UNIQUE DRAGOBRAT - 2. DIARY OF ONE SKIER

16 February 2017 • Travel time: with 12 February 2013 on 18 February 2013

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1. REQUIRED INTRO

So, let's continue, fellow skiers!

A year ago, I had the honor to share with all of you my impressions of such a beautiful corner of the Carpathians and an excellent ski resort as the "tract" Dragobrat. I hope that my work was not in vain, and now the number of people who “fell ill” with Dragobrat (as I called it, “our answer to Austria”) has become much, much more!

In February of this year, 2013, we (my wife Lida and I) again visited Dragobrat. That is, they kept, given at the end of my first story to each other and our beloved Dragobrat, the word will definitely return.

The idea to write a continuation of my previous "opus" was born to me already there, on our beloved "Drag". But now it will not be some rather lengthy description of this wonderful place, the reading of which, as I, nevertheless, I hope, gave you people a few pleasant minutes. I decided to build a kind of little diary of one skier (of course, not someone virtual, but your humble servant). I decided to paint our adventures with Lida by day (and there were 8 days in total, of course, not a lot, but if you turn the “eight” horizontally, you get an “infinity” sign, right? - and that means this is not the end and in the future I will tell you I will definitely tell something good about our beloved Dragobrat). Of course, my diary will be decorated with beautiful photographs taken by my beloved wife.

Well, here, the necessary introduction is done and...

Let's get started!

2. DAY 1, February 12, "START OF THE SEASON"

I won't write about the road to Dragobrat, friends - it was almost no different from our first trip in 2012. I'll start on the morning of day 1. I called it "Start of the season", because we really started the last skiing season only in February, it just so happened. We again decided to stay at Proliska (Zvizdaryuk's Hut). Because - "they do not seek good from good. " And the same Pan Yosyp, a Carpathian who speaks their peculiar dialect, brought us. Drove, like a year ago, without any problems. We didn't see the deer again - they didn't come out to the track. "Prolisok" pleasantly surprised us again. Already different - over the past year, the owners completed the second house of the "hut". Where they settled us. Everything inside our room was made of wood. There was a minimum of furniture - a bed, a table, 2 bedside tables-stools (for the first time I met such in my life), hangers on the wall. Good bathroom, without dampness, with a spacious shower (even with hydromassage). Again we were greeted by polite, helpful staff. We didn't know these girls. We expected to see Anya, who charmed us so much with her sincerity. It turned out that she worked a different shift and was due to go to work soon.

After having a bite of food brought with us (breakfast on the 1st day was not supposed to be for us), we, without delay, gathered for skating and left. The soul sang with the joy of knowing that we are back on Dragobrat! Of course, we went to our favorite "armchair" "Top of the Carpathians" (the highest mountain in Ukraine, as you may know, dear readers). We decided to get there by making intermediate ascents and descents on the "children's" chairlift "Carpathian Seagull" and the 1st ski lift. At the same time and warmed up! When we climbed to our favorite route, we were again fascinated by the beauty of the Carpathians. This beauty is breathtaking, folks. If you haven’t been to Dragobrat yet, go, if not now, then definitely next season! You won't regret anything - I promise!

At the upper station of the "Carpathian Chaika" Lida decided to take photos, since the day began to be sunny and the visibility was excellent. And then there was an embarrassment that could greatly spoil the impressions of the upcoming holiday. Lida dropped her "camera" right into the snow - with an open lens. But nothing happened. Everything is almost the same as the classics did: “warmed up, robbed... no, picked up, warmed up! ” and everything worked! I was interested in the appearance of a snowcat with a team of skiers, who proceeded in the direction of Bliznitsa (one of the mountains of the Dragobrat tract, higher, but “wild”, there are no lifts on it). What this meant, we found out at the lower station of the 1st ski lift, where a huge announcement invited to go on a freeride (skiing on the snowy "virgin lands", as you, of course, know) to this very Bliznitsa. This meeting and this announcement, as a result, determined the daily routine of the 2nd, our main day (according to the novelty of impressions and pleasures) on Dragobrat, but more on that below.

