The accent in Pamporovo is on value and lack of pretentiousness, ideal if you are taking a first-ever ski trip or are on a tight budget. Pamporovo itself is a compact resort – the free ski-buses run from the centre to the ski-school at Malina – fortunately just a ten-minute ride away, as whatever fuel they use is very smelly! Still, the ride through the forest is pretty. The ski-school and equipment depots are located at the nursery slopes, with the main lifts and snack cabins near at hand. As for the instruction, I have (and have heard) nothing but praise. Where else can you find guaranteed English-language instruction from qualified graduates (fluent in several languages), for four hours a day, six days a week, plus a diploma party at the end of the week? What’s more, your instructor stays with you through lunch, so that you and your group have the chance to go over technique, talk about Bulgaria and even pick up a few words of the language. Average group size seems to be around eight, and we enjoyed the mix of nationalities in ours (Bulgarian, Irish, English and Russian!).
The three-man chair lift is efficient although queues can build up at peak times, the elderly single-chairs are somewhat scary for novices, and the button-drags and bar-drags are tiring. My son was unlucky enough to meet with an accident getting off a single chair, so I can report that the rescue caterpillar ambulance and the mountain-side fracture clinic are all reasonably efficient (although all services must be paid for locally, in sterling, and reclaimed from your insurancein the UK). On the plus side, we had (in February)three metres of snow, some days of brilliant sunshine (Pamporovo is Europe’s most southerly ski resort), and great fun on and off the slopes. The pistes are attractive and well-groomed (but there are no snow cannons), and there are enough mountain snack-bars with wood fires and cheap hot chocolate with brandy (go easy – the loos are pretty abysmal, though!). For beginners and intermediates it’s a good resort, but - with only a couple of black runs (including The Wall) - it’s probably not challenging enough for advanced skiers.
The main hotels in the resort(threadbare but adequate) are linked by covered walkways, where you can buy inexpensive CDs and ski-gear. There is a swimming pool, a bowling alley, pool rooms, various bars, clubs and tavernas – but we are not talking sophisticated apres-ski here. There is also a Bulgarian folklore evening and lamb-roast for those keen to experience something other than cheap drink and discos. For ourselves, we found Bulgarian people friendly and welcoming. So what, if the hotel food is nothing like what you’d get in Meribel or Saas Fee? This is Bulgaria, after all, a country with a struggling economy where the ski-instructors earn little more than £40 a month (so hopefully you will feel happy to tip at the end of the week). We appreciated the great lack of pretension here – no-one actually cares which season’s jacket you are wearing and, at the end of the trip, four novices came home able to ski, entirely converted to the cause, and that, surely, has to be a good thing for the sport.
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