Kranjska Gora Ski Resort is

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

's oldest

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...

Kranjska Gora Kranjska Gora (; german: Kronau) is a town in northwestern Slovenia, on the Sava Dolinka River in the Upper Carniola region, close to the Austrian and Italian borders. It is the seat of the Municipality of Kranjska Gora. Name Kranjska Gora was f ...

Upper Carniola Upper Carniola ( sl, Gorenjska; it, Alta Carniola; german: Oberkrain) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the northern mountainous part of the larger Carniola region. The centre of the region is Kranj, while other urban centers include Jeseni ...

, opened in 1948. It is divided into five different sections under the Vitranc Mountain, streched throughout the whole valley of the same name municipality: Mojstrana,

Planica Planica () is an Alpine valley in northwestern Slovenia, extending south from the border village of Rateče, not far from another well-known ski resort, Kranjska Gora. Further south, the valley extends into the Tamar Valley, a popular hiking d ...

Podkoren Podkoren (, german: Wurzen) is a settlement in the Municipality of Kranjska Gora in the northwestern Upper Carniola region of Slovenia. Geography It is situated in the Upper Sava Valley. The Zelenci nature reserve, at the source of the Sava River ...

1, and Podkoren 2. It has a total of of ski slopes, tracks for

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

, and Snow Fun Park. Since 1961, resort is hosting Vitranc Cup, one of the oldest and most prestigious active

alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

competitions in the world, and being classic regular World Cup host since 1968 season. " Podkoren 3", which is hosting World Cup events since 1983, is the steepest and most difficult groomed ski course in Slovenia with maximum incline at 30.5° degrees (59%).

History

1948: First ski lift in Slovenia

On 29 November 1948, first ever Slovenian ski resort and lift (surface) was officially opened at "Preseka" slope. It was 960 m long and 265 m different height, with lift capacity of 170 skiers per hour.

1961: Vitranc Cup premiere

On 4–5 March 1961, first Vitranc Cup was held with men's giant slalom and slalom, both international "FIS 1A" events.

Josef Stiegler Josef "Pepi" Stiegler (born 20 April 1937 in Lienz, Austria) is a former alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist. He was a member of the Austrian national ski team during the late 1950s and early 1960s and was one of the world's premier racer ...

(AUT) won GS and Ernst Falch (AUT) won SL next day. Start of first GS was at 1,552 metres, just under the top of Vitranc Mountain with Finish at 1,035 metres on the route of notorious "Bukovnik downhill". It was so steep, dangerous and scary, that it was too much even for the best skilled skiers in world. The whole upper slope was compared and known as "

harakiri , sometimes referred to as hara-kiri (, , a native Japanese kun reading), is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honour but was also practised by other Japanese people ...

with acceleration". Even worse than

Streif Streif is a World Cup downhill ski course in Austria, located on Hahnenkamm mountain (Kitzbühel Alps) in Kitzbühel, Tyrol, competing for the Hahnenkamm Races since 1937. It runs on natural terrain (pasture in summer) with minor modifications ...

downhill course in

Kitzbühel Kitzbühel (, also: ; ) is a medieval town situated in the Kitzbühel Alps along the river Kitzbüheler Ache in Tyrol, Austria, about east of the state capital Innsbruck and is the administrative centre of the Kitzbühel district (). Kitzbühel ...

1968: World Cup debut

On 10 March 1968, Kranjska Gora hosted first World Cup event at old extra demanding and steep course above ex gas station. French skier

Patrick Russel Patrick Russel (born 22 December 1946) is a former French Alpine ski racer and World Cup champion. He specialized in the technical disclipines (giant slalom and slalom) and won three discipline championships in the World Cup: slalom in 1969 an ...

won the World Cup slalom.

1982: Record attendance

On 20 March 1982, domestic superhero

Bojan Križaj Bojan Križaj () (born 3 January 1957) is a Slovenian, back then Yugoslavian, former alpine skier. During his international career he competed for the then-existing Yugoslavia. He competed at three Winter Olympics. Career Križaj, born in Kra ...

took first ever World Cup victory for Slovenia in home country, winning SL by beating legendary

Ingemar Stenmark Jan Ingemar Stenmark (; born 18 March 1956) is a Swedish former World Cup alpine ski racer. He is regarded as one of the most prominent Swedish athletes ever, and as the greatest slalom and giant slalom specialist of all time. He competed fo ...

, with record attendance of 32,000 people. Until this day this is still the most attended alpine ski competition in Slovenia ever. It is part of Slovenian sport folklore and popculture, the most famous and worshiped alpine ski event in history of Slovenia.

Ski slopes

Resort statistics

Elevation
Summit - , Base - , Ski Terrain
- 19 named runs covering around on one mountain, but four different areas. Slope Difficulty
- 2 slopes expert
- 5 slopes advanced
- 8 slopes intermediate
- 2 slopes beginner Vertical Drop: Longest Run: ''"Velika dolina"'' -

Other activities

*Snow Fun Park/Halfpipe *Cross country skiing () *Sledding, Bike Park, Tubing (only in summer) & hiking

Club5+

In 1986, elite Club5 was originally founded by prestigious classic downhill organizers:

Wengen Wengen () is a mountain village in the Bernese Oberland of central Switzerland. Located in the canton of Bern at an elevation of above sea level, it is part of the Jungfrauregion and has approximately 1,300 year-round residents, which swells to ...

Garmisch Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; Bavarian: ''Garmasch-Partakurch''), nicknamed Ga-Pa, is an Alpine ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ''GAP''), in the O ...

Val d’Isère Val may refer to: Val-a Film * ''Val'' (film), an American documentary about Val Kilmer, directed by Leo Scott and Ting Poo Military equipment * Aichi D3A, a Japanese World War II dive bomber codenamed "Val" by the Allies * AS Val, a Sov ...

and Val Gardena/Gröden, with goal to bring alpine ski sport on the highest levels possible. Later over the years other classic longterm organizers joined the now named Club5+:

Alta Badia Alta Badia is a ski resort in the Dolomites of northern Italy, in the upper part of the Val Badia (german: Hochabtei) in South Tyrol. It is part of the Dolomiti Superski ski area. It is included in the territories of the municipalities of Corvar ...

, Cortina,

Maribor Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, th ...

, Lake Louise,

Schladming Schladming is a small former mining town in the northwest of the Austrian state of Styria that is now a popular tourist destination. It has become a large winter-sports resort and has held various skiing competitions, including most notably the ...

Adelboden , neighboring_municipalities= Diemtigen, Frutigen, Kandersteg, Lenk im Simmental, Leukerbad (VS), Sankt Stephan , twintowns= } Adelboden is a mountain village and a municipality in Switzerland, located in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental admin ...

Kvitfjell Kvitfjell ( no, White mountain) is a ski resort in Norway, located in the municipality of Ringebu. Developed for the Alpine skiing at the 1994 Winter Olympics, 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, it is one of the most modern resorts in the world ...

, St.Moritz and

Åre Åre () is a locality and one of the leading Scandinavian ski resorts situated in Åre Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 3,200 inhabitants in 2018. It is, however, not the seat of the municipality, which is Järpen. 25% of the local eco ...

References

External links

* – {{in lang, en
Skimap.org
– Kranjska Gora

– podium finishers Ski areas and resorts in Slovenia Municipality of Kranjska Gora 1948 establishments in Yugoslavia Sport in the Alps