On this day we made five descents on the slopes of the 1st and 2nd tow ropes. There we now have nothing special to do - just accelerated, began to enjoy, and already the end of the track. In general, we just decided to “warm up” there. Then we moved to our favorite track to the "Top of the Carpathians". We started carefully there - the track is steep in its upper part. There was almost no wind. There were few people. Again full of bordist-"dummies". There were no falls. Ride with pleasure! Went down seven times.

Immediately, on our first skiing day in Dragobrat, we spotted a girl on the track with an obviously professional camera, which had a huge lens. The girl filmed the skiers. We were also caught in the frame. I even got the impression that she was “hunting” only for us. From the inscription on her vest, it was clear that this photo was for a fee. There was also a mobile number there - I remembered it. It came in handy later!

As a year ago, on their own, on skis, along the Stog ridge and the Karpatskaya Chaika track (as we did all the following days) we returned home. We reached the very doors of Prolisk.

We put ourselves in order (there were no problems with water either that day or later), had a great dinner (the kitchen also did not let us down even once during our vacation) and with a sense of accomplishment “went to bed”. >

This is how our 1st day on Dragobrat passed.

3. DAY 2, February 13, FREERIDE

This was our main day of this trip to Dragobrat. As I mentioned in the description of day 1, we immediately spotted an ad at the 1st yoke, inviting to freeride. Since Lida had long dreamed of getting on the "wild" tracks, and I also wanted such a variety, I called the indicated phone number. A cheerful male voice answered me. The person on the other end of the wire turned out to be Viktor, a skiing instructor from the Oaza TC (there is one on Dragobrat, located a little on the outskirts, has its own yoke). He said that they take everyone to Bliznitsa, then they go down in a group 14 km, partly through the forest, one instructor leads the group, the second goes trailing, at the end of the descent a car is waiting, which will bring us to where the snowcat will take us from. This pleasure costs only 400 UAH. per person.

Said they were descending at the moment and he was leading the group. They say they have an early departure - they met the dawn at the top of Bliznitsa. Of course, the price made us think, and at first we refused. We got together and, already somewhere on foot, where, approaching on skis with familiar stitches-tracks, we went to our favorite track and then the bell rang. The same Victor called and invited me to freeride. From which it could be concluded that they are not particularly besieged by clients. We thought and thought and decided to talk personally. We came to such a well-known catering point of Dragobrat as "SKI Kuryatnya" (located at the 1st yoke - by the way, if you want something to eat, go there friends, it's cheaper and the choice is better than in other establishments), met and talked. Victor seemed like a kind of tough guy (albeit with oddities), but quite inspiring confidence. He assured us that it’s not so difficult there, on the “virgin” slopes, they say, the day before we had a girl in their group who skied only the second day in her life, so she moved out normally (you see, she has a natural talent for skiing, no way not otherwise! ) And nothing happened to her. But - they alerted the words that it was necessary to sign a receipt that if something did happen, the responsibility was all on us, and they (our new acquaintance with a partner) would be clean like pigeons. While he was walking and looking for more clients, we thought and thought and decided. I will say in advance - we did not regret and will not regret it. It was worth it! And the risk, as some used to say - "noble cause"!

We left only at 12.00. It was difficult for my uncle to assemble a team. Not very people wanted to change the prepared tracks for such "game". The last two people, a guy and a girl, were caught by our "senior" when the snowcat's engine was roaring and he was ready to take us to the "sky-high heights", that is, to Bliznitsa. Those guys (as we later found out - spouses) turned out to be from Moscow, which of course explained everything - what is some miserable $ 100 for them?

And the rise began. The team turned out to be “motley”: we are 8 people (according to the number of seats in the back of the snowcat) - four skiers (2 of them are me and Lida) and four bordists (one of them is a girl, the same Muscovite). We were escorted by the interested glances of lovers of prepared, packed tracks. Some even filmed us. On the way up, nothing remarkable happened - I only remember that snow was flying from under the caterpillars and I covered my wife from splashes with my rather big body. Well, in general, after 15-20 minutes, through the Gendarme mountain (where we already visited last year and also by a snowcat) we reached the starting point. There, on the top of Bliznitsa, Victor and his partner (we never found out his name) gave us a few minutes to take pictures and... the fun began!

