Not all of us can and want to visit the European type ski resorts; we want to enjoy the sports without the fashion show. Heading further east to Slovakia is one of our recommendations. Slovakia home to some untouched and quietly hip ski resorts. The country has five main ski areas in what is called the High Tatras and Low Tatras, an hour by road separate them. The Low Tatras is the better of the two, although its considered low, the area is 2,000m above sea level.
Jasna is the Low Tatras is one of the better ski resorts in Slovakia. It has over 90 snow cannons covering a 12Km area of slops and allowing skiing on both the north and south of the Chopok mountains, guaranteeing snow for five months). Parts of the slopes are illuminated for night skiing as well.
The total Jasna hosts 31km of ski trails, 22km on the north and 9km on the south of Chopok, with a wide variety of levels: 27 per cent of the tracks are easy, 49 per cent medium and 24 per cent difficult. There is easy-to-find freestyle terrain at the back of the mountain, where you find the more adventurous snow boarders looking for fresh powder.
One of the main draws of Jasna is its approach to après-ski. Food, drinks and entertainment are affordable, you can hang out at the Apres Ski Disco Bar at Biela Put and Pizza von Roll, a stylish mountain restaurant fashioned from the old cable car housing – cogs and mechanisms are still visible at ceiling level – here you can get freshly made pizzas.
To get to Jasna ski resort, you can fly direct to Popard, around 50 minutes away by car or you can fly to Krakow and doing a two hour transfer. A cheaper option is to fly to Bratislava and take the five hour train journey to Jasna. Two of the best hotels here are the Grand Hotel Jasna (www.hotelgrand.jasna.sk) right on the slopes and the Tri Studnicky (www.tristudnicky.jasna.sk), only ten minutes away by transfer bus. Both offer four-star accommodation at three-star rates.
*Multi-area ski passes are available enable, so you can choose where is best for you