POSiR Przemyśl

Przemyśl, one of the most beautiful towns in southern Poland, sits on the edge of the Carpathian Foothills, where the arc of the Carpathians turns sharply south, opening up to climatic influences from the Ukrainian uplands and the interior of the continent. Its appeal to visitors has long been well known, mainly thanks to its beautiful old town and the forts around the city, famous for their heroic defence during the First World War. The climate and terrain were suitable for skiing (height differences of up to 200 metres and a continental influence with snowy, frosty winters), yet until 2005 the town had no lift at all. Only then was a small T-bar built at the foot of Zniesienie hill, whose summit is occupied by a massive fort, and a year later a proper ski resort was created. Two Leitner 3-seater chairlifts were installed, bought and brought over from Moena in Italy. The resort is laid out as follows: at the bottom, in the San valley, are the car parks and the valley station of one of the chairlifts. It carries skiers over the main road and a forest to a mid-station and serves purely for transport. The drawback here is that you have to hold your skis in your hand! The main slope starts above 235 m and is served by the second chairlift, 740 metres long with a vertical drop of 111 metres. There are three pistes: two blue and one green (all of them very easy), the longest more than 1.2 km long. At the top of the slope there is a ski bridge (over Pasteura Street), with small car parks here as well. There is also a nursery slope. The pistes total no more than 4 km. On the ski area there are two places to eat (at the top of the slope), a ski rental shop and ski service (by the lower car park) and a ski school (at the top station, by the nursery slope). Snowboarders have a special half-pipe. At the top station there is also a 350-metre gravity toboggan run. All in all the resort is pleasant and well equipped, though it can get very crowded at weekends. Although it was built mainly to satisfy the skiing ambitions of the town's residents, it matters for the whole surrounding area as well (mostly because there are few other places to ski). Of course, Przemyśl is worth visiting for more than skiing. For visitors from further afield, it certainly helps that the town has plenty of places to stay and eat, so it is easy to spend a pleasant afternoon or evening here after skiing.