News from Pamporovo

Google expand its Street View service in Bulgaria

Dodser — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 09:56:22 +0000

Finally Bulgaria catches up with the rest of the world! When a ski resort gets covered in snow everything is white and sometimes it’s hard to get around. Throw apres ski into the mix and it’s nigh on impossible! Google have started maping Bulgaria and Pamporovo is on the list of locations to get mapped. Should be up and running for next season.

EUROPEAN SKI CUP COMES TO TOWN

Dodser — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 14:15:02 +0000

There’s a real buzz around Pamporovo at the moment with the European Ski cup coming to town. Competitons will take place on Pamporovo’s famous ‘Wall’ with the top skiers from all over Europe competing tomorrow and Monday.. including slalom skiers Reinfried Herbst and the renowned Japanese racer Naoki Yuasa.

Organisers seems to be sparing no expense preparing the venue for the event with 100s of staff with snow ploughs out on the slope preparing it. The event should be a bit special with Skiing conditions across the whole of eastern Europe, excellent.

CHRISTMAS EVE 2011

Dodser — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 21:49:40 +0000

Slopes are open. Plenty of snow 2 days before Christmas. Phew!

Ryanair made its first flight to Plovdiv

Dodser — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 09:47:26 +0000

Europe’s biggest low-cost airline Ryanair made its first flight to Plovdiv airport (PDV) from its base London Stansted (STN). The plane is a Boeing 737-800 jet, which was greeted with a water salute. The regular flights from London Stansted to Plovdiv will be on Tuеsday and Saturday. The ticket price starts from 32.99 euro.

Plovdiv airport has a brand new terminal finished in 2009 with 10 check-in desks with a parking lot for 50 cars and 20 buses. The airport is only 60 km from the ski resort Pamporovo.

The Plovdiv airport CEO Doichin Angelov together with the Bulgarian plane spotters’ site www.bgspotters.net planted a tree. Sweet!!!

NEW DEVELOPMENTS ON THE SLOPES

Dodser — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 21:40:42 +0000

News from the ground from those nice people in Bulgariaski.com… They’ve been working on the ski runs over the summer and two slopes have been widened to include the run down to Stoikite. One more ski run will be lit this season for night skiing. They’re planning on implementing electric boards throughout the slopes. The lift prices won’t be increased this year. Electronic ticket machines will be implemented for speed.

Ryanair now fly to Pamporovo

Dodser — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:42:35 +0000

Good news for UK ski tourists. Ryanair have recently announced the creation of a new service to the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv this winter.

Flights on the new route to Plovdiv, which is located close to the ski resort of Pamporovo, begin on November 2nd and will run every Tuesday and Saturday throughout the winter season.

ALPHA SELLS IT’S STAKE IN PLODIV AIRPORT

Dodser — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 09:51:09 +0000

Bulgarian financial group Alpha Finance Holding sold its 58.08% stake in the airport in the country’s second-largest city of Plovdiv to Denmark’s Nordic Airport Infrastructure ApS, the company said on its website, IntelliNews reported.

The price of the deal has not been disclosed yet. The sale follows a change in the investment strategy of Alpha Finance, which excluded the airport from its core activities.

The company will focus on renewable energy projects developed by its subsidiary Solarpro, the expansion of mineral extracting company Kaolin, and the consolidation of the alternative telecom branch through Spectrum Net.

Alpha Finance bought the airport stake in 2007 and had proposed several times strategic public-private partnerships but with no positive results. The remaining part of the airport stake is held by the transport ministry. The air traffic in Plovdiv is now concentrated in the winter months when charter fliers are servicing the nearby ski resorts of Chepelare and Pamporovo.

RYANAIR FINALLY FLYING TO BULGARIA?

Dodser — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 12:51:48 +0000

Rumours, rumours, rumours.

This one has been floating around for a while now…

1: Location

Half of Bulgaria’s population live within an hour and a half of Plodiv airport. It has 2 major ski resorts a short distance away as well. The Trakia Highway is continuing to expand and in a few years it’ll reach Bourgas.

2: Ownership

The EU is rather touchy about State owned airports and their municipalities subsidizing the arrival of new airlines which has the knock on effect of stimulating the economy of the immediate surrounding area. However when airports are not in State hands it’s a rather different story. Plovdiv Airport, as far as we understand, is not operated on concession so is therefore not under direct State influence.

3:Logistics

The low cost model is new in Eastern Europe. The reason Ryanair don’t fly into Bulgaria at the moment may have to do with logistics. It’s a three hour flight there and three hour flight back. The best that they’ll be able to do is 4 journeys a day. This is viable, as long as they’re not giving away flights for one euro. And there’s no need to give away flights that cheap when there is no competition!

So it could finally be on the cards. We’ll keep our ear to the ground.

Newly renovated Plodiv airport

Watch this space.

WINTER OLYMPICS

Dodser — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:07:46 +0000

The Winter Olympics has come and gone, and once again Bulgaria has drawn a blank. For a country that has serious aspirations to host the Olympics in the next eight years this isn’t really good enough. More has to be done to help these athletes reach their full potential and thus promote Bulgaria as a top ski destination. That’s my rant for today over.

PS. On the good side. Skiing conditions great in Pamporovo at the moment with more snow due on Monday.

PAMPOROVO SNOW MOBILE RALLY

Dodser — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 12:33:36 +0000

Pamporovo will host a snowmobile rally for the second year on 27 February. The event is called Snow temptation – Pamporovo 2010.
This is a one of its kind for Bulgaria competition with motor sledges on a specially marked terrain.
The competition will take place on two stages, pretty much like a classic car rally.
The first stage starts form Malina 3 ski lift – Pamporovo and is 8 km long. The terrain is really fast and the starts commence every 2 minutes
A safety zone for the audience, parking lot and competitors zone is planned at the beginning of the terrain. The second stage will take place of the ski slopes of “Pamporovo” Lts. The competitors will have a group start with direct eliminations. The terrains is 400 m long. The competitors will be divided in two classes, according to the engines of the snow mobiles. The starting fee is just 20 BGN and includes an insurance and a cocktail cover after the event.
Participants will be also able to rent a snow mobile.

Program of the event
Saturday, 27 Feb. 2010
07:30 – 10:00 AM – free training and machine fix.
10:00 – 11:00 AM – trechnical maintenance of the terrain;
11:00 – 02:00 PM – Stage 1 of the rally (Prevala – Perelik).
04:00 – 05:00 PM – Presentation of the sponsors of the event – Malina
05:00 – 07:00 PM – Rally stage 2 – Malina
07:00 – 07:30 PM – Demonstrations
7:30 – Award ceremony.

This year the competition will be bind with an eco initiative – buying back the emissions of carbon dioxide, emitted during the competition.