The famous Sochi ski resort. How much does it cost to ski in a red meadow. Ski season in Sochi

Ski resorts in Sochi are relatively young, appeared only in the late 90s of the last century. Moreover, they firmly occupy their place in the top ten best ski resorts in the world - thanks to modern infrastructure, excellent level of slopes and good service, not inferior to the famous resorts of Switzerland and Austria. Holidays in Sochi are cheaper, getting here is much easier, and the magnificent nature of the Krasnodar Territory is beyond praise.

How it all began

Three dozen years ago, Sochi was positioned as a summer resort, until in the 90s of the last century, the skiing fashion “rolled” from the West to Russia. In 1992, Alpika-Service built the first ski lift in Krasnaya Polyana: tourists immediately supported this idea. Today Alpika-Service is one of the four ski resorts in Sochi, not the most fashionable, but quite popular.

It is located in the village of Esto-Sadok, from its slopes a gorgeous panorama of Mount Chugush opens. The total length of local routes is 25 km. The lifts are new (thanks to the Olympics), however, the gondola cabins are quite low, and you won’t be able to attach the camera to the helmet.

Fashionable Rose Farm

Sochi ski resorts include three more - Rosa Khutor, Gazprom and Mountain Carousel, all of which are also located in Krasnaya Polyana. But they have a serious advantage. Their appearance is connected with 2007 - with the decision to hold the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. The construction was large-scale - all experienced skiers confirm the highest level of slopes.

The most fashionable resort is Rosa Khutor. For the Olympics, tracks were built here for all kinds of winter competitions. Fifty slopes with a total length of 80 km is not just cool, the best European resorts can envy this.

True, there are no separate tracks for children, but they do not have to start skiing from the top of the slope. But the training for them is provided in a special children's club. Adults at the resort will appreciate Extreme Park, where there are slalom, ski acrobatics and mogul tracks. Another advantage of the resort is a huge selection of hotels located near the ski lifts .

Gazprom is not far behind

This resort is the youngest, it is also called Laura, in honor of the local river. There are only 16 tracks here, their total length is 15 km. But the resort is very compact and comfortable, rental villas are very popular, which is very convenient for families and large companies. The resort is distinguished by the order of the slopes: skiers will not be able to go astray and accidentally get to another slope, so beginners can not be afraid that the route will suddenly become dangerous. The resort has a large selection of entertainment, an ice arena and a heated outdoor pool, which is especially pleasant to swim in the winter.

Mountain Carousel Leadership

The resort was recognized internationally before the others. This is a whole city (part of the Gorki Gorod complex), with fashionable hotels and comfortable apartments. The tracks cover 27 km, there are gentle and very extreme slopes. The local mountains are perfect for off-piste lovers - there is enough snow here. There are special routes for kids.

All resorts of Krasnaya Polyana are suitable for skiing from late autumn to mid-April (there are a couple of places for skiing even in summer). They complement each other perfectly, allowing the tourist to choose exactly what he needs. And relax so that I wanted to come again.

Ski resorts in Sochi 2020 - prices with accommodation and an overview of the most popular places in the village of Krasnaya Polyana (Rosa Khutor). Houses, apartments, cottages and places in hostels - where better to stay.Alpine skiing in Sochi 2019 is somewhat different from last year, both for the better and for the worse. The best places for skiing and infrastructure have become different. In particular, the Polyana 1389 Hotel was finally opened in Laura - it is especially convenient for those who have the means and drove to Sochi by car in winter. There is parking, and the cottages are comfortable, and spa programs for women are available. But those who decided to take the train will have to take care of buying tickets in advance: the “Swallows” were greatly cut, so starting in October it became uncomfortable to get on the railway.

In addition, due to the crisis, service has fallen in many cheap and middle class hotels. Many hotels were built, but after the Olympics, service fell somewhat. Maybe now the situation will improve - after all, the crisis has forced most ski lovers to abandon not only Switzerland and Austria, but even Bulgaria. So, Sochi Krasnaya Polyana has great prospects in this regard.

Accommodation prices

Most in demand are hotel houses overlooking the river and mountain panoramas. At the Rosa Khutor ski resort, making an online reservation is the easiest way to book a room. For the New Year, as a rule, prices for rooms and cottages increase by about 20%. Despite the fact that the resort has a huge number of restaurants and cafes, it is best to choose tours with meals on an all-inclusive system. At the same time, many hotels know that tourists wake up and ride at different times, so the buffet is available almost around the clock.

