Bulgaria’s Razlog proposes second ski run and new ski lift
The municipality of Razlog, a mountain resort town in south-western Bulgaria, has submitted an investment proposal for a second ski run and an additional ski lift, according to documentation posted on the municipality’s website.
The ski area, about 12 kilometres from the town in the Pirin mountains, has one ski run and two “auxiliary” type ski lifts. The Kulinoto II ski run is planned to be 1634 metres long, about 600 metres longer than the existing Kulinoto ski slope, and 60 metres wide.
The investment proposal documentation has been submitted to the regional inspectorate of environment and waters in the Blagoevgrad district.
“We are currently coordinating and regulating the exact territory that will be affected. I hope that next year everything will be done and there will be a working project. Our goal is to make a ski centre to be visited by families with children,” Razlog mayor Krassimir Gerchev told local media.
“Nowhere do we envisage any construction in the mountains, not even a house will be built, let alone hotels. It is only a matter of construction of sports facilities,” Gerchev said.
The existing Kulinoto slope was constructed in the 1980s.
In the early 2000s, there was a plan to build a large-scale resort in the area, which came to naught, mainly because it was in contradiction to the protected status of Pirin National Park, and because no investor could be found to commit the required estimated 240 million euro.
The Kulinoto II project, of a much smaller scale, is in line with the general development plan of Razlog municipality, according to the documentation.
It is envisaged that the second ski lift will be a four-seater, enabling about 2000 to 2800 people to travel per hour, meaning that the total capacity of the lifts will be up to 3600 people per hour.
The lift will serve ski tourists in winter as well as summer visitors who come for hiking trips.
The documentation said that the clearing for the lift would be in a forest and the steep slopes of a ravine, and would not affect the flora and fauna in the area.
At a further stage, there is a plan to build an artificial snow system that will cover 100 per cent of the slopes in the ski area and enable them to be used throughout the winter season.
(Photo: Lance Nelson of banskoblog.com)
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