Posted:
13.12.2023 14:24:00
Skis or snowboard — take your choice!
Popular ski resorts in Belarus have opened the season
Winter is generous with snow these days. There is plenty of room to go sledding and tubing. And for a special drive and energy boost, vacationers flocked to ski centres. Logoisk was the first to open to visitors this season. We also took our skis there to find out which winter sport is easier to master, where it’s best for extreme skiers, and why they serve ‘pizza’ right on the slopes?
Logoisk ski resort
Both snow and people
On weekdays, Logoisk ski resort is literally visited by about 400 people just for fun. On weekends, this figure rises to 2,000.The centre now operates a training slope and a fourth track. They are simple — just the thing to remember the skills you forgot over the summer or to master skiing and snowboarding from scratch. Night skiing has already started: on Fridays and Saturdays the slopes are open until two in the morning.
We climb to the top of the slope. There is a lot of snow here. As well as people. Truly winter weather is only a joy for those who decide to spend time actively. Igor came with his family and friends. He declares that in such weather you can’t sit at home, but leisure is very uniting. For those who are confident on skis, the slopes are simple, but just right for skiing with children, says Igor, “I put my little one on skis from the age of three so that we could spend time actively together. We’ve ridden all over the world, and Logoisk ski resort is pretty good, there is something to compare with.”
The first visitors highly appreciated the quality of the trail preparation: a lot of ‘powder’. This is the name given to freshly fallen natural snow. It’s not too dense like its artificial counterpart, so it’s easy to roll on.
“Very good snow! We were finally able to go for a ride in early December! And so they usually started only in January,” Minsk resident Gennady Zhinkov says, raising his thumb.
Gennady has been skiing for 40 years and says he still feels delighted. It’s time to teach my grandson Vanya. The boy, hiding his blush behind a mask, admits that he likes it.
Minsk resident Alena Kravchenko is also a regular on the slopes. She has been skiing for 24 years; for the last ten years she has switched to snowboarding, “It’s difficult to compare, the sensations are completely different. I love snowboarding because you can ride it freeride, that is, on untreated snow outside prepared trails. Plus, you can jump. But on skis it is possible to develop greater speed...”
And you can actually develop decent speed. However, falls happen. Two guys in orange vests rush past us. They patrol the trails and provide assistance to those who are injured: they take them directly to the first aid station on a snowmobile in a special sleigh. In the new season (thanks to the Almighty and protective equipment), this sled has not yet been useful to anyone.
Here’s where you can find ratracks
From the top of the slope there is a picturesque view — a winter landscape as nature intended it to be. The main source of ambiance is the snow cannon. There are 12 of them, each one can spray about 30 cubic metres of snow in an hour. Then the ratrack comes in — a wide-track tractor for working on snowy slopes. It is well-equipped: blade knives and cutters. It evenly distributes the snow along the slope, compacts it and cuts characteristic grooves — the so-called corduroy. It’s not for beauty at all. The play of light and shadows of corduroy gives a clear picture of the surface, making it easier for the eye to judge distance. Riding becomes more confident and safe.There is enough snow to make the necessary cover to launch several more slopes, Yegor Yatskevich, head of the sales service of the Logoisk ski resort notes, “To start the season, winter resorts foremost need frost, not snow. Preferably minus 5–10 degrees. Then you can spray the required layer in five to seven days.”
On the main slope they set up a so-called snow park — additional slides, turns, various figures and jumps so that extreme sports enthusiasts can take their breath away. For extreme descent there is also a third route, which is very fast.
For lovers of snow tubing, there is a specially equipped track with a lift to enjoy the downhill without any extra physical effort. Its length is 100 metres. This year they made a small bend to extend the pleasure by another 50 metres.
Forces on the rise
A team of professional instructors in great demand! Aleksandr Narushevich barely finds a free minute to exchange a few phrases with us. For five years now he has been teaching beginners how to ski and snowboard, and helps experienced ones with advice,“In the first lesson we teach how to brake with a ‘plough’ — to fall correctly, modern children call it ‘pizza’. You need to group yourself and fall on your side with your outstretched arm. With this algorithm there is less risk of damaging something. In general, you can start skiing from the age of three, snowboarding only from the age of nine, they are more traumatic... And the method of learning to ski is simpler, especially if you already skate.”
According to the instructor, if sports are present in a person’s life, then after four hours of training, you can already slide down the slope on your own. Some people don’t look for easy ways and try on their own.
At the ski and snowboard rental point there is enough for everyone even during peak loading periods — the stacked racks are proof of this. Renting one set for two hours will cost Br13 on weekdays and Br16 on weekends. An electronic pass to the ski lifts on a weekday for two hours costs Br25, on weekends — Br35.
Winter luxury
The slopes of the Silichi ski resort are not empty these days either. On average, about 7–10 thousand people from all over the country and neighboring countries come here for winter experiences on a weekend. Furthermore, it’s not for nothing that this resort was dubbed ‘Belarusian Switzerland’. The season started here symbolically on the first day of winter. On December 1st, the most popular tracks (No. 1, No. 3, No. 6) and the training slope opened, a little later, route No. 4 and tubing. They are designed for different skiing levels of vacationers. There are other leisure options for those who do not like skiing and snowboarding. For example, an indoor ice skating rink, it is already operating.Prices for services in the new season are quite affordable. Renting a ski or snowboard set for two hours on a weekday and a weekend will cost Br20 and Br25, respectively. A two-hour ski-pass on weekdays costs Br30, on weekends — Br40. You can purchase a seasonal ski-pass for Br1,250. Especially for the new season, Silichi ski resort offered guests winter tour systems: SKI LIGHT and SKI PRO, which include a day ski-pass.
Conquer the capital’s peaks
The only ski centre located directly within Minsk, Solnechnaya Dolina in the Kurasovshchina microdistrict, has also acquired its own slides.It can simultaneously accommodate up to 300 people. There are training and main slopes and the Alpine Coaster attraction. You can rent a kit for Br17 on weekdays and Br20 on weekends; tubing for an hour costs Br10.
So you can do without the Alps — the relatively mild climate, the absence of the risk of avalanches and modern infrastructure attract tens of thousands of vacationers to ski centres. It is no coincidence that Silichi and Logoisk ski resorts are among the top best resorts in the CIS. Go and judge for yourself.
By Inna Gorbatenko
