Borovets

Borovets (Bulgarian: Боровец), known as Chamkoria (Чамкория) until the middle of the 20th century, is a popular Bulgarian mountain resort situated in Sofia Province, on the northern slopes of Rila, at an altitude of 1350 m. Borovets is 10 km from Samokov, 73 km from Sofia and 125 km from Plovdiv.

Borovets is the oldest Bulgarian winter resort with a history that dates back to 1896. Borovets was originally established at the end of the 19th Century as a hunting place for the Bulgarian Kings. Borovets gradually developed into a modern ski resort with hotels, restaurants, bars and a network of ski runs and lifts along the slopes of the Rila Mountains, providing for a whole range of winter sports. The resort has twice hosted World Cup Alpine Skiing rounds(1981 and 1984), while the Biathlon track is one of the best in the world.

The Super Borovets project is one of the largest and most expensive investment and development projects in Bulgarian history. The plan is to enlarge Borovets town to encompass the nearby towns of Samokov and Beli Iskar. The resort will be divided into three levels:

Level 1 or Low Borovets: A brand new development just outside Samokov, this area will cater for the less economically well off tourists, but will have good connections and transport with Borovets and the main ski area. This project will provide around 5,000 hotel rooms.

Level 2 or Borovets: Consists of the existing Borovets with extensive investment and development. This will provide around 10,000 hotel rooms (approximately what Borovets currently provides) and will remain as the main accommodation area.

Level 3 or Super Borovets: This will cater for those looking for 5 star hotels and a luxury experience, however it will provide no more than 2,500 hotel rooms.

The current plan from the architects (subject to review and acceptance by the ecology team) is to expand the number of pistes by constructing 19 new pistes bringing the total ski-able area to around 90 km. To cope with the higher demand for ski-lifts and gondolas, 12 new ski-lifts will be built. One of these lifts will be a multi-station gondola which connects Borovets to Samokov allowing skiers easy access to the slopes from the Lower Borovets development site.

The project was launched in 2004 and was to be completed by 2009, however several setbacks have delayed it. The project was then given the go-ahead in October 2007, amidst opposition from environmentalists. However, by February 2010, still nothing had happened with the whole project mired in financial problems as a result of the late-2000s financial crisis, and the project's backers denying that work had restarted.

...
Wikipedia