Slavsko ski resort

Mid-2000s snapshot. Slavsko ski resort (sometimes called Slavske) is located 120 km from Lviv on the Kyiv-Uzhhorod railroad. Perhaps this fact alone made it the most popular ski resort in Ukraine at the time. You could get on the train in Kyiv, get off the next morning at Slavsko station and be on the slopes by 10:00 a.m. No other ski resort was so easily accessible from so many places. In addition, Slavsko had a large variety of mountains and ski slopes and had a large tourist community. There was always lots to do.

Slavsko was accessible by train and elektrichka from Lviv, Kyiv, and Kharkiv, and by minibus from Lviv.

Mount Trostian

The other reason for Slavsko's popularity was the wide variety of slopes available to skiers. There were four different mountains with ski runs. The most famous, Mount Trostian, at 1232 m above sea level with nearly 500 m of vertical drop, had the greatest variety of slopes in one place of any mountain in Ukraine, including a variety of challenging runs for experienced skiers. According to this mid-2000s guide, there were no beginners' runs on the mountain. The views from Trostian are fantastic.

You got to the base of Trostian from the center of Slavsko (2 km) by "taxi." The road was so bad that only Soviet-era military trucks could handle it.

Other mountains for skiing in Slavsko

On the other side of the settlement, "Politekh" mountain (officially called Mount Kremin) was perfect for beginners. The mountain is a 20-minute walk from the Slavsko train station. There was a very gradual hill for starting skiers and three tow lifts.

Mount Pohar rises to nearly 860 m and had two tow lifts of 700 m and 800 m in length. Runs were for intermediate skiers and advanced beginners.

Lifts, lines, and ski rental

Except for a chair lift that took you from the very base of the mountain to the very summit, all other lifts were tows. Lines at Slavsko were notoriously long*. Waits of 30 to 90 (!) minutes were not uncommon, especially on weekends and holidays. In addition, the many tow lifts on the mountain seemed to break down a lot. Large moguls often formed. Nonetheless, the skiing was plenty good, and skiers kept coming and coming. Ski rentals were all over in and around Slavsko.

* During the 2004-2005 season it was possible to buy more expensive lift tickets at Mount Trostian that allowed skiers to go to the front of lift lines. These lift tickets cost about 100 UAH per day, or twice as much as regular tickets.