 Poster: A snowHead
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Where's good to go in Slovenia that has nice and easy beginners runs but also offers plenty of a challenge for more advanced skiers. Steep and fast reds and blacks, steeps, tree skiing, bowls etc.
Also need to be somewhere with childcare and not overly fussed with nightlife, although a couple of nice pubs and restaurants would be good.
Is it much cheaper than skiing in the rest of the alps, or is it more or less the same once you're there?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Have only ever been to Kanin/Bovec and that was only for a day, but I think you will struggle to find variety in one resort. Kanin/Bovec has some nice blue and red type cruisers and good snow relaibility but is small (only 15Km of Pistes) and the lifts are antiquated. The town of Bovec is pretty low down at only 400m in the Boca valley and is an ok place to stay. They may or may not have now linked the ski area with Sella Nivea in Italy, which would add another 10 Km of piste, but it would still be a small area (although with some good off piste oppertunies if you had a guide). From what I hear Kranskja Gora is really only suitable for begginers and timid intermediates and is also pretty small. However the town is nice and the scenery lovely. Not been to Kobla but a friend said it was ok for a day but you would not go their for a week holiday, most people stay in Bled for Kobla. Prices are cheaper (or were 3 years ago) but not at Bulgarian or Romanian levels, maybe 20% cheaper than Austria or Italy for food and drink and 30% cheaper for lift passes although I think Slovenia now has the Euro so no doubt the prices will be heading up fast! To be honest I dont think its gonna tick all the boxes in terms of skiing although it might have moved on a bit since I was last there??
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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shoogly, I went to Lake Bohinj area in September 2005, not for skiing, just a bit of walking and sightseeing.
We went up the Vogel cablecar, amazing views over the lake and Julian Alps, very beautiful & unspoilt scenery, lack of commercialisation & crowds for what is the tourist honeypot of the country, good value as they were still using the Tolar at that time, many old traditions still alive, a bit like Austria 20 years ago.
Can't imagine that the Vogel ski area will entertain you for long, though you've also got a bit more at Kobla nearby, but there must be hundreds of places in Austria & Italy with more skiing.
Would be interesting as a change, but don't expect a huge amount of skiing. The country and it's people are definitely recommended though.
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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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Slovenia is not the best place to ski, but it's not bad either so... a few suggesttions.. Kranjska Gora is Slovenia’s premier ski resort. It’s located at an altitude of just over 800 metres, with its highest ski point of 1291 metres. The resort is located not far from the Austrian and Italian boarders. It is a small town with basically one main street and a town square, but along the main street are most of the facilities you could need; post office, supermarkets, car hire, hotels, bars souvenir shops, banks, travel agency and tourist information.Kranjska Gora is more turistic destination, there are plenty on non skiing activities near, you can also visit Planica and Tamar and you can ski at Podkoren near Kranjska Gora too. Most of the people speak English and are very helpful.
Vogel ski center lies in Triglav National Park above Lake Bohinj — give Vogel a special attraction. In spite of its majestic setting, the ski center is suitable for all skill levels. Take a look at www.vogel.si . I belive it's a good place to ski, but the area is very natural with no much shops, restaurants etc. but is really beautiful. You can also visit lake Bled and try local sweet called Kremsnita there.
Take a look at Cerkno http://www.ski-cerkno.com/, i like this place. Skiing is good, just there is not much to do beside skiing.
The highest ski center in Slovenia is Kanin, where the snow remains well into the spring.It is the only ski center in Slovenia where the slopes spread higher than 2000 meters. It lies above Bovec with a view over the world-renowned Soča River Valley. Because of its high altitude, this ski area is never crowded and is distinguished by its sunny location and a view that stretches from the heart of the Alps to the Adriatic Sea. A special attraction of the Kanin Ski Center is the opportunity to ski in three countries: at the Sella Nevea and Tarvisio ski resorts in Italy and at the Arnoldstein ski resort in Austria. Guests who purchase a six- or seven-day Kanin ski pass can ski for two days free at these neighbouring resorts. Take a look at http://www.boveckanin.si/ .
Also among the most popular destinations for alpine skiers are Krvavec, not far from Ljubljana, but i don't recommend it. It is too crowded.