Next, I decided to present my story in the form of my thoughts during the descent.

This is how our most unforgettable moments on Dragobrat on this visit ended. In total, the descent from Bliznitsa to the finish point took us 1.5 hours. And we drove not 14 km, but somewhere like 9-10, no more. Then there was a short rest, during which some people ran to the village, which was visible 100 meters away, to the store for a box of beer (at Draga it is 2.5-3 times more expensive than in an ordinary Ukrainian store), and Lida and I did a few pics. According to the sign next to the track and Victor's explanations, we realized that we were skating in the reserve, all this was actually illegal and if we met the foresters, we would have had a hard time!

Then for half an hour our cheerful, impressionable company was driven back. Moreover, the first car stalled on the rise and the second one was sent for us. During this forced delay, my sociable little wife got into a conversation with Anya, who had been to a lot of places with her husband (on skis, of course), Victor and his partner put their paw into a box of beer (the boys gave them a couple of bottles, what do they feel sorry for, or what? ), and I had the idea to write a continuation of my first opus about Dragobrat and in exactly the form in which you now see it before your eyes.

They brought us to the SKI Kuryatna, from where they picked us up. We rested for an hour and went to our favorite track (“Top of the Carpathians”, of course! ), where we made three descents before 16.30 (the track seemed so easy) and returned home on skis with a feeling of “tremendous” satisfaction.

In the evening, during dinner, we met Sasha, the hostess, and paid for the entire holiday. After that, they solemnly presented a printed version of my first story about Dragobrat - with a dedicatory inscription. Sasha thanked, said that she had already read our story on the Internet, but she could not remember who Alexander and Lydia had written such a story. They have a lot of people during the ski season. You won't remember everyone!

This is how our main day of this trip ended. Although it was February 13th, no misfortunes happened to us! All this lies - these signs!

And the girl-photographer continued to take pictures of us...

4. DAY 3, February 14, "CLOUDS RIDING-1"

The next morning, the whole of Dragobrat was shrouded in fog, which, of course, upset us, because it made it impossible to take high-quality photographs. And the fog, as if in response to our mood, gradually dissipated. A clear blue sky appeared. But when we got to the mountain, it turned out that the whole Stog was covered with clouds! Although, having risen on our favorite "chair" to the top of the mountain, we saw that it was free from clouds. It was amusing to see this "milky" sea of clouds under you! Lida, of course, photographed this impressive picture. It was interesting to see the peaks of Hoverla and Petros sticking out of the "sea" (the highest peaks of Ukraine are within line of sight from Dragobrat).

We rode carefully that day, we didn't risk it. For the first time, for a warm-up, we went down the tow ropes. Therefore, we made only 13 descents per day.

And in the evening, as I planned, Lida and I were supposed to go to an evening with dancing. After all, it was February 14, which has long been celebrated in our area as “Valentine's Day”. Of course, the owners of Dragobrat could not miss such an opportunity to “thresh in the bins” and hung almost all trails and paths (there are no streets on Dragobrat yet) with appropriate announcements. I called a couple of points - everywhere they wanted at least 40-50 UAH for the entrance. The wife thought and thought and did not want to go, at least in fact, she really likes to “break away”. Well, as they say - "what a woman wants... ". Nothing... The main thing is that the holiday was in our soul!

And the girl-photographer continued to take pictures of us...

5. DAY 4, February 15, CLOUD RIDING-2

In the morning we again saw the whole Haystack in the clouds.

But it "sweetened the pill" a bit that on that day Anya took over as a shift in the kitchen. She recognized us and was just as happy to see us as we were her!

