This is not your typical “powder in the first few words” type of clickbait. Our Bulgaria tour got us thinking that we must’ve done something right now or in a previous life because the snow was INSANE.
We’re talking about fresh, deep POW, like nothing else. Oh…and add to that a few nights at an outdoor thermal spa.
The tour began with one of the coldest days we’ve ever experienced in early spring. It was a real toe biter at around -18 Celsius.
Our group was a small one, much to our liking, 5 riders and 2 guides. We can’t stress enough that less people means more time to care and tend to each one of them.
The destination was our nextdoor neighbour, Bulgaria. It has some great winter resorts so it gets it’s share of Romanian tourists. Our plan was a full on backcountry experience, touring and riding through the mountains each day on our splitboards. Rila National Park and the impressive Pirin Mountains were the “resorts” we had in mind.
Check out more info on Rila National Park
This makes for an almost nomadic experience since you carry around all your essentials whilst travelling, up and down, on your skis/board.
Jumping from one mountain hut to another was a very cool part of it. We got to hang in some really posh cabins (Yavorov) and some very basic ones but each had their own flavour.
Some more info on Yavorov cabin
There’s nothing better than enjoying a hot drink and sharing stories after a long day of touring. Three minutes away from Bezbog cabin (2240m) was a tiny hut, half buried in snow, but the smoke coming out the chimney just had HOME written all over it.
Getting to tour like this meant that our group had a lot of work. We would start fairly early and by the time we’d reach our checkpoint of the day it wouldn’t take long for everyone to go to sleep. This type of schedule can really start to grind on someone’s mood and overall state. However, it was a real delight to watch our group pick themselves up mentally and physically whenever needed. Obviously, most of the struggle each day was the uphill but everyone pushed through knowing that a long, flowy, pow-infused ride was waiting once we reached the top of the hill.
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Snow conditions were really off the charts. Everyday was a deep day and, incredibly, the sun was out most of the tour. This ideal situation meant that we could ride sweet tree lines through beautiful pine forests but also shred the higher alpine areas.
Needs to be mentioned that the mountains in Bulgaria are a bit larger than our local ranges. Plus, being a tad closer to the Mediteranean, they get a heftier anual snowfall. Locals actually pointed out that this season was the best they’ve seen in the last several years.
Have a quick read about the incredibly scenic Pirin Mountains
That being said, huge shout out to our fantastic local guide, Pavel Peev for makin’ sure we hit all the good spots. He is an experienced local backcountry guide and, for good reason, one of the moust sought after professionals in Bulgaria.
Check out their WEBSITE
Still on the local side of things, a dive into the bulgarian cuisine was also something we thouroughly enjoyed, homey stews and garlic bread were our mainstays. Contrasts were, again, the name of the game. We’d eat in a really nice restaurant and then we’d mix it up with a street food kind of place.
We had some memorable highlights on both ends of the spectrum. This includes a real backbreaker of a day, with a really long and tiring climb and a pretty tough retreat. Funnily enough, these rougher kind of days become the stories we always tell back home.
On the other side, we cannot forget our best day of the tour, 1000m elevation gained and shredding some of the best snow and finest tree lines we’ve ever seen. Add to that some nice thick pillows and a fair share of fun drops and you have yourself a pumped, “smiles all around” group. That’s what we like to see!
Cool fact, the pine trees there were significantly larger and their branches started higher up which made riding through them a breeze.
So, we reached our SPA moment of the story. Seems like a fun idea but it’s pretty much the best mix since pizza, mozarella and tomato sauce. (or cheese, ham and spring onions for us locals :D) Short story is we basically soaked in an outdoor thermal spa for three days straight, chilling and enjoying the springtime sun. The contrast between some legit backcountry days up in the snowy mountains and the spa was really special and we plan to do it again in the future!
In regards to the logistics of the whole trip, our van gave us easy acess everytime and also huge thanks to SPLITSHOP.ro They tricked us out with an “all you could need” spare parts survival kit. Luckily, our gear held out and there was really no need for it.
Do Check out SPLITSHOP.ro
Not much more to wish for in a tour than perfect deep snow with great weather on long spring days. Sometimes you just strike gold and by that we do NOT mean yellow snow. Stay far away from that!
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