Kopaonik ski resort or Kopaonik ski center ( sr-cyr, Ски центар Копаоник, Ski centar Kopaonik) is a

mountain resort A mountain resort is a place to holiday or vacation located in an elevated and typically at least relatively isolated area. The term resort implies integral hotel or inn accommodations, restaurants, and either or both sports facilities or scen ...

and the largest center of winter tourism in

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

. Located on the slopes of

Kopaonik Kopaonik ( sr-cyr, Копаоник, ; sq, Kopaoniku) is a mountain range located in Serbia and Kosovo. The highest point is the Pančić's Peak with . The central part of the Kopaonik plateau was declared a national park in 1981 which today cove ...

Mountain, it is mainly a destination for

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

and

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympi ...

, but also offers various other activities like

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

. In the area, there are several hotels and hostels, cafes, bars and night clubs.

History

Kopaonik ski resort was established in 1964, when the first

chairlift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. They ...

was opened. In 1981,

Mountain was proclaimed a national park of Serbia. In the same year, the

International Ski Federation The ''Fédération internationale de ski et de snowboard'' (FIS; en, International Ski and Snowboard Federation) is the highest international governing body for skiing and snowboarding. Founded on 2 February 1924 in Chamonix, France during the ...

(FIS) recognized ski resort as an international ski center. In 1999, it was bombed several times as the

Serbian Armed Forces The Serbian Armed Forces ( sr, Војска Србије, Vojska Srbije) is the military of Serbia. The President of Serbia acts as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, while administration and defence policy is carried out by the Government o ...

military base is located nearby.

Features

As of 2018, Kopaonik ski resort has 25

ski lift A ski lift is a mechanism for transporting skiers up a hill. Ski lifts are typically a paid service at ski resorts. The first ski lift was built in 1908 by German Robert Winterhalder in Schollach/Eisenbach, Hochschwarzwald. Types * Aerial l ...

s, with of

ski slope A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or parti ...

s for all categories. With around of alpine ski runs and of cross country runs, it is the largest ski resort in Serbia and the largest in South-East Europe. Among other features, it has night skiing run and artificial snow system covering most of the resort. Kopaonik has mild winters with high levels of snowfall, and on average about 200 sunny days annually with 160 days covered with

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

. Kopanik ski resort is being considered as one of the best ski resorts in South East Europe, with outstanding beginner and lower-intermediate terrain for skiers.

Festivals

There is an annual music festival "Big Snow" held from 23 to 29 March in the area of ski resort. The festival gathers international reggae, jazz and electronic music performers. The ski resort has a "Snow Park" for extreme skiers and snowboarders. The park has expanses of grassland, forests composed of a variety of tree species, beauty spots, and river

gorge A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

s. The snow blanket lasts a long time on this mountain and there are favorable conditions for the expansion of winter tourism there.

Transportation

Kopaonik ski resort is well-connected with the main transport routes in Serbia. It is linked with the

Ibar highway State Road 22, commonly known as Ibar Highway ( sr, Ибарска магистрала, Ibarska magistrala), is an IB-class road, connecting Belgrade with Šumadija and Western Serbia and finally with Montenegro at Špiljani border crossing. It ...

, It is located (two-hour drive) from the international airport

Niš Constantine the Great Airport Niš Constantine the Great Airport ( sr, Аеродром Константин Велики Ниш, Aerodrom Konstantin Veliki Niš) , located northwest of downtown Niš, in the suburbs of Medoševac and Popovac. It is the second-largest an ...

and (four-hour drive) from the

Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport ( sr, / ) or Belgrade Airport ( sr, / ) is an international airport serving Belgrade, Serbia. It is the largest and the busiest airport in Serbia, situated west of downtown Belgrade near the suburb of Surč ...

. The recently open

Morava Airport Morava Airport ( sr, Аеродром Mopaвa, Aerodrom Morava) , also known as Lađevci Airport ( sr, Аеродром Лађевци, Aerodrom Lađevci), is a mixed public and military airport in Lađevci, Serbia - some 15 km (9.5 m ...

near

Kraljevo Kraljevo ( sr-cyr, Краљево, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Raška District in central Serbia. It is situated on the confluence of West Morava and Ibar, in the geographical region of Šumadija, between the mountains of K ...

is much closer to this ski resort (102 km, 63 mi, approximately, hour-and-half-drive by Ibar highway). However, it is only in its early development phase, although it is expected that this aerodrome will serve as the main hub for Kopaonik in the future.Infokop: "Avionom preko 'Morave' do Kopaonika"
/ref> Also, a public heliport is located in a military base north of the resort.

Gallery

File:Pančićev vrh during winter.jpg, View on

Pančić's Peak Pančić's Peak ( sr, Панчићев врх, translit=Pančićev vrh, sq, Maja Pançiq) is the highest point in the Kopaonik mountain range, which straddles southern Serbia and northern Kosovo. The peak is 2,017 m high, located in the Brus munic ...

during winter File:Kop kgb2.jpg, Kopaonik landscape with chairlifts File:Kopaonik - panoramio (6).jpg, Kopaonik panorama File:Između svetova.jpg, Kopaonik panorama File:Hoteli na Kopaoniku.jpg, Hotels in Kopaonik File:Turistički centar Kopaonik 0754.jpg, Hotel Grand Kopaonik File:Копаоник 5.jpg, Hotels on Kopaonik File:Kop neb stol hot2.jpg, Hotel Nebeske Stolice File:Žičara Kopaonik.jpg, Ski lift station Kopaonik File:Kop kgb1.jpg, Kopaonik ski resort walk paths File:Kop border.jpg, Snowboarding in Kopaonik

References

External links

*
Ski resort Kopaonik
at skiresort.info
Kopaonik ski resort
at skijalistasrbije.rs

at infokop.net {{Ski Serbia Ski areas and resorts in Serbia Kopaonik