When renting houses, you can rent a cottage with a bathhouse, a parking lot, a playground and a place for barbecue. However, given that the plots in these protected areas are worth its weight in gold, almost all real estate has a very modest internal territory.

Gazprom (Laura)

The ski resort in Sochi Gazprom or, as it is also called, Laura, is one of the best. Who was in the European resorts in it will not be very disappointed. Unpleasant only not always decent service and periodically slipping rudeness. And they’ll take a picture of your face at the entrance - all of a sudden you will steal your Fisher ski rental. But in general, everything is fine for comfort.

The main base in Gazprom is located near the lower lift. Cottages, restaurants, beautiful places - all this is guaranteed. The infrastructure is good, with the exception of some of the tow lifts, near which queues accumulate. Plus, the resort is low, so the organizers have to maintain snow cover with cannons in some places. So there is no such thing that snow melted and it is impossible to ride in Laura. Moreover, for athletes and professionals, artificial snow is better. Therefore, the snow cannons in Gazprom are really a big plus of this resort.

In total, Gazprom has 16 routes of varying difficulty. Those who have not previously practiced skiing in Sochi 2020 will be very comfortable and convenient - there are gentle slopes for training. As for ski rental prices, for a set of Volki or Fisher you have to pay from 500 to 1000 rubles. In general, not bad, for a few days you can have a wonderful rest. You can also rent a snowboard.

"Rosa Khutor"

The ski resort in Sochi "Rosa Khutor" is a former resort for rogues. Prices are the most affordable, especially in terms of accommodation. But rental, lifts - even more expensive than in Europe. The lift for 1 day will cost 2650 rubles. Conditions - after the Olympics (and the competition was here too) became quite normal. A picturesque, but somewhat dull view of the Mzymta River, all kinds of Russian tavern-hogweeds, a good cable car with spacious cabins. By the way, there are expensive hotels in Rosa Khutor, but it must be understood that young people and locals predominate in the resort.

The length of the runs on Rosa Khutor is greater than on Gazprom Laura. There are as many as 77 km of them, and 16 lifts. Snow cannons work - there is a ride. Part of the lifts are still under construction, and for several years now. Of the minuses - on some routes there are stones and ice blocks. Lift lines are also available. In addition, reviews of tourists about Rosa Khutor indicate that the resort is very fond of cheating with prices. So everything is typical in Russian. But then again, whoever came to ride will get it. The only thing you need to be careful, because not all dangerous tracks are marked. See the map, remember, do not rush.

In general, Rosa Khutor is annoying, especially for those who have previously traveled to Europe. But nowhere to go. If you put up and just come for a ride, you can even have fun. By the way, those who wish to buy mountain skiing for children should know that sometimes they steal personal equipment in the Rose Farm.

"Mountain carousel"

Ski resort in Sochi "Mountain Carousel" is located in the town of Estosadok. Famous for the fact that Medvedev rode here. If you can book a hotel in the Mountain Carousel at around 960 meters, he will enjoy only one scenic view. Of all the alpine skiing in Sochi 2020, the Carousel is the most beautiful.

The length of the tracks here is 27 kilometers. The main track is professional, there are even ski jumps, but there are several tracks for beginners. It’s better not to go here with children, although instructors are not bad for them. Just the tracks for children’s skiing, according to many, are dangerous. Yes, and there is stress with the car - there are almost no parking lots. Otherwise, "Mountain Carousel" is a very worthy object. Hotels are average in price, from 3000 rubles with a penny per room. Skiing for hire from well-known companies - Salomon, Rossignol, Berton, the elite Volki and Fisher. The cost is about 1000 rubles. Lift pass will cost from 700 rubles and above.

The service at the Mountain Carousel is not too different from Gazprom and Rosa Khutor, but probably because of the smaller number of people it is more calm and worthy. Plus, the infrastructure is not so developed - restaurants, saunas and bars are much smaller.

Although skiing in Sochi 2020 is inferior to the European level, they are developing every year.Who does not go to Sochi, he goes to Dombay. The organizers of the ski resorts in Sochi are working to improve the service, which in 2019 has grown markedly.

