There was a snowstorm the night before our arrival and most of the roads were covered in about 10 inches of snow. We wanted to ski the following day and were told it could be arranged, but we would have to pay a driver $10 an hour to take us there and back. We were told that the trip would take approximately an hour in each direction, but that it was less than two miles to the slope(s). I was a bit confused because I thought I could walk that far in an hour, probably even carrying my boots, skis and poles. But not being ones to protest about something we knew nothing about, we agreed.
The next day we walked out of the hotel to see a one-horse open sleigh sitting in the road. Later we saw why our ride was a horse and sleigh - no other car or even four wheel drive vehicle could've made it through the snow on the way up the mountain. It was an enjoyable ride, but the incline and the weight of the passengers proved to be too much for the horse, so the driver and I ended up pushing the sleigh for the last couple hundred yards. I’m sure it was quite a sight.
We arrived at a small house in a village in the foothills. We walked into the backyard and found a 200-yard run which reminded me of my grandpa’s pasture back in Minnesota. It was equipped with a homemade lift and chain-smoking operator (the owner of the yard). At first I was a bit disappointed, but it turned out to be four hours of fun as we were the only ones there and neither of us had ever skied in so much powder before. We entertained ourselves with a nice rustic view and several rather amazing falls. We skied the slope about 25 times each and enjoyed a traditional Western Ukrainian lunch of mushroom soup, shashlik (Ukrainian shish kabobs), marinated mushrooms, and mulled wine (prepared by the lift operator's wife). We took the sleigh home and, even though it was not reminiscent of our skiing back home, it was a great time.
Two days later we went to Bukovail, which is, according to the Internet, the “most European” ski resort in Ukraine. We went wondering how closely it would resemble the backyard experience, but were again pleasantly surprised. Lift tickets cost $24 and for use of 5-6 modern lifts. There were some nicely groomed runs and not too long of lift lines. The skiing ability of those on the slopes with us was a bit lower than in Colorado, but I decided that was a positive thing - I could keep a little more pride since there were no 5-year-olds whizzing by me without poles while I sat on the slopes and wondered how I was ever going to get down to the bottom.
Both places were great, and we are glad we were able to experience a bit of the Carpathians and western Ukraine.
Dave
