Benecko

Benecko is one of a dozen or so small ski resorts scattered over the ridges that run far to the south of the highest parts of the Krkonoše. It stands out among them for its fairly high position, which means it very often rises above the inversion fog that is common here. In addition, most of its slopes face south, which gives skiers more of the sunshine, although it does not help the snow cover last beyond the end of March. Although the resort is aimed mainly at families with children, it also has quite a wide choice of harder pistes. The “backbone” of the whole resort is a four-seater chairlift that can be reached from both the valley station and the top station (the car parks at the bottom are much larger). The longest piste in the resort, a red one, runs alongside it. To the right of the chairlift are two T-bars, one of them with a short but steep black piste. To the left of the chairlift's top station is an area with several short, easy T-bars beside mountain huts, restaurants and guesthouses, all of them perfect practice slopes for children and complete beginners. In total the resort has 4.5 km of downhill pistes (mostly blue) served by 12 T-bars and children's lifts and one chairlift. On top of that there are the local cross-country trails, almost 45 km of them in the area, with a connection to the Krkonoše ridge trail. Thanks to its out-of-the-way location, Benecko is without doubt one of the best places for a family ski holiday, not only in the Krkonoše but in the whole of the Czech Republic.