Before the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, there is very little time left.
Meanwhile, the mountain resort has already begun to recoup costs.
We suggest you take a look at the photographs taken by Boger in Sochi.

Most of all I was surprised by the abundance of tourists in the mountains of Sochi on Krasnaya Polyana. Full house on all lifts. Which is not surprising, because bloggers do not know that ski resorts began to develop in Krasnaya Polyana long before Sochi was declared the capital of the Olympic Games.

On July 4, 2007 (Russia was already July 5), the regular, 119th session of the IOC was held in Guatemala, at which the host of the 2014 Olympics, the city of Sochi, was chosen. And by the way, the private investor Potanin has been building the Rosa Khutor ski resort since 2003!

And at the beginning of 2007, near the Krasnaya Polyana, the first stage of another Gazprom ski complex, Laura, was opened (the first stage includes 6 cable cars and 18 routes).

The photo is not the most visited complex of Krasnaya Polyana - "Mountain Carousel". The complex was opened to visitors in 2008 and is popular with skiers and snowboarders, as well as tourists. And the turnover of "Mountain Carousel" alone is already 157.6 million rubles a year! And when the whole world and all Russians know about this resort, the income will only increase. This complex was built exclusively for tourists, no Olympic games will be held here. During the 2014 Olympics, Gorki Gorod will become only a mountain media village and an auxiliary media center.

The development project of the complex provides for the construction of ski slopes with a total length of about 30 kilometers with 12 lines of gondola, chair and tow-type lifts. The total capacity of the ski resort should be up to 12 thousand people at a time

And if you take the Rosa Khutor resort, then in the winter season 2012/2013 the ski area of \u200b\u200bthe complex offers 72 (!) Km of pistes of varying difficulty for skiing - from green to black. The existing system of snowmaking is the largest in Europe and covers more than 100 hectares of ski resort area.

The total investment in Rosa Khutor is 69 billion rubles, of which 21 billion is a credit line opened by Vnesheconombank. The rest is Potanin’s money.

Rosa Khutor Resort is the largest object of the 2014 Olympic Games. On the Rosa Khutor slopes 30 sets of Olympic medals will be played in fifteen sports disciplines. There are no similar routes by all IOC standards in Russia. In February 2012, for the first time in Russia and in the entire post-Soviet space, competitions in the Alpine skiing World Cup were held at the Rosa Khutor ski resort. But if they listened to the whining of individual bloggers - skiing in Russia did not exist further.

On the horizon is not the sky, but the black sea. Altitude 2050 meters above sea level. Beauty!

Do you really think private investors are building hotels for two weeks? If they planned to pay off during the Olympic Games, numbers would cost from 1 million rubles per day. Although there are still naive people on the Internet who think that everything and everything is built only on state money.

What is seen from above

In Sochi, I met with the journalist of the federal channel of Russia, who covers the Olympic Games, for him, Sochi will be the seventh games! He said that the completion of trifles goes on all the games until their start. This is a common practice, and this is not our mentality, as some write.

04.04.18 86 427 14

I have been skiing and snowboarding for 17 years.

Evgenia Torgashova

traveled to Krasnaya Polyana

I live in Bashkortostan, so I have already studied the ski resorts of the South Urals. For the third winter in a row, I go to Sochi for the resorts of Krasnaya Polyana for a week. The last trip cost me 20 thousand rubles. I’ll tell you why I love Krasnaya Polyana and what I can save on.

Why Krasnaya Polyana

Krasnaya Polyana is a resort in the Krasnodar Territory and the common name for the area where the village of Krasnaya Polyana, the village of Estosadok (it is closest to the ski centers) and ski resorts are located.

This year, for the first time in history, all four resorts of Krasnaya Polyana were opened: Gazprom Alpika, Gazprom Laura, Gorki Gorod, Rosa Khutor.

Many people think that Rosa Khutor and Krasnaya Polyana are synonyms, but they are not. Rosa Khutor is only one of the Krasnaya Polyana resorts, but the largest: the length of the routes here is 102 km. The total length of the routes of all resorts of Krasnaya Polyana is 160 km, and this is not counting the huge off-piste ski area (at your own peril and risk).

Such an extensive ski area in Russia is no more. Sheregesh can be put in second place, but there are only 35 km of tracks. In Krasnaya Polyana, you can ride every day at the new resort, and in order to fully explore the “Rose Farm”, three days will not be enough.

