 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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Hi Dan, the ski pack deal is usually worth doing. Usually you would expect to do group lessons in the morning and meet up to practice in the afternoon. I've not been to bansko but have had a couple of weeks in other Bulgarian resorts.
You can't really get away from the fact that skiing and boarding for the first time you will both need lessons and you won't do yourselves any good by missing them. My other half boards, I ski, we seperate for lessons and catch up after to ski together.I'm sure you'll enjoy yourselves, welcome to the beginning of an obsession.
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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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Bansko is grim, cheap for a reason. My inlaws have an apartment there,no one visits it. Sorry 
Use the search facility on this site to get some info on the place.
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I would definitely go for there ski pack. For your first time definitely go for the easy option. Though I am wondering what the limited lift pass is? It isn't an area which has local / area pass.
I have also been to Bansko and it isn't bad in my book but also isn't the best. You say December are you going for Christmas or new year ( as I don't believe it opens befor Christmas?). If new year be aware the lift queue for the gondola up was awful and I opens late on New Year's Day.
My In laws also have a place out there and we will again but not until both are girls are old enough for full days skiing. While they are the age they are we prefer to use the Esprit (with kids clubs etc)
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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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Thanks for the reply guys.
We're going between Christmas and New Year. I had read that Bansko wasn't the best but for a first trip I thought I'd give it a go. It has to be better than indoor anyway!
Is there any alternative to the Gondola or a way to beat the queues?
Thanks again
Dan
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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HedZupp,
IMO,the shame of it is, Bansko doesn't represent good value. Yeah, it's cheap, but it's all a bit rubbish, miserable and bleak.
Sofia airport is typical Eastern Bloc, the transfer is overly long and scary at times, Bansko has been ravaged by dodgy money over-development, the locals can be very offish, the food can be appaling, especially on the mountain. The Gondola queue.......... 
Personally, I'd go for a similarly priced, smaller central European resort if value is what you're after. 
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| HedZupp wrote: |
Is there any alternative to the Gondola or a way to beat the queues?
Thanks again
Dan |
I did see from the gondola cars driving up to a car park and picking the lifts from further up to avoid the gondola. Our thoughts were about possibly hiring a car next time we do go to do the same but haven't investigated further yet.
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I just want to add a different view to a couple expressed here! We went to Bansko in February this year and thoroughly enjoyed it, apart from slightly annoying queues up the Gondola in a morning... however, patience is a virtue and all that  so once we were up the top, it was well worth the wait. We had 9ft of snow fall during our stay which meant the long slow rolling road back to the Gondola station in the late afternoon was perfect to ski down - a blessing with small children and nervous first timers. I wouldn't snow board it though, it is virtually flat the whole way and about 5kms... thats a long walk!!
We found the resort perfect for our needs. There was a huge group of us - we stayed at the Strazhite Hotel, which was well situated 300 m from the Gondola (uphill and about 7-8 mins walk, rather icy due to the conditions while we were there). I can recommend finding the supermarket which is very close to the ice rink on the main road, its through a car park and up an escalator (interesting!) but cheap as chips for beer and wine, fizzy stuff etc..and snacks. We took a lunch time drink in a bag every day and saved money - bearing in mind we had kids with us, they all wanted a sweet pick me up coke at lunchtime.
The runs were fine for us. Plenty of blues and reds for the intermediates and a couple of decent blacks for the advanced. My hubby is a boarder so he enjoyed off piste through the trees (we spotted him picking his way down under the chair lift a couple of times) and with the amount of snow we were lucky enough to have we even compared the conditions to our Whistler experience in 2010.
In summary I think there is a lot to be said for ski snobbery against Bansko and if the snow comes, its unfounded. The ski/boarder instruction is excellent and they brought me on rapidly from a nervous red skier to a confident one with plenty of fun too. I even did a tiny jump towards the end of the week much to the amazement of my friends and family who all know how nervous I am. Enjoy it for what it is. Cheap and cheerful and frankly, if you are pleasant to the waitors (and tip well on your first trip to the bar), it will pay dividends.