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thanks for the replies. i didn't realise that there was so little development of the ski industry in Slovenia. Astonishing considering the country's proximity to Italy and Austria and the size of the mountains they have.
I think my wife would take a fair amount of convincing to go skiing there...
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lynseyf, if you check the stats you'll see that Kranjska Gora has only 20km of downhill trails, Krvavec 24km, Kanin-Bovec 17km, Kobla 23km, Vogel 18km; these are tiny areas by European Alpine standards and except for the last two, they're a long way from each other.
It's not the Slovenes fault, they were stuck in Serbo-Croat dominated Yugoslavia with all it's inflation problems & economic underdevelopment, then the whole thing exploded in the Balkans War, which kept away tourists and foreign investment even though Slovenia was only minimally involved in the fighting, so they're now playing a game of catch-up, which they are doing quickly. The cablecar at Vogel had been replaced recently, so I wouldn't say it's backward, just not as developed and busy as you would expect in W.Europe.
It's an unspoilt, beautiful, friendly & charming corner of the Alps and it makes for a more low-key, less commercial experience which is a good thing, as long as you don't want a large ski area that will keep you busy for more than a day or two.
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I've been following this thread with interest... my question would be regarding queues/overcrowding. Is this much of a problem?
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lrx28, it wasn't at all crowded around Sept 10th when we were in Bled/Lake Bohinj area, the summer peak was over but the weather was ideal for hiking, climbing, trekking, etc, some were taking advantage of this.
Can't comment on ski season crowds though, my suspicion would be that weekends and holidays would be busy, especially in resorts easily accessible by daytrippers from Ljubljana.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Ski areas are crowded only for new year's, school hollidays and national hollidays and Krvavec is often crowded for weekends, because it's quite near Ljubljana. Slovenian ski areas are not as big as other popular resorts in Austria, Italy, France, etc. but you can have really good time anyway 
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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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luigi, Different meaning of "developed". I know the resorts are very small by Western European standards but my idea of undeveloped is 1 tow lift going up a mountain, no shops or cafes etc. and I was just wanting to point out that there are some well established resorts with plenty of facilities, good instruction etc.
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They are building a new lift to connect Kanin to the Italian side, Sella Nevea. The permit from the authorities has been issued too late, so the new link is finished by 2009/2010.
The new lift gives access to the Italian side which is the northern side of the mountain, and snow usually lasts a month longer.
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You know it makes sense.
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might be worth waiting a couple of season then...
personally i think it sounds like a terrific place to go skiing, but there's more than just me going on our next ski holiday so i'm afraid to say Slovenia is going to have to be put on hold. Looks beautiful though and i'll make sure and visit the country in future.
I just wish i had a spare £100k so as i could invest in some property there for the future.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I think these resorts sound quite pleasant for a low-key, mized ability ski holiday (perhaps with a weekend in Ljubljana tacked on at the end). How's the snow for the third week in March? Risky?
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Poster: A snowHead
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lrx28, check out last seasons snow depth stats for Kranjska Gora on SCGB website, some good late season snow, but top lift is only 1295m, would think slopes might be suffering on the "sunny side of the Alps" as the Slovenian Tourist Board puts it, I'd want to be sure about snow conditions before booking a low altitude resort in late March.
lynseyf, yeah, we're saying the same thing, not undeveloped, but less developed than it should be had history been different, as witnessed by size of ski areas.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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one ofd the recent Warren Miller film sfeatures Slovenia- I thin near Sella Neva - looked pretty good..
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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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edsilva, the Julian Alps are beautiful mountains, they are limestone like the Dolomites, Karwendel, Wilder Kaiser etc, so makes for some nice craggy peaks. The Triglav National Park covers a large area, so these parts are protected from development, makes for nice hiking, trekking. Ski areas are sparsely scattered so not too many ugly lift installations and piste clearcuts (don't ski areas look ugly out of season?) to spoil the summer experience.