Krasnaya Polyana is not only skiing from morning to evening. Ski festivals and concerts of stars take place here: we got to Tinkoff-rose-fest and almost had time for a concert of the Spleen group. Skating rinks, cartodromes, water parks, cinemas, equipment stores, gyms, exhibitions - there is something to do in bad weather.

I skated in Austria and Italy, and Krasnaya Polyana is more suitable for me for a short vacation. To go to the Alps, you need to plan ahead. It doesn’t work out “under the forecast” or just go on the weekend.

Compare prices in the Alps and Krasnaya Polyana - a favorite pastime. For me, rest in Krasnaya Polyana is definitely cheaper.

Flight

To get to Krasnaya Polyana, you need to fly to Sochi. The nearest airport to Sochi is located in Adler - this is not a neighboring city, but the Greater Sochi area. In winter, the flight Moscow - Sochi costs from 3000 R one way. If you fly with your ski equipment, do not forget to look at the cost of a ticket with luggage - usually it is higher by 1500-2000 R.

Airlines “Aeroflot”, “Es-7”, “Ural Airlines”, “UTair” transport ski equipment for free in winter, in addition to the basic baggage allowance. But this does not apply to the cheapest tariffs “Light”, “Promo” and the like - they are suitable only for those who plan to rent equipment already in place.

If you take the cheapest ticket, get ready to pay extra for baggage and other options.

Width \u003d "2168" height \u003d "1244" class \u003d "outline-bordered" style \u003d "max-width: 1084.0px; height: auto" data-bordered \u003d "true"\u003e A direct ticket to Moscow - Sochi in winter can be bought for 3000 R one way

My experience.  I live in Bashkortostan. Flights Ufa - Sochi - Ufa with luggage for my dates cost 12 000 R per person. We decided that it was expensive, and checked the prices of package tours. As a result, we were able to buy a last-minute tour from one famous tour operator for 15,600 R for two. The tour included a round-trip charter flight, hotel accommodation - 6 nights with breakfast.

Such prices for tours in winter are not uncommon, here is an example of booking a tour from Kazan.

Advice for residents of the regions and not only:  check how much tours cost on aggregator sites (“Fly”, “Travelat”, “Level Travel”) - often this is cheaper than paying for air tickets, accommodation and transfer separately.

Transfer from airport

Transfer prices depend on where you settle. There are two fundamentally different options:

1. live in Krasnaya Polyana or Estosadok, near ski resorts;
2. live on the coast, in Adler, and come to the mountains to ride.

I will talk about the pros and cons of each option later, but for now, let's look at the cost of the transfer. If your hotel is in a mountain cluster, focus on the following prices.

156 Р - ticket for bus number 105 or 105с, which travels to Krasnaya Polyana.

300 R - a trip on a shuttle of the Rosa Khutor resort. The shuttle runs on schedule and does not stop at other resorts. Here is the schedule.

1300 R - a ride in a passenger taxi; ski equipment for 2-3 people usually gets into such a car.

2000-2200 R - taxi minivan for a large company of 7-8 people.

300-400 R - car sharing in the airport parking lot.

Long-term rental of a car without a driver in Sochi costs from 1000 rubles per day, excluding fuel costs.

If you decide to live by the sea, and only ride in the mountains, then the issue of transfer is even easier to solve: 500 R costs a transfer in Adler by taxi, from 50 R there is a public transport fare.

My experience.  We arrived with a tour operator, so we paid nothing for the transfer: we were met by a bus at the airport and taken to the hotel. Conveniently.

Where to live: Krasnaya Polyana

Pros.  A hotel in the mountains in the immediate vicinity of the resorts is convenient for single people and couples, and especially for families with children. Less time passes from breakfast to the first ski run. More entertainment in the evenings is what is called après ski in Europe.

In the season in Krasnaya Polyana, bar parties, jazz festivals, lectures on avalanche safety and freeride skating, concerts are constantly held. Entertainment in winter is more in the mountains, and not on the coast.

Minuses.  Living in winter in Krasnaya Polyana is expensive. A hotel room for two with a separate shower room costs an average of 3500-4000 R per night.

