Snowboarding in Borovets/Rila mountains, Bulgaria

The practicals:

Location: Borovets, Bulgaria

Activity: Snowboarding

Course package: Find it here (we chose 3 days snowboarding package with equipment rental & ski pass)

Package cost: 336 BG Leva ∼ 161 EUR per person

The rambling:

As I have been getting older, I have also been getting more eager to try out new things. Perhaps, something to do with the 9-5 hustle boring the heck out of me, or maybe just my adventurous self peeking through ;). In anycase, at 26 I tried out snowboarding for the first time and I got back in one piece - not too shabby, I think.

Almost everyone I talked to about my holidays were pretty surprised that I was going/went to Bulgaria for snowboarding. Little did they know (as I didn’t either) that Bulgaria has quite a number of mountains, Borovets being a ski village situated in the northern slopes of Rila mountains, the tallest range in the Balkan peninsula.

It is true that most of the ski villages/slopes are not easily accessible - they require at least 2-4 hours drive from Sofia (Bulgaria’s capital) airport. However, if you can manage the transport, I would recommend trying out the slopes in Borovets, especially if you are on a budget. In the picture above, you can see that there a plenty of slopes, with different levels of difficulty, in Borovets, to keep you entertained. You can find an interactive map here (credits to the official website of Borovets).

At the end of March - beginning of April 2022 my boyfriend and I flew to Bulgaria to see if we are made for winter sports. We flew into Sofia and from there went to Borovets by car which took around 2.5 hours. The main reason we chose Borovets among the plenty of beautiful slopes in Europe is the price point. In addition to that, my boyfriend is from Bulgaria, so that gave us an advantage in regards to communication and booking. We went on trip with minimal expectations, but it ended up being one of the most enjoyable trips we have done so far.

We booked a 3 days snowboarding course of 2 hours a day which came along with a ski pass that could be used for all of the lifts/gondolas as well as equipment (snowboarding boots, snowboard and helmet) rental for 3 days. The total cost for this was around 161 EUR (336 Bulgarian leva) per person. We booked a group lesson, however since it was the end of the season and more people preferred ski lessons than snowboarding lessons, we got private lessons in all of the 3 days.

A gentleman named Kroon, who mentioned he had been skiing since he was 3 and snowboarding since he was a bit older, taught us the basics - starting from how to tie snowboard boots to how to land softly when you fall (this is a must to learn, you will lose count of how many times you land on the snow within the first 45 minutes). In 3 days we learned to pretty confidently snowboard from almost the top of a beginners slope, avoid catching an edge (not always), make some swift turns and not be bothered by wet pants and underwear (although this is mostly the fault of our “waterproof” garments).

We spent 2 hours every morning taking lessons from Kroon and the next few hours practicing what we had learned during our lessons. We were intent on making the most of our 3 days ski pass, so we would get back to practicing even after a quick lunch break. The slopes were not crowded (given that it was the end of the season) and there were also a few other adults learning on the beginners slopes. So, we felt a bit less conscious about falling every few minutes in front of kids who were cruising through the slopes.

The lifts were in good condition and there were different lifts for different slopes so there were minimal lines to get on the lift. However, as beginners we didn’t need to take the lift, we were walking with our boards to the top of the beginners slope, which was another struggle (but a good workout) in itself.

Other than snowboarding or skiing, Borovets is a cute little village filled with a lot of different restaurants, many of which serve yummy Bulgarian cuisine and dishes that they grill right in front of you. The portions of the dishes are huge - I believe they are meant for hungry skiers/snowboarders which makes sense, but just letting you know that ordering appetizers may not be necessary. There are also plenty of shops to buy any last minute sports equipment/accessories and also some souvenirs.

As it is a ski village that gets a lot of tourists, everyone speaks English, so communication is not a problem. The prices are relatively cheap, if you consider the prices in other ski villages. Of course be reasonable in what you expect, the views and facilities are decent but aligns with the price you pay for it.

One lovely surprise for us was that the ski pass also includes a gondola ride to the top station, the highest point in that area. From the top you get a magnificent panoramic view of the surrounding mountains and villages nearby. We went there just for the view, but there were numerous ski/snowboard slopes starting from there, which definitely were meant for experts. We went here on the last day of our trip, and the view along with the sight of ant-sized humans whooshing through the slopes made us leave with a motivation to level up so that we could snowboard down that mountain one day.