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HI............. We have just booked our flights and accomodation for a trip to Slovenia in early March. We are flying in to Ljubljana on the Friday night and staying there till Sunday morning (sightseeing). Then we'll drive to Kranjska Gora, where we are stopping for 3 nights (skiing / snowboarding). Finally were going to Lake Bled for 2 nights (skiing/sightseeing??). I am going to hire a car for the week. Will I need snow chains or are winter tyres adequate? Does anyone know how much a lift pass is in Kranjska Gora approximately? Theres not a Slovenia super pass is there? When we are in Lake Bled where should we go skiing? Is there anything in this area that just cant be missed? Any advice or tips would be great. Background info; there is me and the girlfriend going. We are early thirties. Intermeadiates. Have skiied extensively the rest of europe, but its just too expensive this year!!!!!!!!!! Thanks in advance for anything at all!!!!!! 
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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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If you're lucky you could actually find some really good snow conditions early March. For example last year in Kranjska Gora there was around 80cm of fresh snow in the second weeak of month. In that case great skiing! If there will be less than 20-30 cm of snow better stay one day longer in Ljubljana.
3 days pass in K.G. costs 86 Euro.
Bled is wonderfull in any period of the year, but in the snowy winter it's fascinating! Not just Bled but the whole region. You must go to Bohinj (there's also a lake) and I would suggest one day skiing at Vogel and another at Kobla. In mild conditions with less snow I'd suggest Vogel and Kanin for your skiing week in Slovenia. Bohinj - Vogel and Boh.Bistrica with near Kobla are not far away from Bled and they are like Bled's skiing resorts. For 2-3 days I find them more than good. One day pass at Kobla will cost you 20 Euro and at Vogel the same pass costs 25 Euro.
To Kanin (Bovec) you can go directly from Ljubljana or from K.Gora if you won't be satisfied with conditions. In mild conditions with good weather from there you can go directly to Bovec over pass Vrsic (mountain road just beneath Triglav, nice scenery) and if it's closed Bovec can be reached over Italy - Tarvisio. Anyway, quite a bit of driving but if you'll have to search for snow in March... 
So, I wish You nice cold weather with lot's of snow. 3 days of K.Gora plus 1 day at Vogel and 1 day at Kobla should satisfy you.
Offtopic (sorry, but i have to): I would just like to correct luigi's post. There was no such domination as Serbo-Croat in Yugoslavija but I'm not surpsrised with such statement when it's been written by Italian(luigi?). If there was a dominating state then it was only Serbia, and econimicaly Slovenia performed much better than Croatia at that time. So, luigi you're wrong.
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| croski wrote: |
Offtopic (sorry, but i have to): I would just like to correct luigi's post. There was no such domination as Serbo-Croat in Yugoslavija but I'm not surpsrised with such statement when it's been written by Italian(luigi?). If there was a dominating state then it was only Serbia, and econimicaly Slovenia performed much better than Croatia at that time. So, luigi you're wrong. |
Sorry to have touched on a raw nerve there. I wasn't trying to make a political point and don't want to get into the 'who are the bad guys in the Balkans' argument.
It's a credit to Slovenia that they managed to survive the Yugoslavia experience intact. But think how much better it could have done economically and in terms of development of it's ski infrastructure if it hadn't been part of that failed experiment, that's the point I was trying to make.
I'm British and like many others I'm completely baffled by the ferocity of the Balkan inter-necine rivalries that are clearly alive and well in 2009, not just confined to their Slav brothers but also their Latin neighbours! 
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Thanks for the advice Croski!
Do you think its worth having a night less at K. Gora and staying a night at Bohinj?
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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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FAQ
? if you enjoy Scotland I'd say go or it.
but for example my last holiday to Slovenia. Stayed in hotel in Bohinj next to lake, £120 HB very nice breakfast and dinner, lift pass £70 a week, hot choc with rum approx. £2. There was a ski instructor in the hotel we stayed in who drove us about for 4 days as there wasn't much snow there ( January 2007 so there wasn't much snow anywhere) he also gave me about 6 hours of lessons and I think I paid him £80 in total for this and the driving for 4 days. I would expect 2 main courses and a bottle of wine to come to less than £20. Slovenia had joined the euro when i was there and it was a bit more expensive than when i first went ( January 2006, paid £60 each for a week a chalet). PM me if you want more details
