Andy Rudd
Kempinski Hotel Grand Arena
Have you been hammamed?” says the man in the outdoor hot tub as I relax my aching muscles after a day on the slopes. Wondering if this is some kind of local Bulgarian custom I enquire a bit more. Minutes later I’m sitting in the spa at the luxury Kempinski Hotel Grand Arena in Bansko, where a gentleman from North London is taking great pleasure in “smacking” me with a bowl of freezing water when I least expect it.
The idea is the shock of cold helps release body toxins built up by skiing.
We then take it in turns to get our own back on each other and manage to clear the quiet area outside with our laughter and shrieks.
It’s the perfect way to unwind after a day playing hard on the slopes in a place that must be one of the best value-for-money ski resorts.
I’ve come to Bansko to improve my skiing ability on a budget. And what better way to do it than my six days’ lessons included in my budgetbusting deal from Balkan Holidays.
Be warned, though, the first day is organised chaos and you will need plenty of patience as instructors assess you to make sure you are in the right ability group. Then it’s hit or miss as to what kind of instructor you get. Brit Katy and Bulgarian Nicky were attentive and focused on everyone individually, and I felt I had improved after one day with them.
Bansko’s ski areas are reached via a cable car right outside the ski-in ski-out Kempinski, and staying at the hotel bags you a VIP pass to beat the queues.
Once you’ve made the 25-minute trip to the top of the station there are 75km of slopes and 13 ski lifts to keep you busy.
With a difficulty scale of 30% beginners, 45% advanced and 25% expert, there are easy green runs for the beginner to the tough Tomba black run – named after the famous former World Cup Italian alpine ski racer Alberto.
I’m a beginner/ intermediate so I started off on some of the easier blues at the start of the week with my patient experienced friend showing me the ropes. By the end of the week, I was confidently following my mate, Colin, down red runs before, according to Col, he “accidentally took a wrong turn” in bad conditions.
Luckily, visibility was so bad that I couldn’t see any further than my hand in front of my face as I think I