Snowparadise Veľká Rača

Photo: J.Ciszak/skionline.pl. Veľká Rača is a popular ski resort in the north-western corner of Slovakia, right on the Polish border. The resort even advertises itself as the best Slovak ski resort near the Polish-Slovak border. The distances are certainly tempting: 60 km from Bielsko-Biała, 125 km from Katowice, 130 km from Kraków. The ski area is varied, well maintained and, above all, served by a system of modern high-capacity lifts. Since the 2006/2007 season, besides the local ski pass, the Snowparadise Veľká Rača resort has also accepted a new pass, Slovakia Ski Region, covering five top Slovak ski resorts (besides Veľká Rača: Jasná Nízke Tatry, PARK SNOW Donovaly, PARK SNOW Vysoké Tatry (Štrbské Pleso) and TLD, the Tatra cable car company: Tatranská Lomnica, Starý Smokovec, Liptovská Teplička). The pistes, totalling 14 km, are laid out on the broad slopes of the Veľká Rača massif, whose summit (1,236 m) rises above both Slovak and Polish territory and is the highest peak of the Kysuce Beskids. The valley stations of the lifts are in three settlements, Dedovka, Marguška and Laliky, in the narrow valley of the Oščadnica stream. Of the fourteen pistes here, two are marked black (one each in the areas reached from Laliky and Dedovka). The other runs are easy and intermediate. Beginners can also try their hand on flat practice meadows. All pistes have snowmaking and are groomed regularly. A single ski pass covers the whole resort. The lift network has recently been modernised and is very up to date. On the slopes of Veľká Rača there is currently one new Telemix lift (a combination of six-seater chairs and eight-seater gondola cabins), 2 four-seater chairlifts and 3 T-bars. The capacity of the whole resort is 9,700 people per hour. Members of the Slovak alpine ski team train regularly on the slopes of Veľká Rača, as it is the national ski team's official training centre. Cross-country skiers have 10 km of trails, linked to the Kysuce Ski Trail (more than 60 km of trails). Veľká Rača is very snowboard-friendly. Snowboarders have plenty of pistes, lifts adapted for carrying boards, a snow park and a snowboard school. The Slovak snowboarding championships are held at Veľká Rača every year. A major attraction is the recently opened year-round Alpincoaster mountain bobsleigh track built by Wiegand. The start of the 1,300 m track is at the top station of the chairlift at Dedovka. The resort's other après-ski sports are also fairly varied. Another reason to visit this nearby part of Slovakia is the ski buses running from Kraków and Katowice.