The most expensive way to live is in hotels on the Rosa Plateau at an altitude of 1170 m. There are ski-in-ski-out hotels located there, that is, you can get out of them directly in the ski boots and immediately get on the lift. These are large chain hotels with breakfast and dinner buffets, equipment storage rooms and spa facilities. You have to pay for everything: a day in the Rosa Springs spa, for example, will cost 2000 R.

Closest to the cable cars are the Ryders Lodge, Rosa Springs, Rosa Ski Inn, and Rosa Chalet cottages. A room in the Rosa Ski Inn when booking a month before the trip costs from 7500 rubles per night, even without breakfast. Similar prices at the youth Ryders Lodge.

As you move away from the cable cars, hotel prices go down. And fall to a minimum if you are ready to consider not a hotel, but a hostel. The hostel prices from 600 rubles per night - do not even need to book in advance.

All the same, you have to solve the issue of transfer from the hotel to the ski lifts. This is either a free shuttle (if you have a ski pass), or city buses No. 135, 105, or a taxi. A bus ticket within Krasnaya Polyana costs from 25 R, a taxi ride in the resort - 300-400 R.

Tip.  There are few hotels from which you can go directly to the ski lifts, and they are expensive. Book hotels where a daily shuttle to the ski lifts is already included. So you do not have to wait every morning for a bus or order a taxi to get to the lower cableway stations of Gazprom, Gorki Goroda or Rosa Khutor. Hotels always report this service on the "Booking".

How to save.  The best hotels open reservations for the winter in the summer. To live in cool hotels in the mountains, you need to take care of your reservation at least 4-6 months before the trip.

Where to live: Adler

This is not the most obvious accommodation option for those traveling to Sochi to ski. Nevertheless, we have been practicing it for three consecutive years and advise everyone. It is about Adler, and not about central Sochi. From Adler there is a highway to Krasnaya Polyana, the road to the ski lifts takes 40-50 minutes by car.

Pros.  In winter, Adler hotels are idle, so here you can find great double rooms with a private bathroom at a price of 1000 rubles per day. A room of this class at this price cannot be found in Krasnaya Polyana.

If you live in Adler, then every time after skiing it will be possible to change the climate. In the mountains at the Rosa Valley level, the daytime temperature is about 0-5 ° C, and on the coast in winter it reaches 15 ° C. Watching the sunset on a deserted winter beach is priceless.

Minuses.  Every day you have to spend 2 hours on the road (an hour there, an hour back). If you get to the resorts by car, you have to deny yourself mulled wine on the mountain and a beer after riding.

My experience.  This year we went through a tour operator, accommodation was included in the price of the ticket. Our friends flew from Orenburg themselves and settled in the same hotel - Sochi Park Hotel. For 6 nights, they paid only 3,000 rubles for a double room. Everyone can do this:

In Adler, there are several hotels that operate on an all-inclusive basis - they offer accommodation, meals, transfers to the ski lifts. These are the hotels “Lieutenant Rzhevsky” and “Arly”, the boarding house “Knowledge” and others.

At 8 am, guests are taken to any of the three ski centers, and taken away at 16-17 hours. You can go right away with ski boots - save on a left-luggage office.

Width \u003d "1000" height \u003d "598" class \u003d "outline-bordered" style \u003d "max-width: 1000px; height: auto" data-bordered \u003d "true"\u003e In 2017, we stayed at the Poruchik Rzhevsky hotel. Accommodation, breakfast and dinner, transfer to the ski lifts and back cost 1,500 R per person per day

How to get to the ski lifts

If you do not live in a ski-in-ski-out hotel, you will have to get to the ski lifts every morning.

In Krasnaya Polyana  The ski lifts can be reached by a free shuttle if you have a ski pass from any resort. You can still take a taxi (300-400 R) or by public bus. A bus ticket costs 25-50 R depending on the number of stops.

If you live in Adler  and plan to go to ski resorts every day, the options are as follows:

1. the same transfer from hotels - sometimes it is included in the stay. In Sochi Park Hotel, the transfer costs 600 R round-trip;
2. the famous Olympic train "Lastochka" - 250 Р from the station "Imereti resort" to the station "Rosa Khutor";
3. bus Olympic Park - Rosa Khutor - 187 R one way;
4. private traders - from 200 R per person, but they will go only when a full car is typed;
5. car sharing - from 8 P per minute of car rental.