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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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| Quote: |
Is there any alternative to the Gondola or a way to beat the queues?
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Yes, there free are minibuses laid on at busy times by the "happy end" bar. These will take you to carpark next to where the Gondola ends up. If you time it right you can sometime walks straight on to these.
I would take some of the comments on here with a pinch of salt. The is definatley some ski snobbery going on here. Bansko isn;t the best resort you'll ever visit, but it is certainly more than good enough for first week boarders/skiers.
The food on the mountain is pretty naff, I'd suggest a pizza during the day and eat properly during the evening. The food in the resort on the other hand can be pretty good, especially if you like your meat (i'd recommend veggies stay away!) I've had some brilliant steaks out there for about £10 and there local kababs stick things can be pretty good, as is the suckling pig 
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Hey, drop the 'snob' tag, you're miles off with me.
Having skied for many years in many resorts, I actually consider Bansko poor value. It's not cheap enough to justify it's poor standards.
I've spent six weeks skiing in Bansko in total, so have had far more exprience of the place than the above posters.
Yeah, you can pick out bits that are OK, some things are quite good, other things are awful.
Why accept any 'awful' in a holiday on which you've spent hard earned cash?
I will always make the point that a similarly priced holiday in say, a smaller Italian resort, would be a much nicer holiday and far better value.
Go and check it out, I hope that you have a great time.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I had a great time in Bansko. Never went up on the gondola once always used the free minibuses at the base area, way quicker.
For me what made it was the local people. The ritual at our ski hire shop every day when we dropped our gear off was that the guys would always invite us into the workshop & basically we would get mullered on their local wine & firewater for a couple of hours. We met their families & went out to dinner with them, and once you go to the real local haunts it is as cheap as chips. Try Pajoko in the old Town, also up on the mountain there is an old hotel a hike away from the pistes about 2/3 of the way down to the bottom, you will struggle to spend money in there.
I would love to get stuck into some of the backcountry skiing there are some great looking lines, we just didn't get the conditions.
It is what it is, I've skied in nearly 50 resorts around the World and wouldn't hesitate to go back.
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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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HedZupp, Firstly, welcome to Snowheads!
I went to Bansko two years ago and had a great time - a lot of people don't like it (even those who have never been) but I thought it was great and I was very very pleasantly surprised. Here is my report:
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=1761380&highlight=bansko#1761380
You would be a fool not to go. It is wonderful, very good value, lovely scenery and great value for money.
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We had absolutely nothing Awful when we went! The food was great, the people friendly, the snow conditions for that week awesome. And for £1000 for 3? Bargain. Can't match that anywhere else and believe me, we looked,
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You know it makes sense.
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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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alasdair.graham@hotmail.c, He kept going back as he had the use of an apartment! As such he may be more knowledgable than others who offer their opinion based on less experience. Any place you go as a first timer will be magical. I still think of my first time at school in Piancavallo with great fondness! No doubt, as they say Bansko will one day "it will be the next Val D'Isere"! I do not believe it will ever be the next Val D! I may be wrong, but I know some people that would love to dispose of their property there! You pay for what you get. Cheap, yes. Great spacious apartments, yes. Skiing may not be as good as the EK imo!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Roy Hockley,
Horses for courses. 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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HedZupp, Go for it ! I used to have an apartment there and stayed for a season in 2008/09. Bansko is a great place and I still return 2 / 3 times a year in addition to skiing in other French / Italian resorts.
Like anyplace there are tourist traps but even these would be cheaper than the normal French prices. There are some fantastic Bulgarian Restaurants I recommend Dedo Penne and Bariakova in the old town. I have visited these with many Bansko 'newbies' and have never had a complaint yet. Obviously forgot to take Mollerski who seems to find fault in everything he has seen there in his 6 horrible weeks. Why did he keep going back ?
