Straja Ski Resort Is Eclipsing The Prahova Valley Winter Resorts

Straja ski resort is located at the top of the Jiu Valley so well known to the country and the world as the place were the miners came from to descend in violent rampages on the capital city, Bucharest, in the early 90s.

And Straja is the best chance for the Jiu Valley to get rid of its bad name, with welcoming skiers to the best ski location there is in Romania today.

It seems hard to believe, but Straja, right up the mountain from the now impoverished Lupeni miners’ city may turn into the dream destination for skiers.

The obvious pluses Straja presents are the wide open plateau and the five kilometers long ski track with electric lighting for skiing at night. For comparison, just imagine the Dorului Valley, at Sinaia resort, on the Prahova Valley, and double that image in your mind, to picture the opportunities Straja presents.

Furthermore, all ski tracks have automated systems for whisking the skiers up the slopes.

Straja developed as a ski resort during the last decade. Shepherds’ hamlets once stood were mountain cabins lay now and offer a total of 2,000 beds for less than 20 US dollars a night. The downside for accessing this paradise is … the difficult access. Or maybe this is what it helps it stay a paradise …

The fact is that a ride over the top of the trees lasts 25 minutes, which may be a lot of time for some to stay suspended in a chair out in the open, while the nine-kilometer long forest road may be covered by all-terrain vehicles only.

Emil Parau, one of the main investors at Straja plans to solve by the end of this year the problem of the difficult access to the ski slopes, and pave the road linking them with the Jiu Valley plus construct a thousand car plots.

One may not escape skiing once one arrives at Straja. Renting skis costs 18 lei sabout 5 eurost, which is the lowest price in Romania. The skiers’ riding system taking them up the mountain gives one the option to either stop half way to the top, or to go on to the peak for taking the best view of the valley and the full length of the ski tracks.

The very skilled may show off their expertise in going down the Giant Slalom and the Special Slalom tracks.

It looks so good; it is so top experience that one may forget one is in Romania, a country not quite first among European nations in terms of development.

The people coming here are also top, if having the latest model of ski gear may be an indication of that. Most skiers here are from western Romania, from cities like Timisoara or Arad, where people look more to Western Europe than to Bucharest.

They also prefer now Straja to other mountain resorts like Semenic, Muntele Mic or Parang, which are closer by.

"We can ski here day and night. In fact, there is nothing else to do here, since a ski track is opening in front of you, anywhere you go," said Anca Neacsu, a skier from Timisoara.