Borovets - Does it live up to the hype?
Mark Coleman, 7th March 2007
Day 1 - First impressions
Two weeks until we left for Bulgaria and the Borovets webcam (www.bulgariaski.com) was being checked by Elliott (my seven year old son) on an almost daily basis. It was looking great, over a metre of snow and more forecast!
Finally, Saturday arrived and we were off to Gatwick for 
our three hour flight to Sofia. Our group of fifteen (a mixture of snowboarders, skiers and ‘bladers’) had booked a package through Inghams; flights, a week in a superior room at the ‘Iglika Palace’ hotel, half board, kindergarten and ski lessons for the children and lift passes, all for just under £400 per person (the six day lift pass was £85). I challenge you to find the same value in any of the more ‘traditional’ European ski resorts!
An hours transfer later and we arrived in Borovets at around 9 o’ clock to the sight of majestic pine trees frosted with snow.
First impressions of the Iglika Palace; great location in the centre of town, large, comfortable bar, spacious clean rooms and hot food ready for us. Downstairs there was a sauna, massage room and a swimming pool.
After dinner we all quickly unpacked and then regrouped in the bar to sample the standard of the local beer ‘Kamenitsa’, all in the name of research! The bar, expertly run by Daniel, was extremely good value. A large beer was 3 Leva (about one pound), a generous shot 4 Leva and decent cocktails 7 Leva. The five children were well catered for in the form of a games room, with table football (2 Leva), a darts game and 4 Sony Playstations (4 Leva for thirty minutes). This was fantastic, as the grown ups could relax with a drink, knowing the kids were safe and happy.
Day 2 - Hire equipment and first day on the slopes
Sunday dawned bright and early, with a buffet breakfast at 9 o’ clock. There was a good choice of greasy fry up, continental ham and cheese, 
cereals or fruit and yoghurt. You needed to allow an extra half an hour if you fancied toast though, as the toaster was extremely slow! Next task was to get the children to kindergarten. This was in another hotel near the gondola station and appeared well organised, with the Inghams reps settling the children in. Our next job was to get fitted for skis, boards and boots in the imposing Rila Hotel. The six days hire was around £70 for boots and board/skis and to be honest with you, the kit had seen better days. Once rigged up we headed for the slopes. The four snowboarders among us took the brand new high speed four man chairlift ‘Sitnyakovo’ to the top of the central Borovets area. From the top there were a choice of green, blue and red pistes and at a height of 1780 metres the snow was in great condition, although some icy patches were beginning to appear lower down the mountain. We didn’t have to collect the children until 4 o’clock so we had the luxury of a leisurely, boozy lunch and several runs in the afternoon sunshine.We ate dinner in the hotel that evening and although the food could have been warmer there was a good choice of salads, main courses and cakes. After a long debrief in the bar, it was off to bed.
Day 3 - On the mountain and a night at Mamacita's
Monday morning saw a couple of us take the gondola to the Yastrebetz area, the top station sits at an altitude of 2369 metres. The first thing that hits you as you step out onto the snow is the spectacular view. From here you can see almost as far as Sofia with the vast expanse of Lake Iskar sitting to the north east. The mountain villages of Beli Iskar and Govedartsi seemed just a stones throw from where we stood, sat in a snow covered valley below. Just a quick tip; try to avoid the gondola between half past 9 and half past 10 as it gets extremely busy and 
you will be faced with a thirty minute queue.
From the peak, there are several challenging runs to choose from. All graded red with one black, they take you to the foot of the mountain, with a short walk through the forest back to the gondola station. Be aware that ‘Yastrebetz 3’ and ‘Popangelov’ will take you too far outside of the resort and you will need to hire one of the many waiting horse and carts to return to the town (which is actually a very relaxing way to travel back to the town). However, it’s a small price to pay for the enjoyment of these two deserted pistes. Again, the snow was good although a little hard in places but this was soon forgotten when it became clear how few people were actually using the slope. In one run, from top to bottom, I counted five other people. It was sheer bliss!!
We paid a visit to ‘Mamacita’s’ tex mex restaurant in the evening (booking is advised as it’s very popular). We had nachos as an appetiser, then chose from the vast choice of typical Mexican dishes (a children’s menu was also available). In order to give a fair review, we decided to try several of the drinks, in fact the girls weren’t sure about the quality of the Chardonnay so needed three bottles to be absolutely certain! Entertainment was provided in the form of a live band (allegedly Led Zeppelin’s support act at one time), who knocked out some really good covers. A good sing song was had to the likes of Travis, Toploader and the Proclaimers! All very good food and excellent service for the sum of around 40 Leva per person (about £15).
Day 4 - It's snowing!
Drawing the curtains back early on Tuesday saw the sight that every skier and boarder dreams of - fresh white stuff falling from the sky! The snowfall continued all day and lasted late into the evening and gave the mountain a well earned top up. Needless to say the boarding was absolutely fantastic for the next two days.
