Cheap resorts in Eastern Europe

I went to the High Tatras in Slovakia last year with the girlfriend (she's a ski-monster but I'm a total beginner).

The resort was Strebske Pleso (or somethign very much like that) and it wasnt fantastic to be honest.

Lifts:
Extremely busy when the weather was anything better than horrible and the slopes were not particularly well managed.
Big queues, quite busy slopes with lots of people to crash into (I'm not very good :-)
They had a few snow cannons so even though the weather was pretty warm & sunny there was still slopes available.

Pistes:
There are 3 runs down off the top of the mountain so you can get pretty bored, pretty quickly. I'm only a beginner (that was my first ski trip) and after a week I was doing the red run because I'd learned where all eth corners & bumps were.

Accomodation:
Was reasonably cheap, but then with the Euro at 1:1 with £ Sterling, you are not getting any bargains any more.

Food:
We ate out every night at the limited restaurants & the food was great and relatively cheap but they havent introduced the No-smoking bans yet, so expect to be smoked all over while you're eating.


The people were reasonably friendly but Eastern European service culture is still years behind the West so dont expect to get smiles when you're being served.

I think in summary, with the current Euro exchange rates being so bad, you arent saving much by not going to France, Italy, Austria etc and the slopes are VERY poor in comparison.
Dont bother unless you get a very very cheap deal.


Cheers,
Lee

Good honest report Lee. I have made my mind up, having just returned from St Anton, that there is little point wasting time in places like that when there is so so much more to go at out there.

Lee you clearly didn't explore the area very well or maybe should have looked at a piste map before you went. Here some extracts from a national newspaper regarding the high tatras:

The High Tatras national park, straddling the border between Slovakia and Poland, is dominated by forest and has a fairytale ambience to it. The tall wooden Hansel and Gretel chalets with turrets and pitched roofs heavy with snow look good enough to eat. Here and there, the former communist regime has left its mark in the form of concrete apartment blocks, but when the horse-drawn sleighs jingle by, you can almost imagine princesses and archdukes wrapped under the furs.

The best way to navigate the Tatras is still by train. We arrived at the station at the bottom of the range - Poprad - on a sleeper from Prague, but the journey from Bratislava is less than four hours. The three main ski resorts on the Slovakian side: Strbske Pleso, Stary Smokovec and Tatranska Lomnica are a half-hour ride on the electric railway up the mountain from Poprad.

each resort is only a 15-minute train ride round the mountain from the next, you can ski in a different resort each day.
Strbske Pleso and Stary Smokovec have good nursery slopes suitable for beginners. More challenging skiing is to be had above Tatranska Lomnica, at a bowl called Skalnate Pleso: only half the bowl is pisted and the other half is a powder dream.

If you want to read the rest of article heres the link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2006/jan/21/wintersportsholidays.wintersports.slovakia

It would seem there is a certain snobbishness when it comes to going anywhere other than France, Austria or the land of milka. Yeah the slovaks can be a bit grumpy but no more so than the english or french! My mate described the women as 'fit but angry' which i thinks sums them up well.
Slovakia is a great destination, different from the Alps of course but thats the reason more and more people are going. )

No the Alps it isn't, but I have spent winters all over the world and Jasna is a hill that offers everything.

It is much larger than the High Tatra resorts which do get very overrun.

The main advantage of coming here is that a round of drinks costs less than one drink in the Alps - restaurant food is nearly as cheap also. Skiing holidays normally involve a fair bit of apres so €8 a pint of beer soon takes its' toll...

Here, going out is so cheap that you don't even have to consider the costs.

My chalet here includes breakfast, all transfers, wi-fi, central town location to get out and about, laundry facilities, board/ski service room, ensuite bathrooms, an 8-seater minibus at your disposal, entry to hot springs aqua park, maps, information, local knowledge, and 2 full-time translator/guide/escorts to streamline the holiday. So you get a little bit more than an apartment.

My guiding 'qualifications' are based on 12 seasons in various mountain resorts around the world, local knowledge, intelligence and safety. What did humans do before assessors and assessments came along? Not that I have anything against training; I simply trust my own experience and judgement.

Of course it's not for everybody, but if you like something a little different, then have closer look at Central Europe....

chaletslovakia wrote:

My guiding 'qualifications' are based on 12 seasons in various mountain resorts around the world, local knowledge, intelligence and safety. What did humans do before assessors and assessments came along? Not that I have anything against training; I simply trust my own experience and judgement.

Of course it's not for everybody, but if you like something a little different, then have closer look at Central Europe....

Thanks for clarifying that. I wondered if you were an IML or UIAGM guide. How do you get on with buying Liability Insurance to cover your actions when with your clients, if you act as a formal Guide.

BTW, I think (AFAIK) formal guiding qualifications have been around for a lot longer than 12 seasons )

Tony H wrote:

Good honest report Lee. I have made my mind up, having just returned from St Anton, that there is little point wasting time in places like that when there is so so much more to go at out there.

Don't make your mind up about a place if you've never been there, reseach it further before you decide or maybe even go :D

Here are some links:

http://www.vt.sk/en/winter/

http://www.jasna.sk/

http://www.Velkaraca.com

http://www.vratna.sk

http://www.martinky.com

The guiding element to my holidays should not be confused with a professional backcountry guide. I 'escort' my guests to the mountain, orientate them with the layout of the hill, pointing out idiosyncracies of the various pistes, lifts, bars, conditions, etc....
By assessing their abilities, I then suggest areas that may suit them, perhaps taking them there, pointing out the areas to avoid for whatever reason...

Advanced riders/skiers can be shown what other parts of the mountain can be accessed. It is their own choice to go there.

I provide this service to eliminate the need to stare ignorantly at a piste map, so that people may get the most out of their visit...


In a word; help.

chaletslovakia thanks for clarifying that, though by assessing your guests ability levels, and making suggestions based on your assessment, you might be held liable in the event of an accident, but I'm sure you're aware of that risk.

I'm surprised that with all the background knowledge you have, that you didn't go for a formal Guiding qualification. It would give you a potentially much bigger client base, and you would be able to do more with your clients too.