Vitosha

Freeriders will be pleasantly surprised with some of the slopes especially if you head up the highest point of the Cherni Vrah peak. from here you will be able to gain access to a number of challenging runs which includes the Vitoshko Lale area which has a mixture of un-even red and black runs. There are also off piste opportunities available through the trees and under the two 2 man chair lifts suitably named Dragalovski (on the bottom right hand side of the piste map).

This is quite a nice long run so afterwards stop off at the bottom and visit the Watermill Restaurant (Vodenizata) for some great traditional Bulgarian food and schnapps. Don't worry, their menu is in English too! Amazingly at the top of these lifts, after a cutting over to the main area, you will find an unfinished hotel that is three quarters built. You can also find a broken piste basher parked up behind one of the lifts. Only in Bulgaria.

Unfortunately one thing this place is not noted for is backcountry riding. Although there are some trees to check out, there are no back bowls of deep powder.

Freestylers won't fall in love with Vitosha as this is not a place for getting big natural airs. There are a few natural hits, and local are always building kickers. To get to the Terrain Park, take the killer T Bar (marked as G on the map) which may have you speaking an octave higher by the top. Inexplicably you have to pay an extra 1 Lev for this privilege! It is worth it though because from the top there is a lovely view over the whole city. The park is ok with some medium sized kickers and a scattering of rails.

Riders have a mountain that on one hand provides some decent fast spots, but on the other hand the choice of good carving sections are limited to just a few runs. From the top of the D Chairlift check out the Observatory and some strange rock formations. From here you can take the black run down, but don't expect anything too testing. Surprisingly, their pistes are usually well prepared by their Pepsi Emblazoned basher.

Beginners have the best of things here with 10 out of the 20 runs graded as easy, with the largest cluster of novice runs found around the Stenata area. The long green off the Romanski chair is a nice easy run.