The Ski Center Cerkno
Yesterday, on 21st of March (which was, sadly, probably the last skiing day in this season, because it is end of March already and it is getting warmer and warmer), I have spent an amazing day at the Ski Center Cerkno, and I would like to share some facts about this wonderful place and my experience there with all of you. Who knows, maybe this will help you to decide to go there yourself, or maybe even make you wish to start skiing (in case you have never done that before).
I was skiing in Ski Center Cerkno many times. In general, my family and I love to go skiing every winter, and I learned to ski at age of four, but the first time that we went to Cerkno, was only seven years ago. I do not really know why have not gone there before. Maybe because we only went to ski centers, that are close to our home. For example, we were going to Log pod Mangrtom, which is only half an hour away from our hometown, and to Kranjska gora, which is about an hour away (and on the way there, you also pass by Log pod Mangrtom), meanwhile Cerkno is about two hours away. But then, after many recommendations from our friends (and also on websites), we have finally decided to visit Ski Center Cerkno. And we were disappointed that we have not gone there before.
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Yesterday, it was a foggy day. In the morning, we were still deciding whether to go skiing or not. The weather forecast got worse overnight. But we decided to go anyway, because this was our first skiing day in the season. Normally, the fog at the ski slope goes away when it gets warmer. But yesterday, it was foggy all day. If you do not know the ski slope, the fog can be quite difficult, but I know it very well, and it was fun, but still quite scary.
The operating hours of Ski Center Cerkno are from nine in the morning to four in the afternoon. We arrived there at nine thirty, and soon, we realized that we picked an excellent day to go skiing in terms of the amount of other people. The two parking spaces were only half full, while on busy days, you have to park in the nearest village and walk up there with all the equipment, because the parking space can simply not accommodate all the cars.
There are two main parking spaces in Ski Center Cerkno. The first one is the busiest, and its starting point is a six – seat chairlift, named Počivalo (which can be translated as 'the resting'), which will take you to the top of the ski slope, where also the restaurant is. The parking space below Počivalo is full from eight o'clock onwards on busy days, although the ski slope opens at nine.
Everybody wants to park here because the access there is better. The second parking space is situated on the hill above the four – seat chairlift, called Brdo, which will also take you to the top of the ski slope, just next to Počivalo. You can not park below it, and the parking space is about five hundred meters away. So there are small vans, drivng regularly from the parking space to the Brdo chairlift, and you do not have to pay to use them. Parking is also for free. So, since we have arrived a bit late yesterday, we went to park at Brdo immediately, and we were very surprised because there were only a few cars. So, after that, we went to Počivalo, and we were even more surprised. And happy. This is probably the first time that we were able to park there.
There are also ticket offices at each one of the starting points, which is good, so you do not have to worry how to get to the other starting point to buy tickets. But this was arranged only last year. Before that, the ticket office was only at Brdo, and if you parked at Počivalo, you had to go all the way back to Brdo to buy ticket.
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How to get there?
Ski Center Cerkno is the most central Ski Centre in the country of Slovenia. It is situated only about half an hour away from the capital, Ljubljana. It is situated in the place, called Črni Vrh. There is only one possible way to get there. Whether you are coming from the direction of Ljubljana or Tolmin, you have to get to the town Cerkno, and there, at the only traffic light in town, turn in the direction of the Ski Center. There are signs, so you will be sure where you have to take a turn. After this turn, there is about fifteen kilometers long drive to the Ski Center.
The road is very narrow and there are no villages on the way. At the end of the way, you will reach a junction. If you turn to the right, you will reach Počivalo, and if you turn to the left, you will reach Brdo. I would advise you to check out the Počivalo parking space first, and if it is not free, you can still go to Brdo later.
What are the ticket prices?
The prices are not very high. In fact, comparing to some ski slopes in Austria, you can get a family ticket in Ski Center Cerkno for the price of one person daily ticket in Austria. Besides the general low prices of the tickets, you can get a quite big discounts. In general, you have students', high school students', seniors' and families' discounts, and discounts of some organisations (for example, members of ŠOUP have an additional five – percent discount). A great thing is that you can combine these discounts. So, yesterday we paid for a family ticket for five of us, 66 Euros in total, which is less than fifteen Euros per person for a DAILY ticket.
Another discount that you can get is, if you purchase tickets in advance, which is so – called early bird offer. It means that you can buy tickets in advance (the offer is available in September and in October) and the discount for this is quite big. The downside of this offer is, that the weather can be bad all season, and the tickets that you buy in this offer, are not refundable. Well, I think that this offer is only good for locals who are skiing there regularly. It can be quite hard for tourists to plan their holidays so far in advance.
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Daily prices without the discounts are the following: adult ticket 29 Euros (early bird offer 24 Euros), young people and seniors 24 Euros (early bird offer 21 Euros), kids 17 Euros (early bird offer 14 Euros).
