STA, 17 December 2021 - Ten years after ski lifts came to a halt on Kobla in the Julian Alps, skiing was re-launched last weekend on Kozji Hrbet ski slopes with one ski lift, in what is the first step in the planned revival and expansion of the Kobla ski centre.
With this year's abundant snow, skiers can now ski on a 440-metre trail above the Alpine resort of Bohinjska Bistrica, unfar from Lake Bohinj.
Last weekend's turnout, when ski passes were free of charge, was exceptional, Boštjan Mencinger, head of the Bohinj Tourism Association, told the press on Friday.
There were many locals from Bohinj as well as others who remembered how they used to learn to ski on Kobla decades ago, he said at the official opening.
Once a very popular ski centre, Kobla was last open in the season 2010/2011, as its operator at the time, Kobla ŽTG, ended in receivership.
Efforts to revive and expand it under the name 2864 - the altitude of the country's tallest peak, Mt Triglav - started ten years ago.
Franc Alain Furlani, director and owner of Furlani, one of the partners behind the project, said they plan to have two new cable cars and three ski lifts to 2864.
He is confident the EUR 30 million project will be fully implemented, saying it enjoyed local support, while he complained it was taking rather long to obtain all the permits.
Planed are activities for winter and summer months, including hospitality, skiing school, rental services for skis and bicycles.
Mencinger said that the ski centre was an important addition to Bohinj's winter season, which largely depends on skiing options in the area.
Bohinj's reputation as a skiing destination has suffered in recent years, which reflects in a downward trend in tourist nights in winter.