By now, the five children (four of whom were seven years old and little Oliver, who was three) had been in kindergarten for two days. The older ones weren’t particularly enjoying it as they were in ski lessons with much younger children. One of the group, who was a Borovets veteran, decided to call up a local ski instructor who had taught his son on a previous trip. We were pleased to find out that he accepted the challenge of looking after four children and we met Vez at 10 o’clock. We agreed on a deal that would see the kids have four, two hour long lessons, for a cost of £42 per child. Again, I challenge you to find that sort of deal in Austria or France!
Day 5 - "Sue slips up on Skidoo Safari!"
Wednesday evening saw the whole group assembled outside the American run ‘Silver Fox’ bar (the owner’s claim to fame was organising a Scorpions gig in Sofia many years previous). As we stood and waited, the roar of seven Ski Doo machines suddenly broke the still mountain air. After a 5 minute safety brief we were off on a twenty five kilometre blast through the tree lined Musala Pathway, headed for the Markudjik region of Borovets. It was exhilarating and quite a challenge to successfully navigate around the steep hairpin bends. Two of the group (who shall remain nameless – ok it was Susan and Lynn) weren’t quite so successful and managed, much to their embarrassment, to tip their machine over! It was a brilliant evening and well worth the £17 per person.
Day 6 - Battle of the sledges
Thursday was warm and sunny and with the little ones safely under Vez’s wing, it was time for the adults to blast the mountain. Later, we had lunch in the aforementioned Silver Fox, who’s owner had taken the novel approach of an express menu. Your lunch in five minutes or your money back with a limited choice of good, homemade burgers, chicken steaks and real chicken nuggets, all washed down with cold beer. What more could you ask for?!
After lunch, we took the four kids to the top of the four man chair ‘Martinovi Baraki’ and bought them back down the gentle blue run. I was astonished: Elliott, who’s previous experience consisted of three hours at Milton Keynes, was easily linking snow plough 
turns and beginning to keep his skis parallel. Vez, the wonder instructor, had worked miracles, and given all four kids a fantastic start to their winter sports experience.
Thursday evening saw battle commence in the sledging wars. Each of us hired a sledge for 5 Leva and trudged up to the top of the floodlit nursery slope. From the top, it looked extremely steep, especially with your bum perched six inches above the snow!
The three boys managed to find a small jump and were lining up to get some ‘phat’ air, much to the amusement of the people on the chairlift directly above them. The adults managed about four runs before collapsing exhausted in a heap at the bottom.
Several of the gang ate in the hotel afterwards, not able to manage anything else due to sledging fatigue. Two couples mustered up enough energy to walk to the only Chinese restaurant in town. Upon entering, we wished we had booked as it was extremely busy. We had a drink at the bar and our table was soon ready. The food was really tasty but don’t order too much as the portions are huge! Again, there were half portions available for children and a good wine list available for the grown-ups (average price for a decent bottle of red was about 12 Leva or £4).
Day 7 - Last day on Mt. Musala
Friday, our last day of skiing and boarding, came around all to quickly. Another warm and very sunny day was making the pistes quite soft and
heavy going, it looked like we had definitely picked the best week for snow conditions! It was the last day for lessons with Vez, so we met him and the children at lunchtime and declared our gratitude to him. We have all kept his number and when we visit Borovets again we shall definitely be in touch. We ventured up to the top of the gondola after lunch and the children had a couple of runs in the Markudjik area. We were tempted to bring them back down the mountain using the red run ‘Yastrebetz 1’ but then decided although their progress had been good, they weren’t quite that advanced yet. So, as 
three of us made our way down the mountain for the last time, the little ones were shepherded back down the gondola.
Friday night usually sees the restaurants packed out, so we booked early for Franco’s, in the heart of town. It had been recommended to us but on first impressions it seemed more like a busy, smoky bar. We were led past the bar and into a large upstairs area to our huge corner table. The menu was fairly standard; pizza, pasta, calzone and, surprisingly, curry. When the food arrived, we were all pleasantly surprised. The pizza’s were really good and the chicken tikka masala had rave reviews. Time for another pointer: don’t linger over dinner for too long. As we were sorting out the bill, the evening’s entertainment kicked off, in the form of an extremely loud Meatloaf look alike. He did some great covers but it was way too loud and at one point two of the boys had their fingers in their ears. Tip: take some earplugs just in case!
Day 8 - Fond farewells - but we'll be back ....
Saturday morning bought a well deserved lie in (not for the intrepid Lynn who managed to squeeze another couple of hours skiing in), then it was time for bag packing and some last minute souvenir shopping. We had lunch in the fantastic Mama Cita’s – I thoroughly recommend the club sandwich – then it was time to board the coach for the quick trip back to Sofia airport.
All in all, it was a fantastic week’s holiday. We had typically good weather and the fresh snow was a real boost. The pistes are good and with plenty of red runs, offer a real challenge and the lift pass offers great value for money. The resort is fantastic for both apres ski and nightlife, and must be the cheapest in Europe. Combine all this with the improvements and expansion that the ‘Super Borovets’ project will bring and you will have a resort that can easily rival anywhere in Europe.
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