Dębowiec

Rising just south of Bielsko, Dębowiec has been consistently popular for more than a hundred years, and not only with the city's residents, both as a superb viewpoint and as a recreation area. Its northern slopes were once covered by a large clearing, which has become somewhat overgrown over time but still gives a very interesting view of the city. At the top of the clearing stands a mountain hut more than 100 years old, one of the oldest in the Polish Beskids, built by the Beskidenverein hiking society from Bielsko. After the war, once the lift to Szyndzielnia had been built, it became an important waypoint for skiers coming down from the summit. Later a T-bar was put up here, turning the meadow below Dębowiec into an excellent practice slope for skiers, and not only those from Bielsko. In 2013 a completely new, modern, if small, ski resort opened here. Its backbone is a modern TatraLift chairlift, 600 metres long with a vertical rise of just over 100 metres. An easy piste runs alongside it, floodlit and equipped with a modern snowmaking system. Next to the valley station there is a small drag lift for children, 84 m long with a vertical rise of 6 metres. There is also a snow park with features including a high box, a straight rail, a kinked box, a T-box, a rainbow and a rail box. By the valley station of the chairlift, on Karbowa Street, there is a car park for more than a hundred cars. As a ski resort Dębowiec is only of local importance, the "first-choice lift" for the people of Bielsko. It is modern and well organised, although, it has to be said plainly, it probably does not live up to the aspirations of a sizeable city with a great skiing tradition. It is also sometimes hard to imagine that in the 1980s Dębowiec was merely the end point (or, if you prefer, the outpost) of a large ski complex, for downhill skiing and touring alike, which the whole of Poland envied Bielsko for and of which practically only memories remain. Still, it is better than nothing, considering that just a few years ago absolutely nothing happened on Dębowiec in winter...