January the 25th, 2021 - Rijeka's Platak ski resort is set to get not only a brand new toboggan run, but a new cable car on which construction will hopefully begin during the warmer summer months.
As Vecernji list/Radmilla Kovacevic writes, as was expected, given that skiing abroad is written off given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Croatian ski resorts will simply have to do. They don't boast kilometre-long trails, they aren't equipped to the highest ski standards as is the case in numerous famous European ski resorts, but during these coronavirus-dominated times, needs must.
At the famous Platak ski resort, where since last year they have had a system in place worth fourteen million kuna with fourteen snow cannons, a new accumulation lake with 50,000 cubic metres of water, an engine room and cooling towers, they had to limit ticket sales in the first days, the same is true for other Croatian ski resorts.
Several factors coincided, apart from the fact that foreign ski resorts are currently inaccessible, snow fell during the school holidays, which is the factor that drives Croatian skiers the most even when there is no pandemic to speak of.
''In Croatia, skiing started on January the 2nd, when the conveyor belts were opened, and on January the 5th, the cable car started working. At that time we were the first ski resort to open in this part of Europe. By the way, skiers typically gravitate towards us in a circle of 200 kilometres, but now they're coming from everywhere, from Nasice, Osijek and Varazdin all the way to Dubrovnik. During the first few days we had a lot of pressure to deal with, on the first day we sold 1100 tickets, which means that there were about 3500 people on Platak. After that, we limited the daily ticket sales to 600 and people were skiing until the rain came on Wednesday, but soon we should have snow again,'' said Alen Udovic, director of the Gorani sports centre in Platak, which this winter got a brand new toboggan run of 250 metres next to the mobile trail, and construction of a new cable car should begin by summer.
According to those at the Platak ski resort, the toboggan run through the forest is a complete success, and many are looking for winter joy on Zagreb's nearby Sljeme as well. The demand for tickets is also very high, some have returned in recent days disappointed that they haven't managed to fall into the daily quota of a thousand ski passes.
The Sljeme ski resort, which opened on January the 19th, is open every day from 09:00 to 16:00, and for the first day or two, 700 ski passes could be issued by 10:00.
"I also met the team I was with in France with last year," said a Zagreb resident on Facebook, confirming that many have given up going abroad this winter, but they haven't given up on skiing.
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