ROAD SITUATION
The Road Infrastructure fund said that the country’s roads were passable in the winter conditions. However, the following mountain passes were closed: Troyan-Kurnare, Etropole-Zlatitsa, Tvurditsa-Elena and Vurbishki Prohod. All vehicles travelling through the mountain roads must have snow chains fitted. Lorries must not pull extra trailers or half trailers when crossing the Petrohan pass. In addition all lorries must have snow chains fitted and must not pull extra trailers when travelling the roads near Velingrad, Batak-Dospat, Ardino and Stanke Lisichkovo, through the Predela, Rojen, Pamporovo, Prevala, Pechinsko and Petrohan passes, as well as around Samokov, when crossing the Prohod na Republikata (Republic’s Pass) and when driving on the Belovo-Yundola and Velingrad-Surnitsa roads. Lorries must not have extra trailers when passing over the Shipka pass and in Kurdjali region. Vehicles weighing more than 10 tonnes are banned from passing on the Sliven-Stara Reka road, Focus news agency reported on January 2.

NEW RILA BUS STATION
On January 2 the new bus station was opened in Samokov, near Borovets. The renovation of the station had taken almost two years and cost more than two million leva. The new station is 1840 sq m and contains new building and place for employees to rest. The bus station services about four to five thousand passengers and the tourists a year, most on their way to Borovets. The station is managed by Avtostart AD-Samokov.

MOUNTAIN FINES
Fines up to 300 leva will be imposed by the municipal ski patrol on skiers and snowboarders found on the slopes under the influence of alcohol or drugs. This is part of the new public order regulations, which were voted in on December 28 2007 by the Chepelare local council. The ski patrol will maintain order and safety in Pamporovo and Chepelare winter resorts. Chepelare municipal council chairperson Banko Vurov said that Smolyan and Chepelare mayors had signed an agreement for the patrol with representatives from Pamporovo ski-schools. The patrol will include two municipalities representatives and one representative from the ski-schools. A similar practice was also introduced on Vitosha Mountain.

SKIER DIES
A Russian skier died on the evening of December 31, on his way back from the Bansko ski zone. He was skiing down the snow road to the town. The incident happened at about 5.30pm. The skier was alone as his wife and children had remained in the hotel that day. In the dark he did not see the piste basher, which was working on the snow road, and crashed in it at high speed, dying immediately, Bulgarian-language daily Standart reported. Bansko mountain rescuers said this was an isolated case but skiers and snowboarders were breaking their arms and legs every day on the Bansko ski slopes because they were not skiing and boarding sensibly and were overestimating their own abilities. “It is a law on the piste to take care of the person in front of you but even this is not respected,” the mountain rescuers said. Each day, 20 rescuers keep an eye on the 19 Bansko ski slopes and the snow road to the town. They now have the right to sanction any violators who are skiing dangerously. However, the heaviest punishment they can enforce is cancelling someone’s ski pass for a day.