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I spent two very interesting (half)seasons back in 2003 and 2004, working for Finnish travel company and guiding in Jasna, Slovakia. I spent around 11 weeks in Slovakia alltogether. Here I will tell you about my experiences in a 2 post series. I hope this can provide some useful information, maybe even correct some common misinformation, and at least just bring some stoke to go skiing and visit new places!
In this post I just give an introduction and some very general information. Two following posts are about Jasna ski resort. I will especially pay attention to off-piste possibilities in the Low Tatra range (which are excellent if the snow conditions allow BTW.) In the last post I will give you some more thoughts about the whole Tatra area in general and some tips about culture, nature attractions, other sports etc.
The western part of the Carpathian Mountains, Tatra, is most likely one of the less known Central European mountain range. The fact still is that the peaks of Tatra Mountains are the highest ones between the Alps and the Caucasus. The nature in the area is very unique. Often you hear the term "the smallest big mountains in the world" describing these "miniature Alps". Only the glaciers are lacking.
Jasna ski resort is actually located a bit of south from the High Tatras, in a slightly smaller range called the Low Tatras. I generally refer to term Tatra when talking about Low Tatras too. There are some differences between the ranges but the general feel is pretty much the same (for a skier at least). Also, there are even more small mountain ranges in Slovakia that are very interesting too, especiall for other outdoor activities. I'd even state that the country as a whole has a huge unused (now growing) potential for tourism and/or outdoor sports. And yes, eventhough the mountains are not as high as in the Alps, the country is very mountaneous!
One might ask why Slovakia for skiing? To be honest it doesn't fully compare to the biggest Alpine resorts if you only look for the figures. But there are factors that make the trip worthwhile: the price level, the nature and the culture to mention a few. And of course the snow. The amounts of it might vary a lot from year to year, though (d'oh). But the fact that there's about a thousand kilometres distance to any sea cost from the Tatras, can make for a very dry and enjoyable powder snow - one of the most pleasing suprises that Slovakia offered to me. It's also often pretty cold in the Tatras. The fact I love. Yes, I love cold, real winter and the light snow it offers. Skiing the trees in a snowstorm at about -15 celcius degrees while the snow just fluffs everywhere is something you dream about in these ages of the dreaded climate change.
Jasna ski resort is probably the most developed in Slovakia. The resort has a vertical meters of about 1100 meters (~3300 feet) and quite modern lift system with four-person doppelmayer lifts. The new poma lift offers ride to the top of the Chopok mountain, linking two-previously separated ski resorts of Chopok-South and Chopok-North. This gives the skier lot more option as e.g. the snow situation can vary a lot between the two sides of the mountain (mainly due current wind direction). Anyhow, before the new lift (pre 2007) you had to hike some 170 metres of vertical to the top, which most people cared not to do - leaving for plenty of really seldom skied off-piste possibilities. The good news, from a friend that spent five weeks in Jasna last winter, is that locals still don't rush to the off-piste in large masses.
The top lift basically allows you to get on the Low Tatra (Nizke Tatry) ridge and hike horizontally along the ridge - giving plenty of possibilities for nice backcountry skiing both sides of the Ridge. Nort facing aspect even has some really steep (~50 degrees) shortish chutes/couloirs of about 250metres or 700~800 feet of vertical. Beware of the conditions and rocks though! South side offers mellower and longer descents, often in more "corn" type of snow, given its aspect towards the sun.
The resort has officially even named freeride zones (see the map here and here and the pic links above). Officially it is only allowed to ski in these "zones" outside of the slopes. Other parts of the ridge belong to the national park and are protected. However, we never got any attention/notes for exploring the ridge further. You also see some local ski tourers here and there. But please pay attention and respect the nature: in the ridge line you often see wonderful Tatra Chamois, of which only about 250 still exists in the whole Tatra area (and in the whole world of course!). I really hope the growing tourism and ski area will not disturb the peace of those beautiful creatures and as well the whole high mountain biotype of the ridge. I see some more regulation coming in the future as an obligatory way to protect the very small and fragile area. So, go now, respect the locals, don't leave any trashes/other marks and move fast.
This was the first part of the article. Please see the second part as well as soon as we have uploaded it.
Marko Pyhajarvi is an alpine skier who has spent a number of seasons skiing in France, Switzerland, Italy and Austria. Even though he has been skiing fantastic bankcountries and stunning mountain faces, his biggest interest nowadays is in alpine skiing, especially in super-G. For more articles from Marko Pyhajarvi, please visit his blog http://homeboyski.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marko_Pyhajarvi
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