Skiing in Europe's ice bloc

When the Iron Curtain came down, Europe gained more than 500 ski resorts. Flip Byrnes defects to the East.

Skiing or snowboarding in former communist countries is akin to being in a James Bond film without the technology. The alcohol is hard and straight, the surroundings are seductive, adventure and mayhem are on the agenda, and while the sales talk is smooth, the modus operandi can be unorthodox.

If you have tired of the McSlopes of North America and the prices of Western Europe, consider combining some polka with your turns, sharing slopes with wolverines, and navigating the runs with ski signs in a foreign alphabet. If a scenario crossing Count Dracula's castle with Soviet ski bunnies appeals, you are ready to leave the traditional resorts behind and defect to Eastern Europe.

The list of ski destinations reads like a Contiki Tour that has taken a wrong turn: Slovenia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Russia. While they share a geopolitical history and have plenty of snow and cheap prices, they each have a culture, ethnicity, cuisine and language of their own. Grab your passport.

ROMANIA

Romania has become the place to ski in Eastern Europe - a Latin oasis in a sea of Slavonic countries.

Skiing in this part of the world once meant battling archaic lift systems and sleeping in barns, but capitalism has arrived, possibly more important than democracy, and money talks many languages. In ski language, it has meant lift upgrades, ski area expansions and sleeping arrangements involving linen- covered pillows instead of pallets of hay.

Pioana Brasov is one of the greater ski resorts in Eastern Europe, with a spellbinding setting in the pine forests of the Carpathian Mountains. It has a fair altitude of 1800 metres, 17 marked runs and 35 kilometres of unmarked runs off the groomed areas.

The proximity of Dracula's Castle, only 20 kilometres away, lends an aura of mystique that extends to the slopes, where wolves hunt at night and their howls can be heard as you lie in your renovated hotel, snuggled up in the cosy heart of Transylvania.

But the real drawcard is the price. A six-day ski pass is only about NZ$180 - you can pay that for two days in New Zealand. A three-course meal costs $10 and a beer a princely 40 cents, surely the planet's cheapest apres ski.

CZECH REPUBLIC

Like the rest of Eastern Europe, the people of the Czech Republic are warm but the winters are cold. Daytime temperatures hover about minus 15 degrees Celsius to minus 20C, dipping further at night. This translates into excellent snow conditions. Cold, dry temperatures maintain the snow cover, snow is reliable, and fresh falls result in powder champagne.

The main Czech resort is Spindleruv Mlyn in the Krkonose (Giant) Mountains near the Polish border, about two hours' drive north of the capital, Prague.

Medvedin and Svaty Petr are either side of a picturesque, friendly village that sits astride a bubbling river.

Combined, the two areas, which are linked by bus, have 23 lifts and a total of four black runs (the hardest), but skiing is low-lying, with a summit of only 1310 metres.

Once you've had your fill of sliding, you can start on the food. Meat dishes are renowned in this area. Washed down with 90 per cent proof plum brandy, there is enough fuel to get you up and down the slopes all day. Just $200 will get you a week at a reasonable hotel, with at least one meal a day.

RUSSIA

Russia is the ultimate in Eastern European skiing, partly because you can't get there, at least not without connections.

Visas are still required, and a letter must be extended through a tour organisation that has the necessary contacts. Look at a map and you will find Europe's highest mountain range, the Caucasus, featuring Mt Elbrus, easily outstripping Mont Blanc (4810) as Europe's highest mountain at 5642m. It is a wild place, bristling with mountains over 4000m.

The village of Terskol, servicing Mt Elbrus, is the type of place where having an iPod will make you the talk of the town. There are only three lifts, but they access 23km of slopes, and the highest lift point is a whopping 3810m. That means is a great deal of snow and a heck of a lot of altitude.

The real deal here is not to stay in the resorts, but to head off piste with a guide. For a real frontier feeling, head to Cheget, a small resort near Elbrus, budget for $20 a day and drink like a Russian, with vodka just $3 a bottle.

SLOVAKIA

The eastern part of what used to be Czechoslovakia is fairly unknown as a general tourist, let alone skiing, destination, but mountains dominate the landscape, and bears, lynx and wolves are some of the unexpected locals. A bonus here is empty slopes. More than 80 ski resorts are listed in Slovakia, although most are tiny village affairs with one simple rope tow, but there are two major snow options.

