Pouring the substructures for the cabin lift in Bansko

Pouring the substructures for the cabin lift in Bansko

article by Pari daily newspaper, issue 160 - Tuesday, 20th of August 2002

The felling of 4000 sqr. m timber for cuttings is under control, claims the director of park Pirin eng. G. Gruncharov The first concrete substructure for the cabin rope-way and the two chair lifts projected for a winter ski-centre near Bansko will be laid this week, learned "Pari" newspaper. 100 unemployed from the municipality will join the 200 who have already been working, said for "Pari" Alexander Kravarov, vice-mayor for building in Bansko. In this way the municipality of Bansko fulfils its duty in the most desired and awaited for about 15 years centre for winter sports and summer tourism in the mountain of North Pirin - the track Bunderitza meadow - Shiligarnika and Todorka peak. Three of the seven forest cuttings Motikata, Chalin valog, Bunderitza meadow, Biathlon track, Karchelovoto, Echimene and an old course for ski facilities are ready and the fourth one is being prepared. According to the plan 4000 sqr. m timber are to be cut by the end of the year. These are first-rate trees extracted from regions in which there has not been felling till now. Most valuable are the white fir and the spruce from which furniture is being produced. There are also fir-tree, white and black pine-tree.It is true that this is first felling in these regions but there are also diseased and tindery trees which should be removed, said engineer George Gruncharov, director of National park Pirin. He was definite that the felling is under control and the main executor of the project - the firm "Balkanstroy" AD from the city of Razlog - works quite correctly. We are opened for every kind of control of work done, said the director. The cuttings are 9 m wide and this point is strictly observed. If a declination of 2-3 m appears somewhere, it is only due to the distance between the trees, explained eng. Gruncharov. The timber will be obtained by 7 firms from the furniture and building branch in the cities of Bansko and Razlog.The firms participated in an auction. The income from the sale is about 300 000 lv. and will be received directly at the National fund for preservation of the environment. The intentions of the main investor "Julen" AD with main shareholders "Pirintourist", "Geotechmin", "Akademika", municipality of Bansko and State Insurance Institute, as well as of the executor - the largest building company in the region "Balkanstroy" AD - include that the cabin lift and the two chair lifts to start working by the end of the year. The first transfer of 8,2 mln EUR, assigned by EBRD, has already been done. There are 12 mln EUR left to be obtained. Our success depends on the precipitations in the higher site of the mountain, explained the vice-mayor. One of the co-executors of the project is the aviation firm "Scorpion" from Sofia. Its helicopter will transport the concrete for the substructure and will help with the installing of the posts. The firm "Scorpion" has at its disposal of equipment for putting out forest fires, explained from the municipality. The cabin rope-way will be delivered by the world famous company in this branch "Doppelmayer" from Austria. The lift has 8 seats, a capacity of 1800 persons per hour and a length of 6300 m. According to the experts it will be the most modern one in our country. The lower station will be placed in the area Motikata, in front of the base of the Mountain Life-saving Service Bansko, the upper one - at Bunderitza meadow. According to the project from this point the skiers will use a 4-chair -lift to reach the road fork of the pistes Balkaniada and Todorka. From here with another lift they will ascend near the very top of Todorka. In this way the skiers will have a choice to descend downwards to Shiligarnika or on the new track of Echmiste to Shiligarnika. From Bunderitza meadow will start a 6-chair-lift which will transport the tourists directly to the trade centre at Shiligarnika. At the plateau will be prepared another course. There is an interesting project for the site of Echmiste, next to the plateau. The idea is to use the new course and a 4-chair-lift to descend to Shiligarnika and back. The children's piste will be lengthen with 670 m and equipped with a new lift. Parallelly to the preparation of the ski lifts and the pistes at Bunderitza meadow a terrain with a shooting-ground for biathlon is being built. The city of Bansko was chosen for a host to the competitions for the women and men European cup in this discipline in 2003. Read comments by Momchil Panayotov from the Bulgarian Extreme and Freestyle Skiing Association www.befsa.com who went to see how the work goes in Bansko On 24.08 and 25.08 together with Gesha and Koleva we realized "an expeditional ascend of Vihren peak" (with an intermediate stay overnight in a tent at Goliam Kazan, enjoying views and light rain and a lot of snacks and idling on the way down). By this expedition we had the opportunity to check the building work. Generally the situation is: at that moment trough the valley of Bunderitza river are cut the tracks for the big lift (the cabin lift at Bansko) and the tracks for the lift leading to the road fork(the mentioned 4-chair-lift) and for its second part(parallel to the old lift, passing through the dwarf pine. Some of the pistes are also ready: 1.a piste parallel to the old piste in the area of the dwarf pine (leading to the road fork); 2. a piste descending from the end of the steep branch towards Bunderitza meadow. This piste is branched in its lower end and the right branch (from up-down point of view) is a proof that the designer of the project didn't lay his foot on the terrain. It's just that this branch is a strange combination of succeeding even and quite steep slopes and at the end there's a hill just in the middle of the course! At the moment diggers are trying to level that hill. We didn't see a cutting to Shiligarnika (for the 6-chair-lift). About any building in the area of Echmishte ("Dupkite") we can also say nothing because it is not in the view from the valley of Bunderitza river. It could be said that from the possible evils the minor one is realized. The most valuable forests in the region are not touched. Another question is if there will be placed in the upper part labels warning of avalanche danger, or things will remain the same (e.g., in conditions of fog and a lot of snow the rule is: if you don't know the region, can't ski well and if you go directly into the avalanches which are by metres next to the pistes - sorry, you shouldn't come skiing here! M. Panayotov, 28.08.2002 Read new information on this...
     
