Podstolice-Ski

Podstolice is a large village on one of the rounded hills of the Wieliczka Foothills (Pogórze Wielickie). It only appeared on Poland's winter map as a ski resort in 2010, when a lift was built here. Since then it has been building a reputation as the closest place to Kraków where you can go skiing. It is especially popular with children and beginners, as it is an ideal place to learn and practise the individual elements of technique and a good introduction before a trip to the mountains (that is, the "real mountains"…). The slope faces north-west on a hill reaching about 350 m, in a fairly built-up area without any larger forests. There are two T-bars, 350 and 220 metres long, serving three pistes: the longest, a blue one, is half a kilometre long, while the piste along the lift is marked red (though it is an easy red). The vertical drop does not exceed 70 metres. By the car park there is a regional inn, a rental shop, a ski service and a ski school. The youngest skiers have their own area with a short "Baby Lift" and a ski kindergarten. Podstolice Ski is a small family resort, good for beginners or for an afternoon outing after work, two or three hours of skiing to stay in shape. Even so, the resort has ambitious plans and wants to build a four-seater chairlift soon, which would further strengthen its image as a modern family ski spot "just beyond your garden fence".