Latest posts for the topic "What if theres no snow?"

What if theres no snow?

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:25:59 GMT

im going to Borovets for my first ever skiing trip next year. but what if theres know snow? lol :shock: has that ever happend? :!:

Re:What if theres no snow?

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:31:21 GMT

Yes, it has happened. What you do is - drink a lot! :D Or get shipped to a nearby resort which has got snow.

But don't worry - it doesn't happen very often, even in Borovets. When are you going?

Re:What if theres no snow?

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:47:31 GMT

15th jan 2011. very long time to wait. lol really looking forward to it though. is there much snow in borovets?

Re:What if theres no snow?

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:48:37 GMT

Watch this thread.

Re:What if theres no snow?

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:06:28 GMT

Regardless of snow conditions, nearly every resort will manage to open a couple of runs, even if they are totally inadequate to cope with the numbers of visitors :evil: . Otherwise the insurance companies have to pay out and I suspect they give the resorts some grief if this happens.

Just hope that conditions are good when you get there. Its one of the difficulties of having to book well in advance. Thats why I tend to pick high, snow sure destinations though these do tend to be more expensive for that very reason :evil:

Re:What if theres no snow?

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:07:39 GMT

tell me thats just a one off :cry: i want my first skiing holiday to be good and full of snow. i dont wanna wait a year for that! whats the snow like this year? i have been looking at webcams and it looks white.

Re:What if theres no snow?

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:13:52 GMT

Pablo Escobar wrote:Watch this thread.

Look at that thread and it will tell you all about Borovets conditions this season.

Re:What if theres no snow?

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:30:28 GMT

i never noticed that dates i thought it was all from last year. so thats showing that 2 years in a row its been bad. hope its not like that next year! how can it be a snow resort if theres not much snow!!

Re:What if theres no snow?

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 08:01:44 GMT

The weather in Bulgaria is QUITE different to the alpine weather. This season so far over there has been nothing short of a disaster, but its not always the case. However, there is more chance of not skiing there than in many alpine resorts.
Its not somewhere I would have chosen but each to his own.

Re:What if theres no snow?

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 11:51:21 GMT

I've had the misfortune of two ski seasons with very little snow.

The first was to Zell Am See (Austria) in 1993 (I think - I was quite young!), and we had to get up at 5.30am to start queuing for this train that went through the mountain up to the glacier. Once up the top, the skiing was OK though.

Another year I went to Limone (Italy), and there was literally a few pistes open, all of which were sheet ice in the morning, and slushy by the end of the day. I think this was very late in the season though, and again, I was very young. The resorts did their best to put on other activities.

Since then, I've had great skiing every trip!

Re:What if theres no snow?

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:22:32 GMT

what do you do if there is no snow and no resorts close by with snow? i think id be well gutted seen as im looking forward to it now and its still 12 months away!!

Re:What if theres no snow?

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:24:23 GMT

sm4sh wrote:what do you do if there is no snow and no resorts close by with snow? i think id be well gutted seen as im looking forward to it now and its still 12 months away!!

Ask yourself why you chose Borovets I guess.....?

Re:What if theres no snow?

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:09:09 GMT

gadgetgirl79 wrote:I've had the misfortune of two ski seasons with very little snow.

The first was to Zell Am See (Austria) in 1993 (I think - I was quite young!), and we had to get up at 5.30am to start queuing for this train that went through the mountain up to the glacier. Once up the top, the skiing was OK though.

Another year I went to Limone (Italy), and there was literally a few pistes open, all of which were sheet ice in the morning, and slushy by the end of the day. I think this was very late in the season though, and again, I was very young. The resorts did their best to put on other activities.

Since then, I've had great skiing every trip!

In Bansko afew years ago we skied on concrete, not the best ski holiday :shock:

Re:What if theres no snow?

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:20:26 GMT

:lol: i bet that was fun... bet it hurt if you fell. i dont choose Borovets the guy in First Choice did!

Re:What if theres no snow?

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:23:10 GMT

gadgetgirl79 wrote:
The first was to Zell Am See (Austria) in 1993 (I think - I was quite young!), and we had to get up at 5.30am to start queuing for this train that went through the mountain up to the glacier. Once up the top, the skiing was OK though.

I think that funicular train at Kaprun was the one that had that terrible fire. It wasn't going when we were there, but maybe it is now?

Ally

Re:What if theres no snow?

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:51:11 GMT

sm4sh wrote::lol: i bet that was fun... bet it hurt if you fell. i dont choose Borovets the guy in First Choice did!

Who's going, you or him?

Re:What if theres no snow?

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:52:23 GMT

suppose. but i ment he said it was a good place for beginners thats why we booked there.

Re:What if theres no snow?

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 12:36:18 GMT

AllyG wrote:I think that funicular train at Kaprun was the one that had that terrible fire. It wasn't going when we were there, but maybe it is now?

Ally

Yes, that's the one, where 155 died, and only about 10 people survived thanks to an ex fireman who told them to walk past the fire and go down the tunnel, rather than going up.

I get claustrophobic so hated that stupid train.

They sealed the tunnel up, and have replaced it with a gondola instead.

Re:What if theres no snow?

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:48:43 GMT

what altitude is borovets ? My last ski trip was to Austria (Abtenau) thats 1380 meters and we had masses of snow in feb last year

Re:What if theres no snow?

