Bukovel

Bukovel has 68km of pistes

Give or take, we are pretty much in the middle of the week Bondy's White Heart Ski Patrol used to hit the slopes every year. This post from a year ago yesterday is as good an illustration as any.

We haven't been since 2019 now, and I think COVID may have killed the habit; we would always start planning next year's jaunt, tired but happy after the latest one.

Thus, skiing has been on my mind, and I was astonished to find this in The Telegraph.

How Ukraine’s ski resorts have given winter respite to its war-weary citizens

Not so long ago – before the pandemic, before the war – Bukovel, Ukraine’s biggest and best-known ski resort, expected to host around two million skiers each winter. Those skiers came for the long season lasting until May, for the densely wooded slopes topping out at 1,372m, for 68km of pistes and 19 lifts spread over five mountains, for 11km of black runs. A quarter of them came from abroad.

...

Some US$400 million (£325 million) had been invested in Bukovel since 2002, according to managing director and co-owner Oleksandr Shevchenko, leading to the creation of more than 50,000 tourist beds and more than 100,000 jobs.

Then came Russia’s invasion, on February 24 2022. As the tanks rolled towards Kyiv, the resorts closed, despite being far from the war in the east. For obvious reasons, winter sports were the last thing on anyone’s mind.

However, perhaps surprisingly, this season some resorts –  Bukovel among them – have reopened, offering relief to those seeking a glimpse of normality far from the conflict. 

Amazing. Take a look at the live website on https://bukovel.com/en. You can even book holidays there on Expedia. 

One for the bucket list. Who would have imagined?