CLIMBING VIRGIN SLOPES
Sofia Alpine Club Mlad Dihatel (Young Breather) is organising Alpiniada za Devstvena Rila (Alpine events for virgin Rila). The events are taking place on December 8 and 9, starting at Malyovitsa hut in Rila, and anyone can join. The Malyovitsa region is an important place for mountain climbing in Bulgaria. The organisation of this event being promoted as a sign that climbers are against the excessive building on the highest Bulgarian peak, Rila Mountain. They are also indignant at the new regulations that mean that people can climb only if they possess a “blue card”. The day will include presentations on protecting nature, free climbing, climbing and ice-climbing competitions, table-tennis matches, as well as contests for the best ice sculpture and best igloo or ice cave, ski competitions and snowball fights between the teams of brokers/investors against the ecologists/climbers. “There are no bad feelings. We have invited all brokers and investors, not just with the purpose of throwing snowballs at them, but for them to see how beautiful and hospitable Rila is as it is now,” the organisers said in a media statement. Awards are being provided by the organisers and by the program Radio Adrenalin of Info Radio. More information is available at the events’ website: mlad-dihatel.com.

THE SEASON
The big mountain resorts of Bansko and Pamporovo will officially open the winter season on December 15, while Rila’s Borovets will wait until December 23 for the official ceremony. Lifts at the resorts however will be open earlier. The lifts at Aleko on Vitosha should be opened on December 8, Bulgarian-language daily Dnevnik reported on December 3. A one-day ski pass at Bulgaria’s biggest winter resort Bansko will be the same price as in 2006, 50 leva for adults and 30 leva for children. A two-day pass will be 95 and 53 leva, respectively, a six-day pass 280 and 155 leva, respectively, and the season pass will be 1340 for adults and 800 leva for children. Night skiing will cost 14 and 10 leva, respectively, for one night, while the price of a one-way gondola lift ticket is eight leva. The manager of the resort concessionaire Yulen Ivan Obreykov said that Bansko had put three million leva into maintenance of the ski slopes in preparation for the new season. Bansko currently has a total of 70km of ski slopes. A one-day pass at Rila’s primary resort of Borovets will cost 33 leva during the weekends and 55 leva during weekdays, while a pass only for the slopes Yastrebets 1, 2 and 3 will be 22 leva. Yastrebets slopes have been also re-conditioned and the ski zone there has been maintained and expanded. In Pamporovo there are 25km of ski slopes and this year there will not be any new routes. However, the resort’s bed capacity is expected to grow by about 50 per cent from 4000 beds in 2006. A one-day pass for the resort costs 49 leva for adults and 28 for children. A two-days pass is 95 and 51 leva, a six-day pass costs 276 and 152 leva, and a season pass is 1307 and 795 leva, respectively.