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:42:05 GMT

iv heard a few people sayin they have been Austria. is that a gd place for skiing?

Re:What if theres no snow?

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:20:02 GMT

Austria is much better than Bulgaria I personally wouldnt go there again due to the lack of snow. For the first day there was little snow then it snowed tremendously the piste bashers didnt even compact the snow on the slopes there was small trees and bushes everywhere and it was frustrating clipping these. The only good thing is that its cheap to booze apre ski.

Re:What if theres no snow?

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:39:09 GMT

There are plenty threads on J2ski which talk about the cons and cons of skiing eastern Europe 8)

Re:What if theres no snow?

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:07:16 GMT

sm4sh wrote:iv heard a few people sayin they have been Austria. is that a gd place for skiing?

Sm4sh,
Austria is a very good place for ski-ing, as long as you don't pick a resort that's very low and go early or late in the season. Mayrhofen is one of the best ski resorts in Austria :roll:

I think it would be true to say that we all find it very difficult picking a resort, and spend a great deal of time adding up the pros and cons of each one (and it's a lot of fun as well and keeps us busy until our next ski holiday) :D

Ally

Re:What if theres no snow?

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:54:29 GMT

at least you are going in January - you would be more worried if it was March onwards in Borovets. As the others have said though - they will bus you to the nearest resort with snow, not ideal but better than nothing.

And yeah..you will drink a lot!!

Re:What if theres no snow?

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 23:42:36 GMT

yeh thats why i found a forum to talk about me holiday thats a year away lol its kinda a good job i did though, else could be skiing in a place with no snow.
so the best time to go skiing is Feb? why isit they sell ski holidays form december to march. i thought that places had really good snow over them times of the year. thats why i didnt really look into anything before i booked.
guess thats one of the cons of being a beginner!

Re:What if theres no snow?

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 23:48:24 GMT

I've only twice been in Feb, and they were the 2 occassions the snow was as bad as I have ever had it. There is no best time to go TBH, although I always find early Jan is brilliant because of good snow, generally colder temps, and lovely quiet pistes with no kids about to ruin it, as well as early March for all the above reasons plus longer afternoons and quite often some fresh dumps of snow.
But you can get all of these benefits at other times of the year depending on where you go and the current weather conditions.
Its all so out of our control.
I'd usually avoid early December or mid April though, although someone I know goes to Obergurgl every April and usually has so much fresh powder....!!!

Re:What if theres no snow?

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 23:53:43 GMT

:lol: i thought jan was a bad time to go??? or is that just in borovets?

Re:What if theres no snow?

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:00:48 GMT

The consensus on here suggests Borovets is just a place to avoid, certainly for more experienced skiers.
Some people have their own favourite times to go. Personally I like Jan and March as it avoids the kids holidays, but I always pick resorts that are higher up and have the altitude just in case conditions aren't great. Never not been able to ski yet, touch wood.

Re:What if theres no snow?

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:28:20 GMT

Agree completely with Tony H - a place to avoid. However, since you are going regardless, thats not a lot of help.

My New Years break was a disaster - hoping to get something back from my insurance but as always they are limiting their liability. Regardless, whatever I do get back wil be a fraction of the cost and waste of my life!!

Borovets - If there is no snow...unless facilities improve a lot in 12 months you'll be screwed. You can swim in cold pools or go bowling, play pool or shoot an air rifle...or in my case DRINK a lot. The 'dancing' clubs looked interesting, but since I was witht he wie and kids...I don't know for sure. Drink is no longer really cheap, varies between GBP1.50 - GBP3 a pint. Food is unexciting, but reasonable (UK standards) but again not cheap as it probably was a couple of years ago.

Apparently in 2009 the best snowfall was in April.

The Nursery slopes are outside of the Rila hotel and have snow cannons, so providing it stays below zero, you should have snow!!! However, if the rest of the resort is closed - the slope(s) will be so busy it will be an awful place to learn to ski.

Other things to consider:
Watch out for your instructor making money on the side (from you). We all know and accept visiting their favourite bars. However, in my case it was suggested that we get a cab to Yastrebets rather than wait an hour and queue for the free bus. No problem with that, other than the instructor negotiated the fee with the cab drivers - that was 5 levs MORE than I paid the day before when looking around.

if you get bored, there is a shop on the way to the nursery slopes that sells taser guns and pepper spray...great potential for mischief, but make sure you don't get arrested on the way back into the UK.

Flying from Sofia - airport beer prices were unbelievable and our flights were delayed....very expensive end to an awful trip!!

Re:What if theres no snow?

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:41:20 GMT

:lol: so if theres no snow we can shoot each other :lol: i think ill be sure to check out these dancing clubs to!im sure borovets cant be that bad!

Re:What if theres no snow?

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:01:00 GMT

one of my mates swears by bulgaria. but as has been said its very hit or miss. so long as you have some snow you will have fun

Re:What if theres no snow?

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:30:20 GMT

I swear by/at Bulgaria....just not on the forum - or I'd be banned!

lol

Re:What if theres no snow?

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:46:56 GMT

Good honest assessment Tonyr.
Sorry you had a bad time, but thats just one of many similar stories I have read that made my mind up about not bothering.