In the new area up near the lifts avoid the Happy End ( overpriced and poor food) try the Friendly Pub ( changing names this season but all the locals can tell you where it is) You can get a great meal and very well priced drinks in the Pirin Bistro which is about 150 yards downhill from the bottom gondola station. The staff are very friendly and you could spend a few hours in there after skiing eating and drinking and still have change from a tenner !
As far as I know there is only one lift pass so no 'limited' lift pass and you would be well advised to take the ski package on offer. There would be no lessons for beginner skier and boarders together so go separate and try to meet up at lunchtime if you need to.
From experience I know that you will not be able to beat the tour operators package price in resort so make sure you book the packages before you go.
Your only mistake is to book December as it is always very busy then. I prefer to go in March or after the middle of January to avoid the queues. Use the busses provided or get to the lifts very early or after 11 to avoid the queues.
I hope you have a great time. I'd love to read your comments on here afterwards. You never know, you may hate it so much that you return another 5 times !
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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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oohh you just musnt go to eastern europe its just soooo not france!!! pmsl always found france a right pain in the back bottom to be honest, youll enjoy Bansko, and I know that Mr Canski has got a good insight to it. The food on the whole is really good, especially in town, just dont be led by your instructor too much they will take you to the best commision paying place rather than the best to eat. Xmas is not such a big thing in Bulgaria the bigger holiday is new year, so you wont find it too busy, a lot better than france for queues!! Everythings a lot cheaper as well, and the white stuff covers a lot of any percieved ugliness!! a lot of the 'diising' on here is by people that either havent been or havent been recently, the lift system is good and modern, and the slopes are now well marked and pisted, cant be that bad a resort as its had World Cup for the last two years!! enjoy!! 
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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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| Quote: |
| Bansko is grim, cheap for a reason |
Indeed - so much so that after skiing about 150 resorts in 15 countries, Mrs MA and I absolutely loved it on a three day visit a couple of seasons ago. We'd read quite a bit of negative stiff about Bansko ("Mollerski...Come on down !!") but can only speak as we found and would recommend it to anyone without hesitation:
- Cheap, luxurious apartment. Massive compared to French shoe boxes (and we should know 'cos we own one in Tignes...)
- 100m from the gondola.
- No queues (late January) - either for the gondola or on the mountain.
- Perfect snow conditions.
- Skiing to the bottom of the gondola.
- Powder off piste.
- Challenging/steep off piste.
- Glades off piste.
- Excellent standards of piste grooming.
- Bigger area than we expected.
- Slopes fairly varied.
- Excellent lift infrastructure - modern, fast lifts.
- Very cheap food and drink on and off the mountain.
- Interesting old-town.
- Great to visit somewhere a bit different.
The only negatives that we found were that of three meals out on an evening, two were a bit poor. Edible but rather bland. However, we could have just been unlucky and I wouldn't write off a resort just over a couple of meals!
Go for it HedZupp - bet you'll love it too! (Especially as it's your first snow holiday.)
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Bansko is a great place, off there again in Feb and this would be our 5th time. We have been to many Frenck and swiss resorts in the pass few years and price wise Bansko is king. The piste is not that big an area but big enough. The off Piste is great. Beer and food very good and great value. The apt we rent is 2 min walk to the gondola and its huge with wifi and sky in the apt, basement pool and jacuzzi for £200 per person for the week Beer and food on the mountain in Flaine no change from £20, beer and food on the mountain in Bansko change out of a tenner. The lift system is good. To be honest the way things are cash wise with me its Bansko or bust. Yes if i was flush i would try somewhere else for a change but i can't. Also we eat out evey night as the meals are great and very cheap. Try Banskomania for hire gear and lessons. Right by the gondola and good guys. I have been told they are bringing in new hire grear this year. There is talk of another gondola going in and expanding the ski area. Also the Bulgarians a nice people and not the grumpy stone faced persons some would have told you.
