Straja ski resort is located at the top of the Jiu Valley so well known to the country and the world as the place were the miners came from to descend in violent rampages on the capital city, Bucharest, in the early 90s.
And Straja is the best chance for the Jiu Valley to get rid of its bad name, with welcoming skiers to the best ski location there is in Romania today.
It seems hard to believe, but Straja, right up the mountain from the now impoverished Lupeni minersâ city may turn into the dream destination for skiers.
The obvious pluses Straja presents are the wide open plateau and the five kilometers long ski track with electric lighting for skiing at night. For comparison, just imagine the Dorului Valley, at Sinaia resort, on the Prahova Valley, and double that image in your mind, to picture the opportunities Straja presents.
Furthermore, all ski tracks have automated systems for whisking the skiers up the slopes.
Straja developed as a ski resort during the last decade. Shepherdsâ hamlets once stood were mountain cabins lay now and offer a total of 2,000 beds for less than 20 US dollars a night. The downside for accessing this paradise is ⦠the difficult access. Or maybe this is what it helps it stay a paradise â¦
The fact is that a ride over the top of the trees lasts 25 minutes, which may be a lot of time for some to stay suspended in a chair out in the open, while the nine-kilometer long forest road may be covered by all-terrain vehicles only.
Emil Parau, one of the main investors at Straja plans to solve by the end of this year the problem of the difficult access to the ski slopes, and pave the road linking them with the Jiu Valley plus construct a thousand car plots.
One may not escape skiing once one arrives at Straja. Renting skis costs 18 lei sabout 5 eurost, which is the lowest price in Romania. The
