Skiing on the Side-Slopes of Prahova Valley

We invite you to one of the richest and most developed Romanian counties: Prahova, with its capital city in Ploiesti, known for its oil processing industry.

Daniel Onea, 16.01.2014, 12:30

We are not going to talk about either statistics or industry, because we want to take you to the mountains for a ski holiday. And the best place to ski is Prahova Valley, two hours from Romanian’s capital city Bucharest, and boasting a large number of ski slopes, for both beginners and experts.

Mihai Colesi, the coordinator of the Busteni Tourist Information Centre has told us that this is the best developed mountain area in Romania, with slopes serving all degrees of difficulty.

Mihai Colesi: “There are 14 slopes, including pistes for beginners, for intermediate and for expert skiers. All slopes are equipped at European standards. Each piste has either a cable car or a gondola. Also, there are ski lifts in Sinaia, Busteni and Predeal. In Busteni, at the foot of the two slopes, there is an Amusement Park, for both children and adults. Starting this year, the same access card can be used in all three most important resorts on Prahova Valley: Sinaia, Busteni and Predeal. In previous years, there were cases when people would buy a one- day pass, and then, because of gusty wind or other problems, they could no longer ski and therefore lost their money. Now they can use any of those slopes, as it happens in other countries in Europe, such as Austria, Switzerland or France.”

Passes can be purchased from the company that manages the ski slopes in the three towns, as well as from the sale points on each slope. Ski passes for several days are also available, with discounts proportional to the number of days.

The offers are quite diverse, says Anda Baciu, secretary general of the Tourism Promotion and Development Association in Prahova: “Hotel owners have prepared packages that include accommodation and ski passes or ski pass discounts. There are special offers for winter sports fans, because the area is suitable for several sports, such as snowboarding, ski gliding and ice climbing. There is something for everybody.”

Mihai Colesi, coordinator of the Tourist Information Centre in Busteni, is one of the organizers of the Romanian stage of the Ice Climbing World Cup, which is to take place this month.

Mihai Colesi has further details: “This is a very important event, because there are only six countries in the world that host stages of the world cup. The first stage has already been held in Korea, the second one is here in Busteni, and the next ones will take place in Switzerland, France, Russia and Italy, respectively. This is a relatively new sport. The Romanian stage was re-scheduled to January instead of February, so that demonstrations can be held at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, because they are trying to include climbing in the family of Olympic sports. The competition is organized by the International Mountaineering and Climbing Association in Bern, Switzerland. So far there are 92 athletes enrolled, coming from 16 countries on 4 continents. It is the most notable winter sport competition in Romania. It will be broadcast online in over 100 countries.”

According to Mihai Colesi, the surroundings are also worth seeing, particularly if you have time: “Major tourist attractions can be visited here. A cable car provides access to the Bucegi plateau, where a couple of well-known monuments, very popular particularly with foreign tourists, are waiting to be visited. Tourists will be delighted to see ‘The Sphinx’, the Cross on the Caraiman peak or the rock formations known as Babele (that is old hags in Romanian). The region is also famous for its castles, such as Peles, one of the most beautiful in Europe or, the Cantacuzino Castle in Busteni, which was built around 1911 and is currently part of the national heritage. Trips to the Bran area, close to Prahova Valley are also available including visits to the famous Bran Castle.”

The Sinaia resort boasts the highest altitude slopes on the Prahova Valley, situated at an altitude of around 2,000 meters. The place is a real heaven for winter sports lovers and has offers for all categories of skiers and snowboarders.

Anda Badiu, head of the Prahova Association for Tourism Promotion and Development has told us which of the resorts on the Prahova Valley she would recommend to a foreign tourist: “I would recommend to foreign tourists to visit Sinaia, if they love to practice winter sports, because it boasts the largest number of ski pistes in Romania. The cultural offer here is also quite rich. It treasures parts of the country’s history, it is placed under the sign of royalty, as Sinaia was the summer residence of the Royal Family. Foreign tourists are very interested in that. Another worth visiting resort is Busteni, which has an interesting amusement park. It is also a good place to take some ski lessons. Of course, tourists can learn how to ski in any resort on the Prahova Valley. Azuga, for instance, is known for its very good ski instructors. There are several highly appreciated ski schools in Azuga. Another reason for picking this resort is that it gives tourists the possibility to take part in wine tasting sessions at the royal cellars. We are inviting tourists to come to the Prahova Valley, which boasts more than 23 homologated slopes that cover 25 kilometres. They are equipped with snow canons, in case there is not enough snow. Furthermore, ski lessons with the best instructors at very good prices, are guaranteed.”