Both snow and laughter

What Belarusian ski centres offer this season

From the very first day this winter turned out to be real and snowy. Many Belarusians did not waste time and, having grabbed skates, tubings and skis, set off to break in the ice and snowy slopes. Ski centres of the country take hundreds of people even on weekdays. We also went to the most popular ice hills in Minsk and the metropolitan area to find out what emotions one can get there and how much money it will take. 

Solnechnaya Dolina

In the ski centre, which is located in the Kurasovshchina microdistrict, there are two slopes — training and main. So far, only the training slope is working, but very soon, after snowmaking, the main one will be launched.


The length of the training slope is 120 metres with a height difference of up to 30 metres. The main one is slightly larger: its length is 215 metres, the height difference is 40. In the centre, one can take lessons from an instructor who will train both adults and children to ski.
Equipment rental on weekdays is open from 12:00 to 22:00, on weekends it opens two hours earlier. Not only skis and snowboards are offered, but also tubing, which one can ride in the city park, which is literally 80 metres away. The cost of renting a ski or snowboard kit for adults is Br12 per hour on weekdays and Br15 on weekends and holidays. Lift services for adults cost from Br7, for children — from Br4 per hour. The instructor’s lesson will cost Br50.

Logoisk

The training slope has already been covered with snow and two tracks have been built on the site of this ski sports and recreation complex.
In the near future, they plan to open another track and use a drag lift, set up a snowpark and an airbag.
“Extreme lovers will appreciate interesting figures for performing tricks of different complexity levels. Here, throughout the winter season, one can hone his or her skills,” notes head of the sales service Yegor Yatskevich.
A special track equipped with a lift is equipped for snow tubing. The track turned out to be very fast, says Yegor Yatskevich, “We even specially rounded the descent in order to slow down the speed of movement on it a little for the safety of vacationers. People can ride tubing with us from the age of six. However, I would advise parents to watch the children before letting them go up the hill. High speed on a rolled slope can scare the baby.”
About 400 people visit Logoisk on weekdays, and on weekends the number of visitors can reach 2,000. Security issues are given special attention. On the lifts, operators monitor the boarding and disembarking of guests and, if necessary, adjust the speed until the lift comes to a complete stop so that beginners can get off it.
Prices in the ski centre remained at the level of last year. It offers rental of snowboard and ski equipment. It, by the way, has been significantly upgraded this season, especially children’s models. One set for two hours will cost Br15 on weekdays and Br18 on weekends. An electronic pass for the ski lifts on a weekday costs Br22 for two hours, on weekends — Br33.


In the upcoming season, Logoisk will continue to organise night skiing on Fridays and Saturdays from 22:00 to 02:00. Renting one set of equipment for night skiing will cost Br20, a ski pass for two hours — Br30.

Silichi

Preparation for skiing in the republican ski centre began at the end of November. It takes an average of 5 days to make the tracks snow, and then the slopes are levelled by snow groomers — special snow compactors. There are five tracks, including one training track. 
“The visitors highly appreciated the quality of the slope preparation. At the same time, our slopes are designed for different skill levels of vacationers: both for beginners and for experienced skiers or snowboarders,” says chief marketing specialist of the Silichi Republican Ski Centre Diana Pavlovich.


Prices for services at Silichi remain quite affordable: a two-hour ski pass costs Br25 on a weekday and Br35 on weekends. The equipment fund has been upgraded for the current season. Renting a ski or snowboard kit for two hours on a weekday and weekend will cost Br18 and Br22, respectively. There are other leisure options as well. For example, an ice skating rink has already opened, and a tubing track has been launched. Of the free entertainment — the trail of health. It’s over 400 steps down the hill surrounded by incredible winter scenery.
Diana Pavlovich emphasises, “On weekends, the centre is visited by 7-10 thousand people. Guests come from all over Belarus, there are especially many visitors from Minsk and nearby regions. Residents of more remote geographical areas choose to stay in our hotel and perfectly combine it with skiing. There are also a lot of guests from Russia. New Year and Christmas holidays in our centre have long been sold-out, every room. The centre has completely renovated guest cottages, reconstructed baths. The Wellness Centre has prepared unique programmes aimed at losing weight, including profile procedures and the development of individual nutrition. It’s a perfect opportunity after the holidays!”
Indeed, we don’t have our own Alps, but the relatively mild climate, the absence of the risk of avalanches and the modern infrastructure of our ski centres with traditional Belarusian hospitality attract tens of thousands of tourists here. It is no coincidence that last season Silichi and Logoisk entered the top 10 best ski resorts among the CIS-countries.

REFERENCE
This winter, 14 ski slopes with a total length of more than 24 kilometres, 27 ice rinks and 31 hockey rinks will be organised in Minsk.

By Inna Gorbatenko
Photos by Aleksandr Kushner, Aleksandr Kulevsky