Skiing In Bulgaria - Part 1 (2/3) By Steve Rudd

(1/3), (2/3), (3/3). Part 2.

Hmm, I could have thought of much worse places to be, seeing in the New Year... especially as we were all then auspiciously led upstairs and outside into the freezing night in order to bear witness to a staff member's clear obsession with fireworks. The first few he let off in a most serious and stern-faced manner, but he clearly soon thought to hell with this, let's have a laugh, before proceeding to almost blow himself up with one. And then allowing the night to go out with a clattering bang when the final firework to hand darted straight for the hotel at hell of an obtuse angle, erupting in all of its mesmerising glory just outside one of the upper floor's windows.

Well, he thought it was funny... and, alright - so did everyone else. After a few more drinks and laughs we ambled upstairs, before being presented with the same problem that we had earlier on chosen to blatantly ignore in favour of the ensuing festivities. Now the in-question 'problem' stared at us head on as we opened our room door. Yes, there were only two beds for three people, with one camp bed standing guard beside a double-bed. I volunteered to take the floor option, which was supposed to work on a rotational basis.

Somehow, though, I managed to wind up sleeping on the floor every single night for our seven-night residency, but I couldn't complain. Simon, in the single bed, complained that his sleep was continually tormented by a forever-yelping dog that never seemed to shut up from sun-down to sun-up. Matt, meanwhile, argued that the double bed was plain uncomfortable, covered in sheets and a quilt that had been designed to provoke severe bouts of itchiness in whoever encountered them. They assured me that on the floor I was in fact in the best place of all.

If you've never skied before but would like to, just do it. Get into a Ski School, and Bob's your uncle - figuratively speaking. When you book your holidays it's often easier to book everything as part of a 'package deal,' whereby the price of the Ski School and list passes, along with some of the necessary gear, will be included. The gear that should be included will usually be the ski boots, bindings, the skis themselves, and the ski poles.

Otherwise, it's up to you to invest in base layers, a good fleece or two, a hard-wearing and warm ski jacket, salopettes (or ski 'trousers'), a good pair of ski gloves, along with obvious items such as thermal socks and the like. The first day or three of Ski School will be spent on what are dubbed 'nursery slopes,' which in some cases are near-horizontal areas where beginners tentatively get to grips with the basics, such as putting the skis on and taking them off, and learning how to balance and project body weight into turns.

Every instructor has his own exercises, all of which are designed to increase your confidence on skis. Staying at the relatively outlying Victoria Hotel, we had a ten minute trek into the heart of Borovets to collect our gear from the basement of the imposing Samokov Hotel (which is also home to the Samokov Ski School), before we met our instructor, Kamen.

Continued ... next page (3/3)

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