The mountain resort of Parâng has remained deserted since the beginning of winter, despite the snow covering the ski slopes. The resort’s five-decade-old chairlift has not been repaired, and cars are not allowed on the access road in the alpine area during the winter.
Parâng mountain resort, Wednesday, December 18. Freecam.ro
The images published over the weekend from the Parâng mountain resort in Hunedoara show the recreation area deserted, unlike the Straja mountain resort, crowded with tourists even during the week.
Lodgers and locals are unhappy that the resort’s old chairlift, which broke down in July, has not yet been repaired to be used from the start of the tourist season (video: Parâng Ski & Summer Resort, Facebook).
“We estimated that we can put the old chairlift into operation by December 1st, unfortunately there was a problem with the cable, it is a 200-meter section that we are replacing today (Tuesday), the company is already in the field and it’s working, and I think tomorrow they’re completing the replacement of the cable on that portion, and then we’re going to do another defectoscopy, we’re going to check the cable one more time, and after we finish that, I think this week, it’s going to the ISCIR check must be done, after which we will be able to release the old chairlift”declared, on Wednesday, the mayor of Petroșani, Tiberiu Iacob Ridzi, on the local channel Mondo TV from Valea Jiului.
The guard, more animated during the week. Photo: webcam capture
Tourists can reach the tourist area at the foot of Parângul Mic with a new chairlift, inaugurated in 2014, but which is used less often, depending on demand and on weekends. But locals say the breakdown of the old chairlift, built in the early 1970s, has put off tourists, and lodgers fear they may cancel their holiday bookings at lodges and guesthouses in the resort.
How the first chairlifts were built in Valea Jiului
The plans for the construction of the first two chairlifts in the Jiului Valley, one in the Parâng Mountains and the other at Straja, in the Vâlcan Mountains, were drawn up by the authorities of the communist regime at the end of the 60s. Despite the enthusiasm with which they were announced, the construction of the two cable transport facilities was arduous.
The construction of the Parâng chairlift began in 1970, and a year later, the installation was on site.
“In order to facilitate access to the cabins and ski slopes, the construction of a chair lift has begun in the Paring massif, whose route, 2,184 meters long, will connect the city of Petroşani with the future student sports complex under construction. The necessary preparations have been made for the execution of another similar means of transport, almost three kilometers long, to the Staja cabin, located in the Vulcan massif, at an altitude of 1,400 meters”informed Agerpres in 1971.
The Parâng chairlift was inaugurated in December 1973, together with the IEFS tourist lodge, intended mainly for the accommodation of athletes and students. The 2.5-kilometer installation transported tourists from the Maleia area, from the edge of Petroșani, to the 1,680-meter elevation of Parângul Mic, presenting a difference in level of more than 600 meters between the starting and arrival stations.
“In the municipality of Petroşani, a chair lift was put into use for hikers and athletes who want to climb Parîngul Mic. From here hikers can reach the IEFS sports base, at the peaks of Cârja and Mândra. With this new means of transport, the distance between Petroşani and Paringul Mic can be covered in half an hour. The transport capacity of the chairlift is 100 people per hour”, informed the newspaper Munca, in January 1974.
Straja, more wanted than Parângul
The Parâng tourist area was declared a mountain resort and was among the recreational areas crowded in winter by the numerous residents of the mining towns in the Jiului Valley, but also by students and ski enthusiasts from other areas of Romania.
Construction of the chairlift to the Straja resort (video) was even more difficult, even if the 2.5-kilometer cable transport facility had similar characteristics to the one in Parâng.
Planned since the 60s, the chair lift that went up from the outskirts of Lupeni to the Straja cabin in the Vâlcan Mountains, sought after by ski enthusiasts, was only inaugurated in December 1981.
