Christmas at Kranjska Gora

A snowHead

Hi

We are looking at booking out first ski trip for this coming Christmas.

We are all 6 of us, me, wife and 4 children aged between 10 and 23 (!!!) beginners so are looking at somewhere suited to beginners but not too expensive as we cannot go outside school holiday dates.

We have found a couple of hotels in Kranjska Gora in Slovenia which look pretty good in terms of facilities, transfer times and cost.

Our only concern is how big a risk are we taking in there being no snow. It does not seem very high and we are looking at going around 20th Dec which I assume is pretty near the start of the season.

Could anyone give us any advice on how big a risk this is? The guides say there are snow cannons but don’t know if this means proper or enough snow?

Thanks in advance for any help

Rob

A snowHead

RobWa, welcome to Snow Heads snowHead

You'll get a lot of opinions here about Eastern European ski resorts, not all very positive. I'm not fond myself, although have only tried Bulgaria once (and that was enough....). IMHO these resorts are cheaper than more mainstream ski resorts for a reason. 20th December is early for many places and skiing at Christmas can be risky anywhere, so you'd be advised to counter that by going as high as you can - the might be snow in lower resorts but as I say - risky. If you are tied to school hols, Easter will usually be cheaper as a peak week, with good snow, longer days, blue skies - all helps when you - and especially kids - are learning.

I'll drop you a PM (personal message) with some ideas - get back to me if you need more help.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Haven't skied there but did walk there some years ago. I have to say that beginner skiing didn't look too promising. I realise that you might be on a limited budget, but the danger is that you save money but end up with a bad experience. I would look for a better resort and cheaper accomodation.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Slovenia isn't really Eastern Europe! Although it's also pretty low.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I went to Kransjka Gora for a couple of days as the resort we were at didn't have any snow so it may be the most reliable of the Slovenian resorts. It was quite pretty although there was only a few slopes open when we went so can't say what the skiing was like, this was the year where everywhere was bad, 2007?? Not sure how snow sure it would be at Christmas but I would definitely recommend Slovenia for budget conscious skiers although it does seem to be getting dearer year on year ( been 2006, 2007, 2009).

You'll need to Register first of course.

RobWa, it's about the same altitude as say Schladming, with a slightly lower top lift height of about 1650m... Austria does tend to get more snow than Slovenia but in a good year you could expect it to have similar conditions and as Colin B says, it's hardly Eastern Europe!

However, I do agree with Anniepen that going for a lower resort relatively early in the season, there is a chance of not having a great deal of the white stuff. Every season is different, and although history isn't an accurate predictor of the future the snow levels in December are pretty hit and miss according to Igluski/SkiClubUK.

Hope this helps with your decision making.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

RobWa, Went there in late jan this year, so quite sadly, I was watching the webcams, daily all way thru Nov Dec and Jan, waiting for the snow to fall. When it did the there wasnt much and it was washed away by the rain. I would not have liked to have been there last Xmas. Having said that, it started to snow about second week in Jan I think and that stopped there until we went. Snow coverage was patchy but the cannons were going when ever they could which in some cases were day and night, the may bonus is that it is mainly on grassy meadows, so it really doesnt take a lot of snow to ski on, which was lucky. The resort is relatively low in altitude and low on the mountain itself and is in shadow of the hills across the valley so if it is cold enough the pistes stay firm, very firm, although it got a lot firmer when they injected the World cup course with water, I thought I had skied on ice before but I had to re assess my thoughts and previous experiences when they re opened the piste, after 2 days of preping the piste and I heard one of the coaches talking to some of the many would be racers that were training there to be careful as it was quite firm on the run in at the bottom. Any way I digress, The hotel was ok, the village was ok, the skiing was ok, and as a whole it was ok. Would I reccomend it not really, would I go back..................... well it is skiing and if that was all I could get ...............and it was free. I would definatly think about it. Listen to Anniepen and Welshskier they talk some sense. Welcome to snowheads

After all it is free

RobWa, welcome to Snowheads.

Have never been to KG but a few general comments. First, as Anniepen says, Easter is a better bet than Christmas for snow cover and weather generally, and cheap resorts are cheap for a reason. Second, snow cannons can only operate if it's cold enough - they are absolutely no use whatsoever otherwise.

If you don't have set ideas about where you want to go, but you do want to go at Christmas, it would be worth waiting till much nearer the time. Christmas is quieter than New Year in much of Europe and you'd find something, even though there are 6 of you. There should be some good last minute bargain packages for beginners, including lessons and equipment hire in a number of countries, including Austria (which might be the best bet for you at Christmas). If you wait till early December you'll have an idea of early season snowfall.

pam w, excellent advice. If the snow is bad you'll have the flexibility to go somewhere the snow is good,and if the snow is good you'll have loads of options, potentially even Kranjska itself...

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Thanks very much for all the replies - it has given us a lot to think about!!!

We have finally decided that it is probably too much of a risk re possible lack of snow. I think we already knew this having looked at the snow reports for december for the last couple of years but were hoping to get persuaded otherwise!!

We are really tied to Christmas due to school holidays and my job prevents me from taking much leave at Easter.

Given that we are not brave enough (for our first trip at least) to wait for last minute bargains we have started to try and look at higher altitude resorts and accept that if we want to still do it on a bit of a budget we are going to have to accept longer transfer times - you cannot have everything unless you willing to pay for it!

So latest potential resort is Passo Tonale in Italy. Seems to have a reasonable reputation for early snow and focuses more on beginners so the lack of demanding runs is not going to be an issue for us - I guess we are going to be concentrating on trying to stand up most of the time anyway. Down points found from reviews so far are that it is not the prettiest place (dull according to some), does not have a lot for more experienced skiers (not a problem for us) and longer transfer times (just under 3 hours).

We have found a couple of hotels that look promising.

So we have set our daughter a task today of trying to find as much information about it as possible today while she is off college and hope to make a decision tonight.

Does this sound a better compromise?

Cheers

Rob

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

RobWa, probably a wise decision, for your first time, as you need things to be a simple as possible when you don't know what you're doing!

I have been to Passo Tonale and like it a lot. I'd skied for many years by then, but went with a friend who was in her 3rd or 4th week, and she was/is still a nervous skier. She enjoyed it hugely, had lessons in the afternoons, when I skied alone and I wasn't bored. It's NOT the prettiest town, just one road really, with a few shops, bars, cafes, but the mountains are still lovely. It was cold though! If you are stuck with Christmas, that's not a bad thing, and I think they have a very good snow record. We stayed in the Orchidea hotel, at the 'far' end of the road, but still only a 5 minute or so walk from the lifts, ski school meeting place etc. It's a family run hotel, and the daughter is an instructor (she taught my friend in private lessons). Hotel was very clean, warm, comfy, good food, nice bar area, big fireplace - I'd recommend it. I'd also go there again if I was looking at TO holidays, outside France (we always do DIY, and tend to go to France).

The transfer for us, was from Bergamo, and was well under three hours IIRC.

snow reports

RobWa, I've dropped you a PM

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Christmas at Kranjska Gora

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