Czech mountains: Pustevny SKI AREAL

Pustevny Ski Areal is located in the Beskids, one of the most favorite mountains of Czechs. It is pretty close to Slovakia borders. The areal itself is pretty big, with few ski lifts, different types of tracks amazing views.

ACCOMMODATION

We’ve stayed in Horni Becva. House we were located in was spacious, modern, and well equipped. Even a bottle-opener was there, which was quite a surprise for me, someone who prefers to choose a low budget accommodation during holidays/trips etc, preferably campsite. This house was luxurious compared to other places I’ve slept in.  Resort’s webpage for all of you interested in details.

ALL YEAR ROUND

This location is not only good for the winter season but also during spring or summer, there’re plenty of activities to do. I’ve noticed some bicycle paths on the way, heritage parks nearby, and many observation towers over there. You may also try the newly opened Stezka Valaska, an observatory tower with a skywalk.

SNOWBOARDING

Our aim is simple…master snowboarding. Greg and I are still at a learning phase and Pustevny Ski Areal is a really good place for people like us, scared but willing to get more experience… All together there’re about 3 kilometres of ski lifts taking 4500 people per hour. Nothing to compare to Austria’s ski resorts but I enjoyed my time spent there. We parked at the upper parking slot.

FOR BEGGINERS?

From my point of view, Pustevny is adjusted to beginners, there are 4 blue downhill runs, 3 red, and 1 black. I didn’t really feel up to go to a red run after seeing it and I didn’t even want to imagine how a black one looks like there.
Blue run called Knizeci cest is the longest there, it has 5 kilometers. Somewhere halfway, it leads to red run Velka Sjezadovka and blue run Nad Boudou. Everything is marked perfectly so there is no need to worry about being lost in the forest. The whole two days we were “training” on blue run Nad Budou. Amazingly I wasn’t bored with that, the opposite I didn’t have enough of it. The only disadvantage of the whole resort is that it is not lightened after dusk, therefore it’s opened only until 4 o’clock p.m.

TICKETS

The variety of tickets allows to choose between all-day tickets and hourly tickets. Because we got up late on Saturday, we bought 12:00-16:00 ticket for 280 kc. I had enough stamina to stay longer, but 4 hours were quite satisfactory. On Sunday we bought single tickets on every lift because it was cheaper than the day pass. Single ride cost 15 crowns at Nad Budou and 20 crown at Velka Sjazdovka. I don’t suggest it will be cheaper for you as well, but because we stayed on the blue run only it was better for us.

WHAT DO YOU NEED MORE

Besides good skiing conditions, the weather and views were astonishing. Especially when we managed to get on 1098 meters below sea level. Pines and spruces bent under snow’s weight, benches covered with ice, and a great atmosphere at snack bar serving goulash and other warming soups. Just perfect!