HOLIDAY IDEAS sports & activities winter

Alongside with downhill skiing, cross-country skiing is also becoming still more popular. Well maintained cross-country trails of various levels of difficulty and length can be found in several ski resorts (e.g. Štrbské Pleso, Tatranská Lomnica, Skalka, Tále, Osrblie, Šachtičky, Donovaly, Jasná).

One of the most favourite winter sports is the traditional dog sleigh race that has good conditions and a long tradition in Slovakia. Several international competitions regularly take place in various parts of Slovakia.

Thanks to skiing possibilities they offer, The High Tatras are well known also abroad. But not everybody knows, that in winter there are good conditions for skiing in almost the whole territory of Slovakia. Skiers can find here more than 1,000 ski lifts and 30 cable ways in almost 100 ski centres.

Has it ever happened to you that you were on a seven-day skiing trip with a group of friends in the mountains and suddenly you became fed up? You needed a one day break and do something else. Also those who cannot ski but want to spend their time with their skiing friends are in a similar situation. But what to do during the day when everybody is on the slope?

The resort of Jasná in the Low Tatras is undoubtedly the top resort for freeride snowboarding & freeskiing.

In Slovakia freestyle and freeride snowboarding together with freeskiing (freestyle & freeride skiing) have seen a boom lately. In recent years fun parks with various jibs have been built in every major skiing resort.

Historians say that in Slovakia hang-gliding was established earlier than paragliding. What is the difference? For hang-gliding you need a rigid wing.

Skating has a long tradition in Slovakia and even nowadays it counts among very popular sports. Indoor ice-skating rinks, public skating rinks and open-air ice areas offer an opportunity to enjoy skating experience in the winter season.

Paragliding is one of the youngest air sports which are able to provide people what the nature cannot provide them - flying. The feeling of the free flight is very intense and cannot be compared to anything else. Slovakia, thanks to its mountainous surface, offers very good conditions for this beautiful sport.

The number of ski mountaineering fans is growing in Slovakia. It is a mixture of ski touring, high-mountain skiing and mountaineering. Its developing base of members is founding clubs and the number of races is also increasing.