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HedZupp, if i could make a small suggestion. Try and convince your gal to snowboard. You would be together and when you progress in future, you'll have great adventures together. My friend chose skiing over snowboarding as he thought it would be easier. After 3 attempt he quit and became a snowboarder. He's only just linking turns but he loves it and would never ski again.
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Oh and Bansko is great for beginners. Don't listen to these philistines.
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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 a v nice time here and a fascinating contrast to the mega resorts of the Alps and other parts of Europe so many of us are familiar with...loving the skiing and holiday life here.
Contrary to above duff info there is shiny white snow at Bansko today, sunny with the trees on high white as you'd like. A 20 min drive up to mid-mountain and (bar a just crazy queue for lift pass puchase) at most a 5 min wait for lifts towards top of mountain. First time have skied any resort at new year and yep v busy but all doable bar those needing to do beginner drag lift which def needs doubling up capacity; except that key here seems to be bypassing morning gondola queue by whatever means necessary.
Staying in Banya circa 3 miles from Bansko and being greeted by v nice people, v good food and a friendliness here absent in plenty of 'mainstream' resorts. Def worth a trip out here for the open-minded holiday skier...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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DoubleBombardino,
Crack on, sounds great.
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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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Mollerski,
You really need to get over this Bansko thing, just accept that your in laws made a truly awful investment by buying there and move on, stop being bitter about all things Bansko.
I agree it is a bit sugar & shite, just avoid the shite, it really is quite easy.
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You know it makes sense.
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Mollerski,
Trust me that'd was not patronising. For what it's worth I agree with a lot that you say, horses for courses et all.
Which is why I am doing a 2 week tour of the Dolomites in a couple of weeks, Alleghe, Cortina, Kronplatz, Corvara. This is in a totally different league to anything that an Eastern Europe destination could offer, but trust me it will cost a hell of a lot more than a fortnight in Bulgaria.
As you say horses for courses, as I say Bansko is a bit sugar and shite. I doubt I will ever go back, but if Bansko was the only thing in my price range then I would.
Just get over the Bansko thing man, every Bansko topic on here has you slagging it off. Yes you have had 6 weeks but your view is not at all objective, just my humble none patronising opinion.
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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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Kel,
Get over being a tw@t.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Headmaster Dobby adopts a patronising tone.
Children, children. [more patronising tone] I think we can all agree that all resorts have their good and bad points, and that our individual experiences of those resorts will be different. For me, Livigno was cr@p. First week skiing and tuition awful with tutor who spoke no English. Transfer from hell. Cheap apres though. And food was OK, if you liked veal. A lot of veal. Tuition and skiing in Soldeu were great. Sh!te hotel and food and transfer from heck (not quite as bad as hell). La Thuile would have been great if it had ever stopped snowing and some of the resort opened. Apart from the mad French teenager who nearly killed the Mrs and himself by taking the racing line on a crowded black. And L2A has some great things going for it (Signal is a great run), so long as you don't mind the strung-out nature of the pistes, the middle section of the mountain which can get crowded and the back-to-resort runs which until this year consisted of a horrible, crowded road or a few nasty black runs.
/patronising tone [for now]
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Mollerski wrote: |
Kel,
Get over being a tw@t. |
Ouch, so I'm the tw@t around here then. So why is it if you are not bitter about all things Bansko did you find it neccassary to bump this topic after a week of inactivity with
Knowing that the Op would be in Bansko around this date, bit of a tw@tish thing to post I think. Or is it that you just had feck all better to do on Xmas day. So really who's the tw@t.
Anyway I'm out of here can't be arsed with this, but I think most on here will know where I am coming from.
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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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See how well I defused that situation?
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Got friends in Samokov, so I'd go to Borovets. Think they can virtually see the piste from the kitchen window, so I know whether to stay home or fly.
Quite like the idea of Bansko in summer though.
All skiing is good. I don't give 2 hoots about size of area, quality of snow, etc. And the worst snow I've ever laid skis upon was France. By a very long way.
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FAQ
Other than that, your skills from the snow dome are totally transferable.
The snow road back to town will be brown slush soon. 