World Ski Awards

Tătar Alexandru

Launched in 2013, World Ski Awards aims to drive up standards within the ski
industry by rewarding the organizations that are leaders in their field.
Ski tourism constitutes a vital segment of the global travel and tourism
marketplace. An estimated 400 million skier visits take place each year to the +2,500
ski resorts which are home to over 6 million hotel beds.
World Ski Awards was developed in reaction to overwhelming demand from
the ski industry for a program that was fair and transparent; a program with a mission
to serve as the definitive benchmark of excellence, and to help to foster a new era of
growth in ski tourism.
The reaction to our annual World Ski Awards endorses this vision. Hundreds
of thousands of travel professionals and skiers across the globe vote for their favorite
ski tourism products and brands, whilst the audience who gather for the unveiling of
the inaugural winners serve as a "who’s who" in ski hospitality.
The World Ski Awards program has categories for the Best Ski Resort, Best
Ski Hotel, Best Ski Boutique Hotel, and Best Ski Chalet for each of the world’s top
25 ski tourism nations. The individual country level winner with the most overall
votes will not only win the national award but also the world-level award in the
respective category.
Some categories exist on a world level only: World’s Best Ski Tour Operator,
World’s Best Ski Travel Agent, World’s Best Ski Transfer Operator, World’s Best
Ski Resort Company, World’s Best Freestyle Resort, World’s Best Indoor Ski Resort,
World’s Best Heli-Ski Operator, World’s Best New Ski Hotel, World’s Best New Ski
Chalet, World’s Best Green Ski Hotel, and the special World Ski Awards Academy
Award for Outstanding Contribution to Ski Tourism.
The voting methodology is simple; votes are cast by professionals working
within the ski industry — senior executives, travel buyers, tour operators, agents, and
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media — and by the public (ski tourism consumers). Votes are submitted online at
World Ski Awards website. The voting works on a first-past-the-post system to
ensure impartiality and independence.
Winning a World Ski Award is the ultimate achievement in global ski tourism
and hospitality. WSA winners use their victory to spearhead their marketing, PR, and
promotional campaigns for the year ahead.
The Best Ski Resort category is open to towns, villages, or areas with an
established ski infrastructure - and an impeccable ski record.
Sinaia ski area has won the World Ski Award category Romania's Best Ski
Resort five times (2017,2018,2019,2020,2021). Sinaia is the only Romanian ski resort
in the competition.
The resort considered the cradle of winter sports in Romania (since royal skiing
on Poiana Peleșului at the beginning of the 20th century) boasts a complex but
challenging ski area for experienced skiers. It is the highest ski area in the country
(2103 m alt., Vârful Furnica) and this comes with some advantages and
disadvantages, which we will try to explain point by point.
The Alpine Zone is located at the top of the mountain, at 2000 meters, on two
valleys of the Bucegi Plateau: Valea Dorului and Valea Soarelui. This is the highest
area.
There are two ski lifts here: Valea Dorului chairlift, with two seats (operated by
Teleferic S.A., a private company) and the new chairlift - Soarelui, with four seats
(owned by the Sinaia Local Council, managed by Transport Urban Sinaia, a publicly
owned company).
The steep area is located between 2000 and 1400 meters and is the "cherry"
on the Sinaia skiing cake.
And when we say that we remember why Sinaia has become popular in recent
decades. Carpul, Tîrlele, Papagalul, and other steep, ungroomed ski trails (Carpul is
the steepest approved slope in our country) have become, over time, the reason why
powder and freeride enthusiasts have chosen Sinaia as their playground.

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 Beyond the madness of the black runs, a real amusement park for enthusiasts,
we also find here the Summer Road Trail, one of the most beautiful, longest, and
most important slopes of the city. Drumul de Vară starts at the 2000m altitude and
reaches, after a series of twists and spectacular mountain scenery, the 1400m altitude.
It is a medium-level trail, over 3km long, with a 600m difference in level. It is the
most accessible connection between the two slopes: 2000 and 1400 The steep area
has three black slopes: Târle, Papagal, and the famous Carp, as well as a red slope.
Sub-alpine, forest area refers to the area below the 1400m altitude.
It is represented by the New Slope (which is old, but that's how it got its name)
with a length of 3 km and a level difference of 400 meters. It is a low, intermediate
slope, very easily accessible by Gondola 1 (Altitude 1000 - 1400) and served by an
artificial snow installation. It starts at 1400m and runs through the forest to the
starting station of Gondola 1. The beginners' slope is also there, served by a baby-ski
lift.
Another route, not homologated, but used since ancient times by locals and
those familiar with the place is the Old Path, which starts at the 1400m high, goes
down past the St. Anne's Hermitage, and comes out, next to the old bobsleigh run,
right next to the skiers' hut, a popular stop many years ago for the tasty belly soup at
the end of the ski day. It's an easy walk but requires plenty of natural snow.
Don't forget to visit the best ski area in Romania, Sinaia, which has won five
awards Best Ski Resort category in World Ski Awards.

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