If you would not like to ski the whole day, you also have an option of purchasing a morning and evening ticket. Morning ticket lasts from nine to one o'clock, and afternoon ticket lasts from noon to four o'clock. My advice is, if you are deciding between these two options, to purchase the morning option, because the snow is great in the morning, meanwhile it gets worse in the afternoon.
The afternoon and evening prices are not the same, although the amount of time is four hours at both options. I think that the morning ticket is more expensive because of the better snow. You also have an option of purchasing two-, three- or four – hour tickets, and the price is the same for all age groups. The two - hour ticket costs 17 Euros, the three – hour ticket costs 20 Euros and the four – hour ticket costs 25 Euros. As you can see, those prices are very high, comparing to other offers. But you can lower them for a few Euros by adding the different discounts.
Then, if you would like to ski in Cerkno for more continuous days, you have an option of purchasing several – days' tickets. It is cheaper than buying a ticket every day, and it can also save you some time. The next option is a weekly ticket. For adults, it costs 145 Euros, for students and seniors 130 Euros and for kids 90 Euros. You also have an option of a 'family package' for those multi – day tickets. If you would like to know more about it, check their website.
The last option here is the season ski pass, which is divided into two groups. Season ticket from Monday to Friday has a fixed price for all age groups – 195 Euros. A season ticket, which you can use all days in the week, costs 435 Euros for adults. For students and seniors, it costs 335 Euros, and for kids 285 Euros.
The prices change every season, and not every season has the same offers. The prices above are for the year 2014/15, so if you are planning to visit Ski Center Cerkno next year, check if the prices have changed.
What are the ski slopes like?
Ski Center Cerkno offers ski slopes for every kind of skier (or snowboarder). You have slopes for absolute beginners, for intermediate skiers and for advanced skiers as well. In total, Ski Center Cerkno offers eight chairlifts and twelve slopes in total. Well, it is not like the Beaver Creek, but Cerkno is the second biggest ski slope in Slovenia.
Four of these slopes are marked with green colour (easy), and each one of them is divided to several smaller slopes and each one of them has its own lift. Four slopes are marked with blue colour (intermediate), two with red (advanced) and two with black (hard).
The two main slopes are Počivalo and Brdo, which are also the longest ones, and from those two, you can access all the other slopes, too.
Are there any other forms of entertainment, besides skiing?
You can not be bored in Ski Center Cerkno. Of course, skiing is the main activity, but you can choose from many other activities, too.
In the middle of the Brdo slope, there is a ski and snowboard park. If you are not into doing the tricks yourself, you can just watch some very good skiers and snowboarders, performing in this snow park. This place is not advisable for beginners, because you need to have some knowledge for all the jumps and rails there.
A few times per season (usually on weekends), there are competitions at the Ski Center Cerkno. But not with professional skiers – anybody can participate. There is no fee to participate, and if you are good, you can win some cool prizes (a daily ticket, a free meal in a restaurant and other useful things). Usually, they invite a slovenian celebrity to go first, and others try to beat him.
On some weekends, there are also live concerts at the place behind the restaurant. Yesterday, there was a famous slovenian band Atomik Harmonik, and on Valentine's day, the famous croatian singer Severina was performing.
If you are at the Ski Center Cerkno with kids, you can put them in the skiing kindergarten, while you have some time for yourself. There, you will find a small snow park and also a skiing course for kids. It is a group course, so they will not learn as much as they would on individual lessons, but the instructors are skilled, and I am sure that everybody will learn something. There is also a snow playground where they can play.
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If you would like to test out different types of skis, you can try them for free at the place next to the restaurant. Here, you can usually try the newest and the best (read: the most expensive) models. You have limited time – thirty minutes. The only thing that you have to do, is leave your ID there.
You can attent the ski and snowboarding school even if you are not a beginner anymore. Of course, you can always improve your knowledge. The prices are not fixed, because the lessons are individual, and every lesson is adjusted to your knowledge. If you are a beginner, you can also rent the equipment there.
Where can I eat?
When you reach the top of the ski slope in Cerkno, you will notice a big, wooden building on the top. This is a restaurant (which also offers a few rooms, if you would like to stay overnight). This restaurant is extremely popular among skiers. Of course, everybody prefers a warm meal over a sandwich.
In front of the restaurant, there is a big place, where you can leave your skis or a snowboard. There are also hangers for backpacks. It is almost necessary to bring your backpack to the top with you, because going back to the car would be a waste of time. Mostly, people bring additional clothes and something to drink with them.
When you enter the reatsurant, the first thing you will notice, is a big fireplace after the entrance. And it has a bench in front of it, which is great to warm up on cold days. On the left side, there is a place where you can pick what you will eat (this is a self – service restaurant). Usually, there is a lot of choice – from typical slovenian dishes, to more traditional ones. And the food is not expensive at all.
So Cerkno is definitely a place to go for skiing, you will enjoy it!
