Jasna tips

stackerman

We just booked a week in Slovakia, staying with chaletslovakia as recommended elsewhere. Seem like really nice couple running same, and normally great snow there in March.
Would any of you fine people who have been to Jasna, have any tips, recommendations, or thoughts on same ?

Have flights, train, transfers all sorted and are travelling as two adults and our young lad (8 years of age). Seems like a good place to "train up" Junior

Many thanks in advance

Stacker man

hawkwind23

be interested to see how your trip goes , we are thinking of going there next year

stackerman

Will give an update when we return.

We have Skied all over Europe, and brought Junior last year. However we wish to teach him ourselves, and therefore the amount of ski time WE get is limited. Put a lot of work in myself last year with him but found that the return € for €, in terms of ground covered buy myself and my wife was very poor (as expected). Seems like a high cost to head to an Alpine resort, for what we wish to get out of it. Hence the idea of heading to Slovakia.
Will be interesting to see if the savings in € terms are all that significant.

Really looking forward to it now. Main issues of concern, all be it small, are food and snow conditions. Although I've been assured on both counts, that it is just as good as Alpine resorts.

Stacker man

seannash

Heading there a the end of Febuary,will report back

hawkwind23

similar story for ourselves , beginners and want to teach the kids as well so we have been going to zakopane as the lessons are a sensible price compared to the other resorts.
but i think we will do zakopane and jasna next year.
looking forward to hearing how the trips go

stackerman

Look forward to your thoughts and experience. We are off early March, and can't wait.

Nothing makes me smile like the thoughts of a Ski holiday

stephencaso

The food will not be a problem, as for costs, it certainly is cheaper than the rest of Europe even in jasna which can be nearly double the price of that which can be found in the nearest town eg around €2 to €2.50 for a beer in Jasna, €1 to €1.30 in Liptovsky Mikulas. You can check the menus and prices of the restaurants online. Lift passes are around €30 /day.

The mountain is split in two, above and below the tree line, especially above the treeline its biggest problem is wind (which shuts the lifts, ok they have a new 24 person gondola that will run in high winds, but when its that windy up there its not worth the pain, and the wind also blows the snow leaving ice) other problem is low cloud which makes visibility pretty bad, in turn everybody will use the lower part of the mountain, which can cause q's.

The terrain, I would say its not the most ideal place for beginners, more suited to off piste lovers. The freeride zones are some of the best in europe.

Language barrier is more noticeable than Alps.

stackerman

Back a week from Jasna, and thought I'd post a quick over view.

So to recap, there were myself and my wife (both good skiers) and my 9 year old son (only done one week before).

The skiing was great , more in a bit.

Food was good and cheep, but you needed to hunt out the local places. Joints done up like Route 66, cost nearly twice. Guess they have to pay for the decor.
We stayed in a self catering apartment through a chalet company there who were full, but pointed us towards the apt. Great value, central and nice and clean. The chalet crew picked us up every morning from Liptovsky Mikulas and droped us to the slopes (10 min) and again at the end of the day (incl in price). More info avail if needed re company details, they were really nice, reasonable and helpful (English couple).

Getting there, was straight forward enough. Flight to Bratislava, taxi or bus to station and then 3.5 hr train trip to Liptovsky Mikulas.

Skiing
The skiing, was fantastic ! The slopes were empty
No ques, straight onto the lifts all week except sat and sunday to lunchtime (but these ques were still small). Some long straightforward Blues (perfect for junior), lots of red and Blacks and some of the best off piste I've seen in a while. Snow was perfect, with a few top ups while we were there . We found it perfect for our needs, in that we need all the above. Once junior had it licked (don't you just hate how quick kids pick things up ) we had the run of the mountain to ourselves ! Awesome

Down sides -
The place has a real ex communist feel to it, not anything like the quaint Euro villages. Not a prob for us, as it's the skiing that counts.

Not a place for non skiers. Not much else to do except a water park, which is good and free in on the ski pass.

Language barrier is def more noticeable, but didn't bother us.

Other points
Well we are already looking at heading back next year, same time. I think it is a great place to get kids into/learning skiing without the inflated cost of the alps, and yet still provide great skiing to other standards. I think we must have easily covered 30% more ground, due to the empty slopes.

