Bukovel ski resort

    Bukovel ski resort is a village located in the Ivano-Frankivsk province(region) of western Ukraine. It is one of the most popular ski resort in the Ukrainian Carpathian Mountains, with a couple high-speed chair lifts, meticulously groomed slopes and snow-making machines, turnstyles for letting skiers through lines, and ubiquitous security personnel.

     The Ukrainian government announced in 2006 that the Bukovel ski and snowboard resort is expanding to 262 acres in anticipation of Ukraine bidding to host the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. The additional land will be used for the construction of several new ski lifts and service projects. Previously, the land was a government-managed forest preserve area. Bukovel has also plans to build an Olympic winter stadium in preparation for a possible bid.



      Bukovel currently boasts 14 ski lifts with roughly 50 km (31 mi) of pistes. There are 61 pistes sections of which 12 are Blue(beginners), 41 red (intermediates) and 8 are Black (experts). The longest piste is 5G at 2,106 2,106 m (6,910 ft). There are 11×4-person chair lifts, 1×3-person chair lift, 1×2-person chair lift and 1×T-bar.

    Bukovel has major plans for expansion; supposedly by the 2008-2009 season it plans to have 278 km of runs and 35 (!) lifts, which would make it one of the 20 largest ski resorts in the world.

      Bukovel lift pass
     With all this new infrastructure, prices at Bukovel are understandably higher than elsewhere. One lift ride costs 10 UAH Mon-Thu and 12 UAH Fri-Sun. Passes can be bought for half a day, evening skiing, a whole day, several days, or the entire season. For example, a day pass (good for all lifts) costs 100 UAH during the week and 110 UAH on weekends. If you ski down the mountain 25 times like me, that comes out to a reasonable 4 UAH per lift ride. About half of the lifts are chair lifts, and half are tows. Lift passes can be bought in several places around the bases of the mountains and can be used by anyone, so you could theoretically give your pass to someone else in your group while you take a break during the day.

   Ski rental
   There are two central locations where skis can be rented (see picture below). All skis are 2-3 years old or less and are in excellent condition. The cheapest (and most popular) set costs 55 UAH on weekdays and 65 UAH on weekends (Fri-Sun), or $11 and $13 USD, respectively. Each person who rents skis must leave a passport or driver's license — or leave a deposit of $500 USD.


  Food at Bukovel
Bukovel has several restaurants next to different mountains — including a pizzeria and an outdoor cafe partway up the central mountain. Prices are quite high by Ukrainian standards, but the service and dining are excellent.