News

We had a wonderful winter season 2018/2019! There were tons of snow, perfect weather and many good things happened in Pirin Mountain and in Bansko. Herewith we want to remind you of some of them so that you can take advantage of them or support them.

We introduced our new loyalty program for our guests - Bansko Loyalty Club. It is targeted at those sport lovers who buy seasonal lift passes every year. You can find all details here.

On April 6th, 2019 at Shiligarnika was held the ski race for Bansko Loyalty Club members. After the competition there was a special party for the guests of Bansko, who buy seasonal ski passes every year.

At the beginning of the winter season 2018/2019 Ulen AD presented its new ecological initiative - in all establishments in the ski area of Bansko the following packages were replaced:

· Plastic bottles with glass bottles
· Plastic cups with paper cups
· Disposable straws with bamboo straws
· Disposable tableware with biodegradable dishes, made of materials such as wood or paper.

The result at the end of the 2018/2019 ski season is that we have significantly reduced the plastic junk in the mountain, as seen in the amount of waste passed for recycling compared to the previous season:

Paper and cardboard packaging
- December 2017 - March 2018 - 4160kg
- December 2018 - March 2019 - 6848kg

Plastic packaging
- December 2017 - March 2018 - 1605kg
- December 2018 - March 2019 - 328kg

The data above shows that we have almost completely eliminated plastic packaging waste - the 328kg plastic packaging from season 2018/2019 is mainly packages of food prepared in the kitchens, but not from used tableware in the restaurants or bars in the ski area. As a result, we have increased the amount of biodegradable and paper waste, as evidenced by the comparison of the two seasons above.

After many years of hard work and training, the phenomenon Albert Popov took the stage this winter. The young hope of the Bulgarian alpine skis gathered thousands of Bulgarians back on the slopes and in front of the TV sets, watching each race of Albert, Yoan Todorov and Kamen Zlatkov.


On January 29th, 2019 Albert Popov finished 6th at the slalom in Schladming. Thus he became only the second Bulgarian alpine skier, who was ranked in the top 10 of FIS Ski World Cup races, 33 years after the tenth place of Peter Popangelov on January 21st, 1988.

Seven kids, who are suffering CP rushed down Bansko's slopes on March 30th, 2019. They were skiing with adapted ski equipment called Sitski. The children were accompanied by specially trained instructors from ski school Ulen and by Boyana Kotzeva from Parakids Association.


Martin Karachorov is one of Ulen's specially trained instructors who helped children with disabilities to experience the emotions of winter sports.

Bulgaria's Best Ski Resort Bansko has signed a special partnership agreement with Verbier, Swiss' Best Ski Resort. More details are coming soon!

One of the many benefits of this prestigious cooperation is that every beholder of a seasonal ski pass in Verbier or in Bansko can ride 3 days for free at the other resort.

Bansko has been declared for the 6th consecutive year as Bulgaria's Best Ski Resort. The prize comes from the highest instance in the tourism industry – The World Ski Awards.



The jewel of Pirin Mountain received the equivalent of the Oscar on the red carpet at the A-ROSA Hotel in Kitzbuehel (Austria).

For the 11th time we were part of the "Learn to ski" initiative. 22 kids from all over Bulgaria were skiing for free in Bansko between March 31st and April 4th. All of them are winners in the different regions of the country where the camaign "Learn to ski" was conducted. Up to now over 32 000 children have been trained and educated to respect, love and preserve the mountain and the nature in general.

The most socially oriented project of the Bulgarian Ski Federation and the Ministry of Youth and Sports "Learn to ski" this season was participated by 2253 children from all over Bulgaria. Statistics show that over 60% of program participants continue to practice winter sports.

During the winter season 2018/2019 we were once again a perfect host of the races for the Audi FIS Ski World Cup.


On Pirin's slopes the best skiers in the world Hirscher, Pinturault, Kristoffersson & Co. delivered an epic battle for the first place.

1 060 793 people have been in the park in Pirin Mountain during 2018 according to the annual report of the National Park Management. This has been recorded at the 7 observation points in the mountain and it is very likely that many more tourists and mountaineers have been there during this period of time. The park employees have cleaned 7 tourist paths, repaired 5 bridges and cleared the approach towards Baykusheva Mura (Baikushev's pine is with an approximate age of about 1,300 years one of the oldest trees in the world and is a contemporary of Bulgaria's founder, Khan Asparukh). In 2018 ten advertising campaigns for enhancing environmental culture were completed as well.

It is difficult for us to mention all the races that took place on the slopes of Pirin - the Veteran Competition, Kapi Cup, the State Championship, the competition of the diplomatic corps for the Cup of the Foreign Minister of Bulgaria and many others. We are still overwelmed by the emotions.

These and others were the good things that happened during the winter season 2018/2019 in Bansko. It is important for us that they happened! The season leaves behind these and many other beautiful memories! Probably there were bad moments, but we will leave them to the haters, who like to focus on them. We have launched great new initiatives and continued the old ones, which we consider good.
We will be very happy if we find new friends and followers and if we receive support for the good things for the nature and the society!
Be healthy and smile - we look forward to meet you again in the mountains!

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