My experience.  Sochi has well-developed car sharing. On this trip, we got to the resorts only by car-sharing machines. A trip by car from the Olympic Park to Rosa Khutor cost 400 R. There were four of us, so my car sharing expenses were only 1,500 R per week.

If you plan to use car sharing in Sochi, I advise you to register in the application at home: documents can be checked for several days. We chose the company "Yurentkar". Their application seemed to me very simple and convenient.

Car sharing has features: you can leave the car only in authorized places. And in the company every day you have to appoint a sober driver.

Width \u003d "1000" height \u003d "750" class \u003d "" style \u003d "max-width: 1000px; height: auto"\u003e Take bus number 135 from the Olympic Park to Rosa Khutor for 187 rubles. True, it will take you almost two hours

Ski passes

So, you flew in, settled in, drove to the resorts and decided how you would get to the ski lifts. It remains to buy a ski pass and finally begin to ride.

Four ski resorts operate in the Krasnaya Polyana ski area: Gazprom Laura, Gazprom Alpika, Rosa Khutor and Gorky Gorod. Prices for ski passes are different everywhere, there is no single ski pass yet, although the media regularly promise it. With a single ski pass, it will become like in Europe: I bought it and ride around the entire zone. In the meantime, every day a tourist has to choose which resort to go to.

Each resort has a detailed tariff schedule for ski passes: prices depend on the days of the week and season (on weekends and holidays more expensive), on the number of skiing days in a row, age and other points.

"Rosa Khutor"

Price of a ski pass per day in high season: 2650 R.

Trails: 8 green, 18 blue, 12 red, 8 black, trails for sledding and tubing, snow park.

Suitable for: families with children, advanced riders, freeriders.

In my opinion, this is the best ski resort in Russia today with a total length of 102 km. There are green trails for beginners, many blue and red trails. It was here that the Olympic ski program was held, and now everyone has the opportunity to ride on the "male" or "female" Olympic descent - these routes are called so.

2560 R

cost a ski pass for a day at the Rosa Khutor resort in March 2018

In 2016, tracks were opened on the southern slope of the Aibga ridge. Now this is a favorite place for freeriders: they do not like prepared tracks and go where they look. Rosa Khutor is a resort more suitable for experienced and advanced skiers, as well as for freeriders.

The most expensive ski passes at Rosa Khutor: 2650 rubles per day in the high season, which lasts from the end of the New Year holidays to the end of March.

How to save:  buy a ski pass on the official website with a 5% discount and for several days at once. A ski pass for two consecutive days on the site costs 4560 R - 2280 R per day. You can buy ski passes for three, five, seven days of skiing, but I recommend doing so only if you are confident in a good weather forecast. If there is snowfall, most of the tracks will be closed due to poor visibility and the danger of avalanches, and your money will be lost.

Gazprom Laura

Trails: 3 green, 7 blue, 8 red, 3 black, cross-country skiing.

Suitable for: beginners and those who like a quiet ride.

The resort is well suited for lovers of leisurely riding on blue and green tracks. The total length of the tracks here, according to the official website, is 23 km (now imagine the scale of “Rosa Khutor” with its 102 km).

A day ski pass in the high winter season (until the beginning of April) costs 1850 R. It is advantageous to take a morning ski pass: it is valid from 9:00 to 13:30 and costs 1200 R. There are tariffs for children and senior citizens.

Gazprom Alpika

Price of a ski pass per day in high season: 1850 R.

Trails: 3 red, 2 black.

Suitable for: experienced riders, freeriders.

This is a resort for professional skiers. The fact is that he was the first in Krasnaya Polyana - opened in 1993 under the name Alpika Service. The history of the local ski area began with it. In 2010, the resort was closed for reconstruction, and the opening took place just this season.

Five difficult and very difficult tracks were opened with a total length of 7.5 km. There is also a children's slope with a travelator - a special rubber track for lifting. While it is deserted here - you can meet a rare freerider or expert. Ski pass prices are similar to Gazprom Laura.

"Gorki Gorod"

Price of a ski pass per day in high season: 1900 R.

Trails: 2 green, 9 blue, 13 red, 4 black, most of them are short.

To suit: either completely beginners, or very advanced skiers who are not confused by narrow, steep and winding slopes.