The largest resort is Jasna in the Nizke Tatry (Low Tetra) mountains, featuring a 2.5km trail with 770m of descent, plus some excellent off-piste.

You can enjoy a three-course lunch for less than $6, including all the wine you can drink, which can make the descent a little hairy.

The other option is Strbske Pleso in the Vysoke Tatry (High Tetras). Apart from proud locals pointing out the 90m 1970 World Cup ski jump, the slopes are south-facing and sunny, perfect for beginners. The lifts are possibly the world's slowest, so it's just as well the views are impressive.

Around Jasna, visitors can take in the Demanova ice caves, found in 1299, or plunge into the Besenova hot springs. With more investment on the way, Slovakia is nipping at the heels of the more established ski countries of Bulgaria and Romania.

Accommodation at a ski resort, with a meal, starts at $39 a person.

SLOVENIA

The major resort, Kranjska Gora, is tucked in the border between Austria and Italy, giving it an international flavour all its own. The Austrian ski field of Nassfeld is an hour away, and Treviso in Italy a 30-minute drive.

Lying in the valley that separates the Julian Alps to the south from the Karavanke Range in the north, the ski area is neatly separated by the shoulder of Mt Vitranic. There are 20 lifts accessing myriad runs.

Kranjska Gora has all the old-world charm of Eastern Europe, but its location as a major World Cup site means that it has all the glitz and glamour that goes with international events, as well as a high-speed chairlift.

Costs are similar to those in Slovakia. The night life is far from shabby, with bars or "gostolinas" heaving as patrons consume the local and evil-sounding Zlatorog beer. The cuisine is a hybrid mash of Italian and German fare: Austrian schnitzel cooked up with Italian carbonara and served with cabbage. Tasty, if slightly confusing.

POLAND

Poland boasts one major ski resort, Zakopane, which bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics, unsuccessfully. While it has some good runs, it still has some way to go. The town has a long history and features every stage of the past century on its streets, from old haunts of Polish intellectuals to ugly communist apartment blocks and a Burger King.

The ski slopes are at Kasprowy Wierch, 3km from Zakopane, with skiing in two high alpine treeless bowls and beginner slopes at Nosal.

If Slovenia wins the prize for the world's slowest lifts, Poland has the world's oldest, but the charm on the slopes makes it worth the ride.

You pay for your lift ticket by the hour, and at a rate of about $6, it won't break the bank.

Poland can be pricey compared with the rest of Eastern Europe, but even so, a good room costs a reasonable $80. The American chains - whether hotels or food outlets such as McDonald's - are overpriced. For $5 you can eat in a family-run tavern, and for a little more, you can stay in a local hotel and sample the local way of life.

BULGARIA

It's hard to spot the locals for all the English descending there every season. Their increasing numbers have made this the flavour of the month and it is for one reason: it's ridiculously cheap.

As in Romania, a three-star hotel for seven nights with breakfast and dinner costs from $390.

Romantically termed the "far east" of Eastern Europe, Bulgaria's foreign alphabet, seriously unfamiliar cuisine, low prices and variety of slopes have made it the most popular destination after Romania.

The two largest resorts in Bulgaria are the purpose-built Borovets and Pamporovo. But Bansko in the Pirin Mountains is set to become the jewel in Bulgaria's snow-dusted crown.

With a respectable height of 2580m, snow conditions are good and it boasts the only half-pipe in Eastern Europe.

The runs are plentiful, running through a forest setting, but the real point of note is heli-skiing. At only $80 a person, it is the cheapest ride you'll ever have.

Bulgarians have an appealing tradition, where they drink red wine in months that contain the letter R, a fact to be aware of when heading there from November to April.

Five Reasons To Go East

It is the cheapest ski vacation to be had anywhere, with a five-course meal costing as little as $5 and beer costing from 40 cents. The chance to be a Marco Polo on skis and go where very few sliders have been before. The diversity of culture and side attractions and vibrant stopover cities. It is relatively safe as part of the growing EU, and is the fastest-growing travel market in Europe.

- © Fairfax NZ News