part takes skiers to the top in 10 minutes. Each of the two long slopes is served by its own one-seater chairlift. This is a National Forest Area so there is no artificial snowmaking.

The best quality and amount of (artificial) snow are to be found at Nosal with its single chairlift to the top and T-bars giving access to two-thirds of the slopes. It is FIS certified slope to hold Special Slalom and Giant Slalom. Can get crowded during weekends and it is quite difficult. Some slopes are lit for night skiing.

Gubalowka has snow cannons which are doing a great job of keeping the snow cover but the conditions hold up only at the top portion of the slope (it has a mountain tram going up the summit, with a capacity of 120 people) there are two T-bars at the top of the slope.

Another ski-area is Bukowina Tatrzanska, it is situated about 5 km east of Zakopane and it is at much higher altitude. Snow conditions are sometimes much better. Rumours says that there have been serious investments done by the local operators of the ski lifts to establish artificial snow making and bring in new ski lifts.

The city of Zakopane has FIS standard ski jumps as well as cross-country tracks.

The best snow conditions are between January and late April though sometimes Kasprowy Wierch is open for skiing into early May.

Snowboarding in Zakopane

Gubalowka has a halfpipe and plays host to national competitions.

Zakopane Aprés Ski

All the usual apres ski activities such as sledging, floodlit skiing, skating, cross-country skiing and saunas along with a variety of lively bars. For a low-key and cosy bar, try Anemon. They have a choice of beers on tap including Irish Kilkenny, Guinness, Cashel’s cider and Budweiser (the Czech brew, not the watered-down US version). The only British-style pub in town is Paparazzi with a posh interior and refreshing drinks menu. When the weather holds, enjoy the outdoor seating next to a mountain stream. For an exceptional atmosphere visit the Piano Bar which, strangely enough, has swings at the bar! Other bars to try are Café Sanacjae and Ballada where the bartenders are said to be willing to negotiate the prices of beer.

If you have the energy for dancing, try Rockus, where the DJ plays mainly hits from the 60's, 70's and 80's, or Morskie Oko, a real Zakopance hotspot with live DJ, big dance floor, flashing lights and thumping bass.

Zakopane Snow Reports by e-mail

For a Free 7-Day Snow Forecast for Zakopane, including a Snow Report with current skiing conditions, just sign-up to our Ski Chat Forum and set Zakopane as a favourite ski resort in your Profile.

Zakopane in brief

Zakopane Ski Resort is:-
Ok for Expert Skiers.
Good for Intermediate Skiers.
Very good for Beginners.
Ok for Snowboarding.
Opened : 03 December 2011
Closes : 01 May 2012
Opening subject to Snow Conditions.

Zakopane Snow Forecast

Map of Zakopane