For those who came to Krasnaya Polyana before the Olympics, this resort is known as the Mountain Carousel. Today it is 30 km of ski slopes of various difficulty levels. Beginners ride along the blue and green tracks facing the Upper Town - this is a platform at an altitude of 960 m above sea level. Advanced riders ride in the so-called circuses - the sidelines between the peaks.

Text: Alice Poe

After the Winter Olympics in Sochi, the ski resorts of Krasnaya Polyana were transformed. Now they are in no way inferior to their counterparts in the European Alps: professional tracks, modern equipment, fitness centers, restaurants and decent rooms - all that your heart desires. ParkSeason talks about the three main ski resorts, from which it is worth starting your acquaintance with the mountains of the Krasnodar Territory.

"Rosa Khutor"

Rosa Khutor is perhaps the most popular ski resort in Krasnaya Polyana. The slopes are equipped with 23 lifts. Some of the slopes are designed for freestyle, others - for skiing. It is convenient for athletes of any level to ride here, as there are tracks of varying degrees of difficulty. The total length of the slopes is 77 km. Those who do not know how to ski or snowboard can hire a personal trainer, or enroll in a school with Egorka group classes.

Relaxing here is not cheap. On the territory there are already 14 places to stay - chalets for large companies, apartments, as well as hotels of the highest category. In season, the cheapest room will cost 4,000 rubles, and renting a house in the mountains for 15 people with service costs 100 thousand rubles a day. All facilities were built specifically for the Sochi Olympics, which took place here in 2014.

The resort boasts a spa, yoga and massage center, art studio, kids club and many restaurants. In addition to skiing, you can entertain yourself here by helicopter flights, quad biking and snowmobiling, winter fishing, horseback riding, mountain climbing and other types of outdoor activities.

"Gorki Gorod"

“Gorki Gorod” is considered the largest ski resort in Krasnaya Polyana and can host up to 10 thousand vacationers at the same time. He grew up from the Mountain Carousel ski complex, which was opened here more than 15 years ago. During the 2014 Olympics in Gorky Gorod there was a media village where sports journalists from all over the world lived and worked.

The resort is located on several levels, the highest descent point is at the peak of the Black Pyramid mountain of the Aibga ridge - it is 2340 meters above sea level. There are 30 kilometers of ski slopes of various difficulty levels for skiing, including lighted trails for those who like to ride in the evening and trails with artificial snow in case of bad weather. 11 cableways work for lifting. You can learn how to ski at three instructor schools; a separate ski club is available for children.

Accommodation can be chosen in 11 hotels and apartment complexes. The cheapest accommodation will cost in Gorki Gorod apartments at the level of 540 meters, the minimum cost of a room will be 2220 rubles per day. If there is no need for savings, then you can settle in the five-star Rixos Krasnaya Polyana Sochi hotel with panoramic mountain views and a room price from 6400 rubles. The resort has spa and fitness centers, a water park, a cinema, billiards, bowling and the Gorky Gorod Mall.

“Gorki Gorod” also sells ready-made thematic programs for leisure - for example, wellness or designed for corporate trips.

Gazprom Laura

The year-round resort of Gazprom started operating in Krasnaya Polyana eight years ago, by 2014 it was replenished with the Laura ski and biathlon complex. During the Olympics, biathlon and ski races were held here, and after the games the complex turned into a permanent platform for training professional athletes.

There are 13 cable cars, one of which - the five-kilometer 3S - is one of the longest in the world. Trails are divided into different levels of difficulty, seven runs are illuminated. In addition, there is a system for creating artificial snow on all routes, so unexpected warming will not spoil the rest.

The resort has three hotel complexes: the five-star Grand Hotel Polyana (there are rooms, but there are separate villas), the four-star Peak Hotel and the high-mountain Polyana 1389 Hotel and Spa. The cost of living starts from 2750 rubles ("Peak Hotel"), but the trip will be much more profitable if you track special offers on the website and buy ready-made tours for holidays with meals, tours and ski pass included.

You can relax after skiing at the local spa, pool or shopping and entertainment center "Galaxy", where, in addition to shops, there is a water park, ice rink, bowling alley, billiard club, cinema, restaurants and a science and educational center for children.

Lovers of outdoor activities can visit the climbing wall, ride horses or ATVs, go karting or rent a segway. Interest clubs for children.