For me, learning to snowboard was a painful process, spent fighting the elements over a bleak weekend at Cairngorm Mountain in the late 1990s. But I was lucky; for those who live further from the hills, getting into snowsports can be even harder. It can involve paying a small fortune for flights, transfers, accommodation and lift pass – just to spend all week on the lower slopes, watching others head for the peaks. For this reason, it’s wise to avoid super-resorts when you’re only looking to pick up the basics.
On a recent visit to Zakopane, at the foot of the Tatra mountain range in southern Poland, I discovered what may well be the ideal destination for beginners. Sorry Scotland!
My cheap flight to Krakow got me within two hours’ drive of the resort, where the guys from WhiteSide Holidays (one week from £389pp with lift pass, transfers, lessons, ski hire and self-catering accommodation) met me for the last leg. They’re on hand all week to shuttle guests among the many small resorts that surround the town, sometimes ticking off two in a day.
As most offered pay-as-you-go lift passes, we only paid for the runs we did. A full day of fast laps would still be a bargain for experienced skiers, and beginners would pay just a fraction of what they might in a mainstream resort.
The slopes were well-groomed and unchallenging, with friendly, English-speaking instructors on hand. As experienced snowboarders my friends and I might have got frustrated had it not been for the terrain parks at Witów, Białka Tatrzanska and Gubalówka, which were stocked with enough jumps and features to keep us busy. There were steeper slopes, too, at Kasprowy Wierch.
Unless you want out-and-out luxury, Zakopane rivals any resort in Europe for off-the-hill charm. It’s impossible not to be taken by the region’s unique dress, folk music and cuisine. Like everything else in Zakopane, eating out was an absolute bargain, and we took full advantage of the low bar prices too; thanks to those pay-as-you-go lift passes, there was no need to feel guilty about the late start next morning …
• Andrew Duthie is deputy editor of Whitelines magazine
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