Ski resorts of Serbia is notifying that teaching skiing in the ski resort in Kopaonik can be performed  only by ski instructors that are engaged by the ski school, which has approval and signed  contract with JP "Ski resorts of Serbia."
          All persons who made unauthorized services teaching skiing in the ski resort, managed by JP "Ski resorts of Serbia", ski pass will be temporarily or permanently subducted.
          Persons who are using services training skiing by unauthorized persons are doing that on their own responsibility.

Source: Ski resorts of Serbia

          Putting into operation a new system for artificial snow worth 218 million dinars, yesterday opened the Kopaoniku winter season. Symbolically, promotional race was opened by the Minister of Economy Mladjan Dinkic, who had that opportunity to ski among the first ones across Karaman greben.
          Dinkic stressed that he is very satisfied because "our winter beauty finally has a system for artificial snow, that way we will not depend on the weather conditions."
          "The system for artificial snow works on three tracks - Karaman greden 1 and 2 and Pancic vrh" he said and pointed out that the next year the whole Kopaonik should be covered by the system for artificial snow.
          Time needed for covering ski tracks with snow in Kopaonik is 72 hours; in the function will be old system, which will be combined with the new one. New artificial snow-making system has 47 pillar devices for the production of artificial snow, three mobile cannons, ten combined coal-pits on the new bar and 40 port places on the route of the old system. Fixed posts are in the network system in which is five kilometers underground installation that pulls out the water from the artificial reservoir "Mali Karaman”.
          Until March 2009, at the Kopaoniku should be finished building a new four seat lift Gobelji, which will be able to transport 2,400 skiers per hour.

Source:  Blic

          Bine Zalohar, one of the best European freestyle acrobats, will come to SkiCross, to show the Serbian audience breathtaking ski jumps. Bine has already proved how good he is, among other things, and as a participant in actions of pro team SNOWMANIA. His acrobations can be seen in films SNOWMANIA. The most credit for arrival of young Zalogar belongs to company RED BULL, who heartily helps BSK in Old Town (Stari Grad) in organization of Ski Cross.
          Bine is truly unique, so come and see his acrobations at Kopaonik, Saturday 27.12.2008.

          It was a vintage year for Balkan skiing. In 2005, Serbia was back in the mainstream, featuring in the Thomson ski brochure thanks, in no small part, to Serbian-born Stevan Popovich, a 20-year veteran of the UK travel trade. In the same year, the other truly Balkan ski destination – in the sense that, like Serbia, it has slopes in the Balkan Mountains range – began once more to make inroads into the budget end of the UK market: as Andorra lost ground, Bulgaria gained it.
          Not coincidentally, I skied in the two countries that year. And both trips were memorable, even if the skiing was not very stirring. The visit to Kopaonik, Serbia's main ski resort, and to the capital, Belgrade, was full of incident. In the "new frontier" economy after the fall of Milosevic's post-communist regime, the few were suddenly making money, the many were trying to follow suit, and only the senior apparatchiks were still playing by the rules. At Belgrade airport's petrol station, the forecourt attendant bizarrely tried to charge me more than the amount displayed on the pump; and a representative of the state tourism organisation – such a cowboy that it was amazing he didn't wear chaps – commandeered my hire car and proceeded to spin it twice on the snowy roads of Kopaonik, avoiding the parked cars only through extraordinarily good luck.
          The skiing was pleasant and peaceful: the part of the slopes on which mines had been dropped by Nato aircraft during the Kosovo war was closed (as it still is, I believe). The central part of the resort, a purpose-built ski village modelled on the defensible monasteries of medieval Serbia, absolutely beggared belief. When I look back on the trip, during which I became hopelessly lost in a blizzard in Belgrade, it seems like a fantastical dream.
          Ask Popovich generally about Balkan skiing, on which he is a seasoned expert, and he becomes somewhat evasive. But that is for political reasons. The wars in the former Yugoslavia did great damage to Serbia's ski business (Kopaonik is right on the Kosovo border) and virtually killed off Bosnia-Herzegovina as an international destination, despite the Winter Olympics held in Sarajevo in 1984. They also made "Balkan" something of a dirty word. Although Popovich is clear that Romania and Slovenia are Balkan ski destinations – "They're both in the Balkan peninsula, aren't they?" – he understands why they don't emphasise the fact.
          Serbia is obviously close to his heart, and it is a disappointment that Kopaonik no longer features in UK ski brochures. "When we reintroduced it with Thomson in 2004/5, it was good value and sold well. At first we used BA flights into Belgrade, which was not ideal: the transfer was too long. For the second season we had a charter into Nis, which was much closer. But Kopaonik's bed base proved a problem: accommodation is limited, and the National Park location hinders development."
          A further difficulty was Serbia's visa regime, which made travelling abroad difficult. As a result, Kopaonik's prices were effectively set by the home market – at too high a level for budget skiers from the UK. The charter flights couldn't be filled, and after three years, Thomson dropped the programme.

          Tourist winter season in the ski resorts of Serbia is to begin on December 10, if there is enough snow. Prices for ski pass are defined for this season, and a discount of ten percent will be offered at EXPO-ZIM fair. Until 28 Decembar at Kopaonik, daily skipass price for adults will be 1.700 dinars, and for children 1.100 dinars.
          Starting from 29 December untill 2 March 2009, skipass price will be 1.900 dinars for adults and 1.300 for children.
          Promotion is available until 28 December at Stara planina, and after that untill 2 March daily skipass for adults will cost 750, and for children 500 dinars. At Zlatibor promotion is available until 28 December, and after that until 2 March the price of daily skipass will be 1.150 for adults and for children 800 dinars.   Public company "Ski resorts of Serbia", in the preparation for coming winter season, invested around 600 million dinars.

 

Source: "Business morning"

          Snow fell on the mountains of Serbia and is ready for this tourist season, and Ski resorts expect that they will sell this week the first ski pass. This year in Kopaonik was invested around 610 million dinars, in Stara planina about 348, in Zlatibor about 157 and in Divcibare about 39 million dinars. Great attention was devoted to our finest mountain, and it is expected that in the"Kop" this season all will pass well. "Cannons for artificial snow and strainers for snow are ready, lifts are ready, ski pass are printed and waiting for the opening of the season," said Nebojsa Skoric, director of Ski resorts in Serbia.
          This year, Kopaonik has on its disposal a large trauma center – doctors are being provided, X-ray device are purchased and sanitation vehicle as well. Police will send a specially trained unit for possible rescue skiers. The streets are paved, sanitation of water supply and soil-pipe began repairing, and artificial lake has been built. "The only" problem are hotels with disproportionately cost in relation to his modest proposal. “Privatization of "Genex "hotel on Kopaonik, we have waited for so long.  The new owner ("MK group”) will certainly develop this center during the whole year, and hotels will not, as up to now, close in April.  I believe that the new owner renovation of its hotel will force others to raise the level of their services, said Skoric”.

 

Source: Ski resort