Sorry for the waffly post, but you get the idea. Feel free to drop me a line if you need any details.

Dr Nic

Average prices for flights tx accom rentsll. Everythng realky!

hawkwind23

Dr Nic wrote: »

Average prices for flights tx accom rentsll. Everythng realky!

really?
im looking into a trip next year with my kids aged 11 and 15.
looking at the agencies in getting €500+ for accommodation and flights and transfers, so at least €2000 for that.
then im adding lift passes at €160 each , that adds another €600+
add ski gear rental at €100 each a week , another €400
then lessons , say €50 an hour for our group , another €300
then food and drink , that seems to be the killer for me , heard some horror stories in the alps , pizzas €15 and the like. beer €6 etc etc.
i like eating out on holidays and on the slopes i like lunch and a few beers.
god knows how much that would cost in france? but minus the food and drink im looking at €3000 for 2 adults and 2 kids.

SLOVAKIA
im pricing flights to krakow at €75 so €300 total.
tranfers to jasna €250 return
accommodation , full board with ski passes €1200 and taxis to the slopes and return each day.
ski gear €200 for the week
lessons €15 an hour €90 total.

so far im at around €2100 , a difference of €1000+ and im having all meals at that price !
added to that a beer is around a euro on the slopes and i dont need much spending money.
thats a lot less than the average im getting for the more established european resorts.

im thinking of going myself next year and its top of the list for me so far due to ease of arranging and staggered costs.
but im very open to anyone who can post similar priced deals to france or austria etc for this price.

i think for the kids to get lessons at €15 one to one is great.
also i want to eat out and drink a lot , i couldnt afford that in france or swiss.


thanks for the report OP , some good information.

stackerman

All booked up again this year

hawkwind23

stackerman wrote: »

All booked up again this year

any news on the snow?

we have booked Bialka Tatrzanska this year so not too far away.
a group of us are going to head over for a couple of days to Jasna.
headed 4th march so watching snow reports with interest!

stackerman

Historically March is a good time to go as snow is good, and the slopes empty (Slovak school holidays are in Feb )
We went the same week last year, the snow was great, and the slopes EMPTY

Driving this year, for flexibility, and got a great ski in ski out place for very little extra. Roll on 15th March !!!

SpaceCowb0y

Ive done 3 weeks in Jasna, a week last year (awesome) and 2 weeks this year over xmas and new years (not so awesome) what do you want to know?

Moneywise you cannot go wrong, beer is for nothing, food in the supermarket is for nothing and if you eat in any of the restaurants around the slops rather then on the slopes you will get a big slap up feed with starter main and a beer for under a 10r i cant think of the name of the place but its beside The Skifun Hotel and we ate there a lot!

For a good night out without heading into the city head up to the Hotel Chopok! Its great craic! Was a bit too wild over xmas in fairness :pac: although 7 vodkas and two redbulls for about a 10r is nothing to be scoffed at!

Ski/board service in the station beside the Grand Hotel is only a 5r and depending on conditions will come in handy! i had to get my board waxed twice over the two weeks as it was so icy up top!

When i was there last march the snowfall was amazing and Jasna really shines for its freeride zones! there's only so much you can do on the pistes but depending on what level you are that may be more then enough!

For Apres head to the Fis bar at the end of the Zahradky! Its small but theres always great atmosphere there! Happy End can be good too but its hit an d miss! the small bar beside it is better craic in fairness!

Also if you go to http://www.jasna.sk/en/prices/gopass-program/ and organise a GOPASS it will save you a few quid on your skipass and you can also use it in the shops/bars/restaurants on the slopes to top up your points which you can then use to buy cheap beer on your last couple of days!

Both times ive been ive flown into Bratislava and got the train to Liptov thats where Chalet Slovakia is its about 20 quid each way, Jasna itself is good craic and i will imagine Route 66 will become your go to bar at night! Make sure to get the pilsner from the tank its delish!

Can't think of anymore info off the top of my head but if you have any questions a all feel free to ask! My friends girlfriend is Slovak which made life a lot easier for us over there but also helped us to get to know things alot easier!

Oh yes and

Ahoj, ako sa máš = hi, how are you

Pronounced: Ahoy, akuuzamash

Have fun, hope you get better conditions then we did at xmas!! It's brilliant when there's snow!