  • Miroslava Frkova From Czech
    Sent on 02 August 2007
    Hallo, where can I find information, if Gondola's lift operating also in the summer ? Thanks for help.
  • candido From italia
    Sent on 17 April 2007
    siamo stati a sciare a Bansko complimenti piste mravigiose gente meravigliosa , tutto meraviglioso . ciao a presto
  • Margaret From Scotland
    Sent on 24 March 2007
    Hi all I have just come back from a skiing holiday in Bansko snow was good on the high slopes, not so good on the lower slopes. We still managed to get in a lot of skiing and had a great time. The night life is very good, with all age groups catered for. Loved the Village and the people. First class hotels and facilities. Will be back next year. Margaret Park
  • tom From england
    Sent on 24 January 2007
    your ski resort in bansko is very small and you need another ski lift from the bottom of the mountain to the top
  • Heather & Beaver From NZ/UK
    Sent on 05 February 2006
    we stayed for 7 days in Bansko, awsome! Loved the food, the poeple and beer. The mountain was excellant with great powder and bugger all waiting for any lifts. Instructors were awsome and just generally loved the whole Bulgarian experience.
  • Ian From Scotland
    Sent on 20 January 2006
    In bansko at beginning of January 2006, great snow, good runs, enjoyed the food and beer. Great night life and value for money. Only gripe is the long delay and large queue at the bottom Gondola when it opens in the morning at 8.30am.
  • max From enlgand
    Sent on 03 January 2006
    i went to bansko last year with my family for a ski holiday, it was really good but i dont know if i would go back as it is becoming very touristy. Also alot of the slopes are very basic and if there for a long time could become boring., although it is extremely good for learning.
  • aleksandar From serbia
    Sent on 25 November 2005
    extra mesto!najlepse skijanje na balkanu,super staze,super organizacija ,odlicne zicare i liftovi,sve najbolje
  • Iain MacDougall From United Arab Emirates
    Sent on 22 August 2005
    Dear All, For any one who has been thinking of taking a ski break in Bansko but has been put off by the tiny piste map please have a look at the following link. http://www.snow-forecast.com/pistemaps/Bansko_pistemap.shtml. This gives a much better idea of the ski slopes. Regards, Iain
  • G. Gnoth From Germany
    Sent on 26 February 2005
    I read about your austrian ski data system. Is it posibly to use the original austrian ski data WATCHES from swatch,too??? Greetings G. gnoth
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