When we left Prolisk after breakfast, we decided to take a shorter route - not bypassing the entire Khata, but across a bridge 2 logs wide, which made it possible not to make such a "bypass maneuver". And then we found out how thick the snow cover is on Dragobrat! I took a step onto the bridge, believing that I would step on a log and - I fell through to the waist! That's how much snow falls there - at least 1.5 m thick there is a snow cover. At the bottom of the track I heard Polish speech - a whole company of Poles came. The guys liked it, as I understand it, on Dragobrat. Later, in the afternoon, I also heard Hungarian speech. In general, the neighbors, despite the presence of their rather good resorts (one Polish Zakopane is worth something! ) Appreciated our "response to Austria"! it is worth it) In general, the neighbors, despite the presence of their rather good resorts (one Zakopane7777777777777777777777777777777

When we climbed the mountain, we saw that the top was also shrouded in clouds. True, after lunch, the cloud from the top left. I had to ride carefully - visibility in this "milk" was no more than 5 meters. We made 14 descents during the day.

The day's successes include cool pictures (taken, of course, by Lidonka) of windows in the clouds, through which rays of golden sunlight beat. It was so beautiful!

That's how we overcame the "equator" of our vacation on Dragobrat.

But - there was still exactly the same amount! It warmed the soul!

And the girl-photographer continued to take pictures of us...

6. DAYS 5th and 6th, February 16th and 17th, "WEEKEND"

And again Rick in the morning, on Saturday, February 15, was in the clouds! Yes, what is it! Again, to catch “windows” in the clouds for photographing, again wander in the clouds, descend carefully... You won’t fly apart especially! And what Russian doesn’t like fast driving… But you can’t command nature!

We had breakfast - and here we are again on our favorite track. There were few people. And it was Saturday. We thought that “weekends” would arrive (we have skiers from the company for 2 days with an overnight stay from Lviv to Dragobrat, it costs about 600 UAH per person, though they rarely do). This day is remarkable for me in that I was able to help one victim of the insidious "Circus". It could have been for two, but help arrived in time for the second one earlier - the guy's skis fell off. He rolled down, the skis remained on top. While I was getting to him, two bordists drove up to him - a girl and a guy. The girl, apparently just a beginner bordist, "missed" past the skis (slid down on the "fifth point" past), and the guy took out the skis and brought them to the loser. I began to take a breather. I stand - I admire the fog. And then someone flew past me with a cry, on skis, without sticks, but with a video camera on his helmet. How flew! Skiing - bzdyn to the sides! And himself down somersault. I, of course - to skis. I’m trying to let this handsome man go down “self-propelled”, but they don’t go for something (a year ago I launched one ski in such a way that the guy, as soon as he grabbed it, went down with it and left for 15 meters! ). And this one yells at me: “Don’t let them in, they say, but bring them! ”. Okay, no problem - I take it under my arm, I go down sideways so as not to rattle too. Brought-gave. He told me - "chiro dyakuyu. " And I am satisfied - I supported the "ski brotherhood". I went further - to catch up with Lida.

I drove into the forest on this day and the previous two: to make turns between the Christmas trees. For the variety I love so much. Lida was engaged in a more serious matter - she practiced driving techniques on an unprepared track. During the night it snowed. The snowcat walked along the tracks of the yokes (we drove there once, on the 2nd yoke), but he didn’t look under the chair “Top of the Carpathians”. So the mounds-pits were marked by those who risked skating with us there. And we could jump there. Linda is doing great! On the steepest slope, we rode a little on this visit. Not out of fear, no… It’s just that you don’t learn much there. Too cool. Yes, and the guests from the yokes, who want to go to the “Truba” (this is such a hollow of a tubular section, 300 meters long, is located at the bottom of the “Top of the Carpathians” highway), made some cross ramps there. I drove several times with such long traverses along the "cool". It wasn't particularly interesting. You survive and that's it. Not like a year ago - then the adrenaline beat over the edge. During the day we made 13 descents.

The day, February 16, Sunday, differed from the previous one only in that we rode less on the "armchair" and more on the drags (No. 1 and 2, of course, No. 3 is too small for us). We rolled out the previously purchased ski passes on Saturday, and prices are higher on weekends (see price table below). We decided to save money. We made 11 descents during the day: in the afternoon my wife noticed the first signs of a cold (and how could this happen in such a “healthy” place? ). Therefore, I had to make more "pit stops" and drink more hot tea.

