Romania with the Boys!

On the mission to ski the Balkans, the next logical destination was Romania and the Carpathian Mountains. The expectations were not very high, but in the end we realized our perception of Romania was mostly wrong. We expected a poor country, with outdated infrastructure and mediocre mountains. In the end it turned out a great "boys weeks" destination, with superb ski-touring terrain, interesting food, friendly people, lively historical cities in Transylvania and breathtaking medieval castles, which inspired Drakula. We also realized the western Carpathian Mountains are actually closer (6 hours) to Slovenia then most of the mountain ranges in the Balkans (9+ hours), with completely new highways as a bonus. As the opening photo suggests, we had very serious winter conditions throughout the whole week. Snow was abundant and the temperature was -5 C in the valley and down to -20 C in the mountains. Despite having only one sunny day, all ski-touring trips were a big success.

After having delicious Hungarian goulash at my good friend Jerry in Kecskemet and spending a charming evening in Timisoara (photo above), we penetrated the western Carpathians and settled in Poiana Marului. This is now a quiet village set between the mountains, but used to be a luxurious tourist destination for Ceausescu and his communist elite. For starters we attacked Bistricioara (cca 2000m) over the ridge and surprised a few loggers when skiing back to the village. We spent the night in the cozy Artarul pension, which is run by a retired Canadian "Gasterbiter" and his lovely wife. The next morning we did a quick tour of the ruined 5-star hotel (photo below) and continued our journey towards the east.

Over the years, Artač developed an interesting theory, which goes something like this: "With abundant snow and low temperatures, there is no such thing as bad weather for ski touring, as long as you choose the right destination". In this spirit, we continued towards the east and attacked Sturu (1823m) along the way. It turned out a great trip, with first class powder and a big fire to free our instincts and keep us warm at -15 C.

Exhausted from a long day in the mountains, we stopped for the night in Hunedoara. We woke up early next morning and were blown away by the Corvin Castle (photo below), which would surely please Drakula himself. After lunch, we drove to Sibiu, a very well preserved medieval city. Even though the temperatures were around -10 C, the city was quite lively, and we spent the evening in one of the underground pubs. We slept in a cozy Vila Sibiu (12 eur / person), where Leon and Keber decided to continue the party, by drinking and singing Bosnian songs. When joining for breakfast they were slightly embarrassed, but we all had a great laugh.

Our next destination was Balea Lac (2050m), which is located high in the Fagaras mountains. There is a road which goes up to the lake and across a tunnel towards the south, but was completely unrecognizable under meters of snow. Since the cableway was not operational, we took the second option called "ski-touring ascent" and reached the lake in a snow blizzard at -20 C. We entered the ice chapel with skies and had a drink at the ice residence. It was -5 C inside the hotel, and the beer remained chilly until the last sip. Looking for something cheaper and especially warmer, we settled down in Cabana Paltinu, with a nice fireplace and definitely the best option around. There we also met Adrian (Davo), who was preparing to organize a ski-touring competition in two days. We had a long discussion on the weather conditions and snow stability, which he worried, will blow away the weekend event.

We woke up early next morning and the sun was shining for the first time on this trip. It was too dangerous for any serious mountaineering, so we decided to walk through the tunnel and descend to Cabana Capra. About 200m above the cottage, Keber triggered a small avalanche, and even I had a short ride. We decided to avoid any potential "Cabana Express" and rather enjoyed sunbathing and lunch at the tunnel entrance.

After a long walk through the tunnel, we reunified with Davo, who was delighted to tell us that northern slopes were more than stable. This is just when Keber popped a new beer and was expecting to take the afternoon easy. He was a little grumpy at first but quickly surrendered to powder delights in the neighboring valley:

In the evening, we drove to a small ski resort Paltinis and enjoyed sauna in a luxurious 4-star hotel. Well rested next morning we did a 20km round trip across a No-name mountain (cca 1970m). We spent the last night in Arad, also a nice and historical city, and drove back towards the reality of everyday life. Tired, happy and satisfied!