Skiing in the Bieszczady Mountains

Heading to the Bieszczady Mountains for skiing? These mountains — once considered one of the best skiing regions in pre-war Poland — are now slowly regaining their former glory and popularity among winter sports enthusiasts

Before World War II, the ski slopes of Eastern Bieszczady were considered some of the best in Poland. This was due to the long-lasting snow cover and the wide, gently sloping hills with an ideal incline for skiing. It’s worth remembering that before the war, most of the slopes that are now covered with forests were actually open meadows used for grazing cattle and sheep — hence their remarkable width.

The rapid development of skiing at that time was supported by tourist organizations such as the Society for the Promotion of Skiing (Towarzystwo Krzewienia Narciarstwa) and the Polish Skiing Association (Polskie Towarzystwo Narciarskie). The army also played a role, organizing ski trainings and competitions to prepare soldiers for winter mountain warfare.

Various skiing initiatives emerged — some successful, others less so — but many of them were truly pioneering. One of the most interesting examples were the railway skiing trips. Let’s bring them closer by quoting the pre-war brochure “Winter in Poland” (original spelling preserved):

“A completely unique form of exploring the winter Carpathians is the Railway Ski Rally organized by the Society for the Promotion of Skiing (...).
A train composed of comfortable sleeping cars, or regular ones converted into sleepers, as well as a bath car, restaurant car, dance car, and workshop car, travels across the entire Subcarpathian region over ten days — stopping each day in a different town and moving to a new location overnight.
For a modest fee covering the entire journey with full board, participants can discover all the main skiing centers of the Carpathians while staying in this special hotel on wheels and enjoying all the conveniences, guidance, and attractions prepared by the organizers.
Apart from the purely skiing and tourist aspect, great emphasis is placed on familiarizing participants with the folklore and landscapes of the Carpathians.”

Skiing in the Carpathians — including the Bieszczady Mountains — was widely promoted by various organizations such as the Society for the Promotion of Skiing, the travel company Orbis, and others.
A perfect example of this can be found in multilingual brochures and guidebooks titled “Winter in Poland”, which presented Poland as an attractive destination for winter tourism.

The variety of ski offers and the number of ski resorts available in the Carpathians before World War II can be best imagined by looking at a pre-war skiing map, illustrating just how developed this region once was.

It is fascinating to see what downhill skiing looked like before the war — old photographs from that time offer a glimpse into the lives of those early skiers.

Unfortunately, the outbreak of World War II put an abrupt end to the development of skiing in the Bieszczady Mountains and the construction of its growing infrastructure.

Today, skiing in the Polish part of the Bieszczady means numerous small ski stations, several smaller lifts, and cross-country skiing trails — especially around Wetlina and its surroundings.