The village of Pilipets is the future of skiing holidays in Ukraine and a true natural gem of the Carpathians. We realized this as we continued to explore the village's infrastructure.
The village of Pilipets is a fairy-tale place! For those who want to learn to ski, there are all the conditions: excellent accommodation, simple slopes for children + an instructor who responsibly teaches them to ski. The conditions for adults are no worse: fairy-tale landscapes and a vast area of ski stadiums, where all ski trails are well-prepared for skiing.
And also - the nature here is simply divine! In these valleys, all problems are forgotten. It is cozy, comfortable, and already quite warm in a spring-like way. At this time, the temperature in the sun reaches +5°C.
In the village of Pilipets, the lifts are located on the northern slopes of Mount "Himba".
There are a total of 6 lifts operating at the Pilipets ski resort:
1. The T-bar lift of the "Shepot Karpat" hotel - 400 meters.
2. T-bar lift - 600 meters.
3. Two-seater chairlift of the "Horets" hotel - 1650 meters.
4. T-bar lift "Borzhavski Polonyny" - 1500 meters.
5. T-bar lift of the "Magura - 1" tourist complex - 1000 meters.
6. T-bar lift of the "Magura - 2" tourist complex - 900 meters.
The T-bar lift "Borzhavski Polonyny" is located on the northern slope of Mount Himba (1491 m) at its foot. With a length of 1500 meters and a lift time of 7.5 minutes, it is one of the longest and fastest two-seater T-bar lifts in the Carpathians.
The height difference between the lower and upper stations is 402 meters, with a lift speed of 3.2 m/s. The cabin lifts skiers to the upper station, located at an altitude of 1163 meters above sea level. The average slope angle of the trail is 15°, with a maximum of 26°, and the lift capacity is 600 people per hour.
Recently, a chairlift has been operating in the very center of the resort. Its length is 160 meters longer, but unfortunately, its speed is lower than that of the T-bar lift. The upper stations of both the T-bar and chair lifts are an excellent starting point for ascending Mount Himba and descending back down!
"Mountain of the Future"
Himba is a mountain from whose summit one can see the future.
We continue to explore the infrastructure of the village of Pilipets. While walking through the village, we found ourselves focusing our gaze on the indescribably beautiful mountain - "Himba." When we asked the locals for more details about the mountain, we realized that the locals have a special respect for "Himba." They say the mountain is so high that if you climb to the top, you can see the future.
So we decided to climb. Why not? Soon we reached the chairlift. The new Finnish chairlift takes us to the foot of the mountain for 30 UAH.
We got off at the upper station of the chairlift. The views are stunning: the sun is shining in the blue sky, a light breeze is blowing, and we can see the "Velykyi Verkh" mountain clearly. It's beautiful! And tell me, how can one say that God is not an artist? It's simply fantastic! The luxury of the soul - to stand at the level of a bird's flight and watch as the high mountains of Ukraine dissolve in the heavenly azure.
We are also captivated by the crystal-clear mountain air, the eternal beauty of the snow-covered mountains, and the almost deafening silence compared to the chaos of the city. This is a QUIET world. Almost SILENT. Such landscapes delight the eyes, calm the soul, and heal the heart. Enjoying the silence, we somehow understood without words how slowly life passes down there in the valley.
In my opinion, the "Polonyna Borzhava" ridge is one of the most beautiful and accessible ridges for an ordinary tourist. Anyone who has been here once will never forget the wonderful landscapes that open up from here. I will say frankly: to feel the integrity of your body, mind, and soul - you must climb here at least once in your life!
On the slopes of Mount "Himba," the "heavenly beings" ski: professional skiers. They come here not only to admire the surrounding landscapes but also to descend as well-prepared skiing pros.
Here, the philosophy is simple: challenge yourself with risk, don’t venture into mountain couloirs prone to avalanches, don’t go onto unprepared slopes, don’t go onto the snowy "virgin" and "powder," ski on prepared trails, and .... you will be alive and happy. This is the essence of skiing holidays.
Along with the ski trails, our attention is drawn to the road that runs under the chairlift and winds down to the village. Many skiers descend down this road. This intrigued us.
We hypothetically assume that we could also ride down the road on our snowboards. The road is just what we need. Smooth. It has no hills, which snowboarders dislike.
But we understand: we are still not ready for such a descent. We lack skiing experience. The slopes of Mount "Himba" are only for professional skiers. Therefore, we decided to become PROs in three stages.
Stage one: we conquer the slopes of the ski stadium of the "Horets" hotel.
The ski stadium of the "Horets" hotel is the ski descent where we first put our snowboards on skis. The length of the descent is 400 m, and the width of the descent is from 100 to 200 m.
The descent has various sections of difficulty. Fast at the top, it gradually becomes gentle and smooth at the bottom - a favorite place for children and beginners like us. This is the perfect place for us.
Skiing on the exit of this ski stadium, we gradually began to understand what balance, feeling, and rhythm of turns are. Overall, it was an interesting and necessary experience that helped us on descents from higher slopes.
We also liked that skiing on this ski stadium can be done without using a lift. The exit is not long, so one can walk back to the starting point while carrying the snowboard.
