Arena Narciarska Jaworki-Homole

Jaworki is the easternmost village in the valley of the Grajcarek stream, which separates the Beskid Sądecki from the Pieniny Klippen Belt. For many years it has been well known and popular with walkers, mainly because of the picturesque Homole Gorge and Wysoka, the highest peak of the Pieniny, which rises above it. For some years it has also been increasingly popular with skiers, thanks to the chairlift built here in 2009, around which the Arena Narciarska Homole grew up. The area around Jaworki was discovered for downhill skiing as early as the '80s: the first T-bar was built here in 1985 and served skiers well for many years. But it was only the 2-seater chairlift that raised the profile of the place among the ski resorts of Lesser Poland. It is 620 metres long with a vertical rise of 116 metres, and its capacity is just over 1,000 people per hour. Two pistes run alongside it, easier at the top and somewhat steeper lower down, 700 and 750 metres long (in reality it is one slope with two ways down). In addition, in the upper part of the slope, on the left (looking downhill), there is a T-bar with a red piste running alongside it. Timing gates have been set up on it. On the other side there is a small lift for beginners and children. A curiosity is the freeride run, a rarity in Polish mountains, marked black on the maps although its gradient really makes it more of a red; it lets you have fun in deep, loose snow. In total there are 3.5 km of pistes served by 3 lifts. The ski facilities are completed by a ski hire and service shop and two places to eat (by the bottom and top stations of the chairlift) serving hot lunches and regional specialities; we particularly recommend grilled oscypek (smoked highland sheep's cheese) with cranberry! One drawback of the resort is the narrow access road and the small car parks. On the other hand, the resort is off the beaten track and is almost never crowded. Additional assets are the beautiful views of the surroundings, dotted with limestone crags, and of the Radziejowa Range in the Beskid Sądecki, which towers over the whole valley. When skiing in Jaworki you really must see the nearby Homole Gorge. It is a canyon up to a hundred metres deep in places, carved into the limestone by the Kamionka stream. A trail runs along the floor of the gorge; in about half an hour it brings you to a small basin, from which you can quickly walk to the top station of the chairlift. Just as picturesque, but much less known and visited, is the Biała Woda Valley, which you can reach from the centre of Jaworki heading east towards the Slovak border.