This is how the weekend went.

And the girl-photographer continued to take pictures of us...

Before I move on to the final part of my little diary, I must make a small digression. And then I will finish my story.

WORDS ABOUT "PROLISK" WHICH I HAVE NO RIGHT NOT TO WRITE (TAILED FROM MY OWN REVIEW ON THE INTERNET)

Here's what I want to tell you guys: compared to last year, Prolisok has become even better! Over the past year, the owners completed the second hut in 3 floors. We now lived in this new house. Since I already talked about the “old part” of the shelter we loved in my first work (however, now we will show you a few photos of the “old” building, which we didn’t bother to do last time - we simply didn’t take a picture of Prolisok then), now I will tell you only about the new one.

This hut has twelve double and triple rooms - on the 2nd and 3rd floors. 25-28 people can live there. On the ground floor there is a dining room and a kitchen.

In the "old" hut there are only 7 rooms and no more than 20 beds. So "Prolisok" has more than doubled in size. And it's great!

Our room was small and warm. Minimum furniture: in addition to a double bed - a table and 2 stools, bedside tables, a hanger on the wall. But we do not need special frills. We are not some kind of "mattress". All the furniture (as well as the walls) is made of wood, but not from the old, darkened, but from the new, unvarnished, still smelling. "Conveniences" were comfortable - a spacious shower (even with hydromassage), a washbasin, a toilet. Everything worked. There was no dampness in the bathroom. Again, we had no problems with warm water, although again there was one boiler for everyone, but even now we managed to use it in the evening before the “digging” neighbors. There was a TV in the room - satellite TV, 12 channels, all Ukrainian channels.

The audibility of what is happening in the neighboring rooms, alas, is the same as in the old hut. Wood is a good conductor of sound, what can you do. But for us, I repeat, like a year ago, this is not critical. For someone who loves deep silence, it will be more difficult.

The price of accommodation in Proliska is now 220 UAH. per person per day.

Well, for us, as already for "regular customers", it, however, has not changed - 200 UAH, like last year.

They fed us well. There was again a variety of dishes, as in the past year. Breakfast at 9.00, dinner at 18.00. The portions are optimal, that is, exactly what you need to eat. If you really want it, you can get a supplement. This is what we took advantage of once, when for dinner there were “lazy” cabbage rolls that my wife loved. By the way, regarding the composition of the menu - in the morning they served a portion of either porridge, or pasta, or potatoes with meat or fish. Tea is a must, and not just any of the bags, but herbal Carpathian. Tea was either pancakes or cakes. For dinner there was - the first (a decent bowl, almost like the one from which the "serbal" bully Fedya from Shurik's Adventures) was a variety of soups, borscht was natural; the second (also different dishes, among which, for example, those same “lazy” cabbage rolls and “sorcerers” - meat baked in dough, it seems this is from Belarusian cuisine) and again Carpathian tea (already without cakes - but where are they for the night -then…). There were also salads - for example, carrots in Korean. True, salads appeared at our request, when Anya stepped in to replace us - the girl who charmed us so much with her kindness and courtesy on our last visit. Thanks again, Anya!

We can only say good things about the rest of the Prolisk household. Of the hosts, she again received us (and saw us off late at night upon departure, it just so happened) Sasha, the daughter of Ilya Yuryevich Zvizdaryuk, the owner. Again it was a pleasure to talk to you. Thank you, Sasha! Everything was great!

AND INFORMATION ABOUT RIDING PRICES (THIS IS NOT FOREVER, OF COURSE, BUT IT MAY BE USEFUL TO ANYONE else... )

Number of lifts

Prices for "ski-pass"-s, UAH

"Top of the Carpathians"

Yoke No. 1, No. 2

Now back to our story. . .

