If you believe the guidebooks and paid bloggers of the Runet, Rosa Khutor is a paradise for ski enthusiasts, the largest and most popular skiing and snowboarding area in Russia.
But, unfortunately, in reality this is far from the case. I will not go into demogogy, but I will describe what is wrong from my own experience. We have been traveling here since 2015, and the winter season of 2024 is the last.
- There are constant queues for lifts. There are no days without queues at Rosa Khutor. The greed of the management – they sell skipasses in unlimited quantities, even if they understand that not all slopes will be open. On the Web and on Youtube, you can find thousands of photos and videos with queues – in which people can stand for 30-50 minutes to roll down the slope. That is, you can come riding to the opening by 8:30, and riding all day, go down 10-12 times if you’re lucky. In these queues, people swear, fight and hate those who pass without a queue – “thieves” (resort staff, instructors with paid clients, athletes, photographers and other characters).
- The cost of a ski pass from February 1, 2024 is 5,500 rubles per day ski pass. If you want to ride in the evening – 2200 rubles (evening ski pass). For this money, Rosa Khutor promises 105 kilometers of trails, almost three dozen lifts and over 70 trails. It sounds tempting, but in fact all the tracks rarely work at the same time. They are constantly closed either because of avalanche danger, or because of the weather or competitions. As a result, you are forced to look at the athletes riding (paying 5,500 at the same time) from the queue for the lift.
- The cattle are the staff, in particular the guards on the cable cars. They fence off up to 50% of the boarding area for the “thieves”, creating a crush and crush of resort guests upon boarding. At the same time, they often allow themselves to talk rudely to the guests of the resort.
- Poor quality of track preparation. There are many trails here, so the quality of their preparation leaves much to be desired. By 10:30 in the morning, there is no trace of waste, and by 15 o’clock the tracks are covered with numerous pits – up to half a meter deep.
- Not modern equipment on a significant part of the slopes. There are many old 4-chair lifts on Rosa Khutor. They are slow (for example, Conversation, Crocus, Chalet, Extreme, Mogul), they have completely uncomfortable footrests for snowboarders, there are no protective caps from wind and snow, and heated seats. That is, they can get damaged and catch a cold. This is not excusable for a resort that positions itself as the best and largest ski center in the country. And with the cost of a ski pass of 5,500 rubles per day, the question arises – when will you finally get drunk And start upgrading the cable cars? There are clearly not enough of them for such a number of people.
- Opening hours – the resort is officially open from 08:30 to 17:00. But in fact, most of the trails don’t work that way. After 15:30 hours, some of the cable cars are already closed for boarding. And they begin to send them away (especially from the Southern slope). That is, instead of keeping all the ski areas open, given how many people have purchased ski passes from them, they limit guests to skating all the time. It seems that Rosa Khutor cannot exist without queues.
- Evening skating. A significant part of my friends have visited this dubious attraction only once. For 2200 you get four mediocre slopes, unheated slow chairlifts without hoods, and queues. It’s not worth the money at all.
- Prices and quality: hotels and restaurants. Starting in 2020, the quality level of Rosa Khutor is falling and the price tags are increasing exponentially. In 2018-19, we stayed at the Riders Lodge 2* ~ hotel for 5000 rubles per day. Now in February 2024, the room costs an average of 25,000 per day. Accommodation in hotels of a higher category, for example in Rosa Springs ~ from 52,000 rubles per day. This is per day)
- Prices and quality of food on the slopes. On average, lunch or dinner at local restaurants (most often they are no different in quality from ordinary canteens) in the current winter season – 2000-2500 rubles per person (salad, soup and hot and drink). Breakfast costs an average of 1000 rubles.
- The weather and the skiing season. There are always big misunderstandings about the weather here. Although Rosa Khutor announces the opening of the winter season in the second half of December, in fact, normal skiing here begins in mid-January and lasts until the beginning of March. And then as luck would have it. You could have turned a blind eye to this if it hadn’t been for the huge number of skaters and the constant closure of trails and lifts due to snow, wind and avalanche danger. Perhaps if you hire more people, you can quickly prepare the tracks for skating and perform anti-avalanche procedures. But this is not the case here, and if it snows, there is a 99% chance that half of the resort will be closed.
- Rosa Khutor is perhaps one of the most non-client-oriented resorts in the country. Their official social networks clean up the comments of dissatisfied vacationers, and believe me there are thousands of them. And they block it. Why do they need criticism? Their task is to cut the loot. And they don’t give a shit about the dissatisfied.
Telegram Rosa Khutor blocks users for criticism
Especially serious problems occur on weekends, when the number of vacationers increases. Guests of the resort accuse the Rosa Khutor administration of cheating, and demand to sell ski passes with discounts. Many are disappointed in the Sochi slopes and express their determination to go to Sheregesh or other ski centers next time, where the climate is colder and prices are more adequate.
Experienced skiers advise not to buy ski passes for Sochi descents in advance. They may be partially closed due to the weather just during the tourist’s vacation days and then the money will be gone. Richer tourists purchase a single ski pass that provides access to all trails in the vicinity of Sochi. With such a subscription, with long queues at Rosa Khutor, you can go to Krasnaya Polyana or Gazprom or make a reverse maneuver.
Conclusion: If you are planning a trip to ski holidays, avoid Krasnaya Polyana. Since the coronavirus, this place has been more like a summer overloaded Anapa with a redneck service and space price tags for literally everything. If you save up for a winter vacation for a whole year, it’s better not to injure your psyche with a trip to Sochi. Take a closer look at other areas – either Azerbaijan, Georgia or Turkey. Given the crazy price tags in Krasnaya Polyana, you can even save money there.
