New Ski Resort Planned for Ukraine's Carpathians

February 7, 2007

In two years a new ski resort is planned to open in Ukraine's Carpathian Mountains that may eventually rival Bukovel in scope and popularity. According to Delo newspaper, 65 out of a planned 300 hectares have been purchased from local residents near the village of Bystrets in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast. Bystrets is located on the east flank of the Chornohora ridge where the highest mountains in Ukraine are. The total cost of the project will be $60 million USD, $12 million of which will be spent on 6 km of access roads.

More about Ukraine's ski resorts from SkiUkraine.info

It is not clear yet where exactly the resort will be located. Given the 6 km of access roads, it is possible that the resort will extend high into the Chornohora mountains, making it one of the highest Carpathian ski resorts in Ukraine. This is very important if winters continue to grow warmer and snow less stable at lower altitudes.

In Europe banks are very reluctant to finance new ski resorts that are not above a certain altitude because of the risk of insufficient snow cover due to global warming. The 2006-2007 ski season all across Europe has been disastrous so far, and Ukraine's huge new $250 million ski resort, Bukovel, only was able to open at the end of January. Bukovel is still in the middle of major construction and expansion and is expected to become one of the world's 20 largest ski resorts within just a few years.

Bukovel's slopes are between 800 and 1350 m in elevation, which puts them at risk of snowlessness during unseasonably warm weather that will become more frequent as global warming progresses. In comparison, Ukraine's highest resort, Drahobrat, has a base elevation of about 1300 m and was skiable several weeks earlier than Bukovel. However, Drahobrat is not developed or accessible enough to compete with Bukovel in popularity.

Ukraine's ski industry is still far behind Europe and even Central Europe (Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria), with only one modern ski resort (Bukovel) that is still often criticized for the remnants of "Soviet service" that visitors encounter there. Downhill skiing has only recently become widely popular in Ukraine, and the number of skiers will continue to rise for many years to come.

Prices for accommodations and ski passes at Ukrainian ski resorts are typically higher than for equivalent conditions in Central European countries, most notably Poland and Slovakia.

- a brief look at Ukraine's ski resorts and skiing in Ukraine
- more on skiing in Ukraine from SkiUkraine.info, a TryUkraine.com partner site

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