 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well done them!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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No snow you say. I recall seeing some webcam pic posted over the weekend of Bankso doing a fairly good impression of a winter wonderland.
(you don't happen to work for the Romanian tourist board?)
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Pamprova is a 'little patchy'. 
Here is the town of Bansko: not exactly knee-deep snowdrifts.
Here is a pic of the run in Bansko with snow on it.
They've done pretty well but it's all artificial. Note the run on the left is incomplete.
The news sources were all Bulgarian and I'm sorry to say, it's a pretty bleak picture on the snow front at the moment. All these pics are from yesterday (Mon 18th Dec)
Are you sure it wasn't perhaps Rory Bremner doing the impression of the Winter Wonderland? 
killian, you don't work for the Bansko tourist board do you?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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It was me who posted the "winter wonderland" pic of Bansko - took it straight of the web cam, same one as admin took his off, the post is here. The pic you are refering to is this one:
By the looks of it, it may have been a thin layer, nothing substantial. They are from 13/12.
Franky the thought of another trip to Bulgaria is not a pleasant one anyway, irrelevent of the snow conditions.[/img]
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Interestingly, they also seem to have covered that fence since.
If u look below the fence above, u can see why
We really don't have any desire or interest in exagerating any resort's conditions in either direction.
We're just trying to get the truth as best we can and to pass it on.
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Anyone with a genuine interest in Bulgaria will find a couple of webcams situated in Borovets. They are updated every couple of minutes and show the conditions at the village level.
http://www.webcam.skidvd.co.uk/webcam/webcam.htm
If you want more details the skidvd forum has a couple of contributors who are out in Boro at the moment and they are providing daily updates on the conditions and on the new developments in the resort.
Example:
http://www.skidvd.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3505&highlight=
Oh yes, and they have been skiing every day so far.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Having completely wrecked my board yesterday to the point where it is totally non-repairable (thats $600 down the drain), I am in the best position to tell you the current situation in Bansko.
Its 10:30am on the 26th Dec 2006. There are 3 slopes open in Bansko, 2 at the top and one at the station. The one at the station is purely man made snow and about as rideable and fun as any UK indoor track, 10 minutes and the boredom is overwhelming. The top two are fine if you go straight, but turn, and say goodbye to your ski's or board as the snow is about 10cm in places and contact with whats underneath it is regular. People are venturing off piste onto the other pistes which are now classed as off piste , but with patches of rocks everywhere it is only because they are desperate and willing to risk everything.
Yes there are lots of people up there skiing, but after spending €1000 each for this week, and only being here for a limited 7 days, they have reached the point where they would snow on rooftops, if there was snow on them.
The forecast is bleak. The next 6 days is sunshine every day and frost every night....NOT 1cm of snow. According to experts here it could even be late Jan early Feb before we see any skiable snow.
NO LOCALS are skiing and have no plans to until the snow comes, they are leving the mountain to the foolhardy , desperate and suicidal.
The webcam is strategically placed on the only nice looking slope, probably in the whole of Bulgaria. Blame it on Global warming, blame it on what you want, in 2004 there was no snow till Feb. At the end of the day, its a ski resort and has suffered as most of Europe has. You book a ski holiday , you run the risk, but at least in other European resorts if theres no snow theres other things to do, whilst in Bansko, if theres no snow the only alternative is drink drink drink as its not the most exciting place in the world.
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Will there be any good snow falls anywhere in bulgaria 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Probably. 
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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LATEST UPDATE !
OK, here we are, its 19th January and here's the latest, namely on Bansko but also the other two.
There's STILL no snow, actually there is 2cm due tonight, but unless you have a snowboarding hamster, this really doesn't help. Especially as during the day temperatures are reaching a very sunny 17 degrees at tmes.
There has been no snow since November, the pistes are covered in Man made snow which is rarely bashed . Its icey, it has rocks peeping through and its covered head to toe in ski moguls. For a boarder it is an absolute nightmare, wrecked boards, ice ice and ice, rocks rocks and rocks, CANNOT get a safe edge and to be avoided at risk of personal safety. Local ski hire shop has written off half his board hire stock after only 4 weeks. For skiers, if you like skiing on ice, avoiding rocks and broken snowboarders then you will be ok. Some local ski fanatics have ventured up, but have ALL said that they will not go back until it snows.
Cancellations have now reached about 50% as people are looking elsewhere for snow.
Its a real shame as the resort and facilities are top notch. Last season was brilliant, but unfortunately due to the strange weather patterns Bansko has taken the brunt. They reckon there is snow next week, and that was a month ago, it will possibly arrive when the fabled second gondola comes.
Long range forecasts on snowforecast.com and accuweather.com show 1cm here and 1cm there....bring the hamster.
As far as I know Pamporovo (and just look at the webcam) is just as bad as s Borovets. Out of the three , apparently, Borovets offers the best of the worst skiing, but I cannot stand by this. Perhaps anyone who has done Borovets in the last week can comment.
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If you are going to bring your snowboarding hamster, don't forget his helmet. And, he won't be allowed in the stripjoints unless he is at least 12 years old. Tickets for the stripjoints can be got from any of the ticket touting prostitutes giving them out at the bottom of the family filled gondola.
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FAQ