7. DAY 7, February 18, "IN THE SPENT MODE"

The coming morning pleased us with a clear sky and an almost complete absence of wind (at least it seemed that way from the windows of our "Hut"). But my good mood quickly disappeared after Lida's words that she did not feel well. It finally became clear that my little wife had caught a cold. On Dragobrat! Indeed, the irony of fate... In the "rotten" Lviv, in the winter days that passed before the trip, I didn’t sneeze, but then...

But! Since Lida's love for skiing is still stronger, we went to the mountain. And, miraculously, Lida felt better there! This is what it means to be a fan! Not that I'm a "freeloader"...

As usual, we stomped to our chair on foot. And there is the wind! And strong, dog! And the clouds have already been applied! This meant that the top was whistling bless you!

But since Lida is a fan, and I try to emulate her as much as I can, we started skating. We climbed up - there the wind whistles (but "the mast did not bend and did not creak", fortunately). We went down once on our favorite "Circus". We got up again. And we decided to move to yokes No. 1 and 2. The wind was still quieter there. They skied there all day. I could "kiss" there twice with a couple of skiers, but I managed to dodge in time. What to do, there are enough of them, "dummies". During the day we made 11 descents. It's bad, of course. What to do, no matter how Lidonka was a fan, but she still had to be careful. After all, we still had a day and the road home. So we skated this day in a “sparing mode”.

And the girl-photographer still managed to take a picture of us during that only descent on the "Top"...

8. DAY 3, February 19, "GOOD BYE, DRAGOBROT! "

This, the "extreme" (everything is like with pilots - we do not recognize the "last" descents! ) The day began very anxiously. Everything turned out to be a cloudy sky. And the snow went. With the wind We lost one day a year ago when there was such a blizzard! At that time, not a single "big" lift worked.

Worried, we came to our favorite lift and saw that it was not working. At the top, it was so hard to see the barrel that it was obviously strictly forbidden. But, fortunately, the yokes worked - No. 1.2, 3. And the children's "multi-lifts" - of course (they worked a year ago in that snowstorm). We still had unrolled ski-passes. Somewhere around 7 lifts left. But these were seat tickets. Fortunately, Mr. Tsybelenko, the owner of the "Top of the Karpats", exchanged them for us passes for the yoke number 3. So cunningly changed that Lida had 18 descents, and I had 16. There was a suspicion that he fooled us, but oh well...

So we rode our "last" day on Dragobrat.

And the girl-photographer continued to take pictures of us...

And when we shortly before the end of skating (having already discussed everything the day before and knowing that one photo of her costs 10 UAH) we drove up to her, she told us: “Well, finally! ”. Her name is Marina, their photo studio (from Dnepropetrovsk) decided to earn extra money this season. As it was written on her vest - "For the first time on Dragobrat! ". And she, it turns out, has already been waiting for us! Like, I “clicked” you so many times, but you still don’t go for your photos! As it turned out, there were about 200 of our photos in total. Her camera takes several photos per second - in a day, she said, she could take up to 3000 pieces. The photographs were sold electronically, of course. In a souvenir shop next to ski lift No. 3, they set up a mini-studio with a colleague. If anyone wants to buy - come in, select your photos on the computer and the girl will write it on a flash card or on a DVD. We have selected 15 of our best photographs. And a couple more panoramic photos of Dragobrat. These were her creations. Those, however, cost 50 UAH. a piece. In general - "art requires sacrifice"!

Also, when we saw a standing snow bike, we perched on it and took pictures of each other...

And... with a calm soul, but with a slight sadness, we went to get ready for home.

Late in the evening we left. Pan Yosyp came for us. He took me, together with three bordists from Zaporozhye (who also lived in the "Zvizdaryuk's Hut") to the station. The train "Rakhiv - Lviv" ("the iron hand of the city" according to Kotsiubynskyi) arrived and... That's it.

Then there was nothing interesting.

But - as one of my favorite movie characters used to say:

". . . WE WILL MEET AGAIN?!... I THINK SO!!! "

We'll be back, Dragobrat!

DEFINITELY!!!

Alexander Kotlov (the author of a rather mediocre text),

Lydia Gerasimenko (author of beautiful photos)

Translated automatically from Russian. View original