Red Tape Hot Box on the piste
If there's no snow, there's no fun - so goes the simple theory, anyway. Unfortunately, at many Polish ski resorts, there's often no fun to be had even if there is snow. That's why over the last few years there has been a tendency among our compatriots to go off to the Alps (provided they have money in their wallets) rather than to spend time in their native mountains. In the Alps, not only can you always count on there being snow in the winter, but you can also expect outstanding quality, from transport to ski-slopes. What's more, new attractions are being developed all the time. New hotels and modern ski-lifts, with new runs, are being built each year.
No wonder this business is growing; it was, after all, one of the few industries not to have been hit by the world-wide recession. Thus, the Italians, the French, the Swiss as well as the Austrians are all competing with one another to offer the best services at the lowest prices in their bid to attract as many clients as possible to their ski resorts. Each year, Polish skiers pump some euro 45 million into the budgets of these foreign 'ski-paradises', to the delight of everyone concerned. Everyone? Well, not quite. Back home, there are many ski-lift owners who are rather frustrated by this state of affairs. Of course, they argue that their slopes are small, that their winter season is unquestionably shorter, and that they can't hope to compete with the Alps. True, but our ski-resorts also compare unfavorably with our neighbors the Czechs and the Slovaks, whose mountains and winter season are more or less the same as in Poland. So, it isn't in fact the lack of snow which is to blame, but the ski-lift owners themselves. First of all, they are often unable to come to an understanding with the highlanders from whom they rent their ski-slopes. This is evident by the wooden barricades blocking off fields that are supposed to be slopes.
Another problem is that they often can't come to terms with one another. If a number of ski-lifts exist in one region it would, you would have thought, make sense to form some sort of an alliance to ensure that one ticket can be used for all lifts in the area and to create a common budget for all equipment so as to maintain good ski runs. If skiers weren't forced to buy hundreds of different tickets only to ski on patches of soil, they would probably be more willing to visit these resorts rather than to go abroad. Yet so far, with the possible exception of such resorts as Szczyrk, Białka Tatrzańska or Szklarska Poręba, which have been modernized and which have well-maintained slopes, the rest of Poland's resorts lag way behind. Soon, these secondary ski resorts will only be able to attract those few patriotic enthusiasts who don't mind waiting around in never ending lines for the lift, or damaging their skis on gravel and soil.
No wonder this business is growing; it was, after all, one of the few industries not to have been hit by the world-wide recession. Thus, the Italians, the French, the Swiss as well as the Austrians are all competing with one another to offer the best services at the lowest prices in their bid to attract as many clients as possible to their ski resorts. Each year, Polish skiers pump some euro 45 million into the budgets of these foreign 'ski-paradises', to the delight of everyone concerned. Everyone? Well, not quite. Back home, there are many ski-lift owners who are rather frustrated by this state of affairs. Of course, they argue that their slopes are small, that their winter season is unquestionably shorter, and that they can't hope to compete with the Alps. True, but our ski-resorts also compare unfavorably with our neighbors the Czechs and the Slovaks, whose mountains and winter season are more or less the same as in Poland. So, it isn't in fact the lack of snow which is to blame, but the ski-lift owners themselves. First of all, they are often unable to come to an understanding with the highlanders from whom they rent their ski-slopes. This is evident by the wooden barricades blocking off fields that are supposed to be slopes.
Another problem is that they often can't come to terms with one another. If a number of ski-lifts exist in one region it would, you would have thought, make sense to form some sort of an alliance to ensure that one ticket can be used for all lifts in the area and to create a common budget for all equipment so as to maintain good ski runs. If skiers weren't forced to buy hundreds of different tickets only to ski on patches of soil, they would probably be more willing to visit these resorts rather than to go abroad. Yet so far, with the possible exception of such resorts as Szczyrk, Białka Tatrzańska or Szklarska Poręba, which have been modernized and which have well-maintained slopes, the rest of Poland's resorts lag way behind. Soon, these secondary ski resorts will only be able to attract those few patriotic enthusiasts who don't mind waiting around in never ending lines for the lift, or damaging their skis on gravel and soil.
