The winter season starts later and later in the mountain resorts, and the lack of snow leaves the slopes that used to be their center deserted from the first days of December. Some resorts are trying to reinvent themselves by adding new tourist attractions.
Romania has over 200 localities and areas declared tourist resorts, and a large part of them owe this status to their relief. The proximity to the mountains made them attractive in winter, when they are sought after by skiing and sledding enthusiasts or those who want to enjoy the snow.
Open season in the mountains, without snow
In recent years, the winter has been poor in snow, and the slopes of many resorts have remained impassable. In the absence of snow and due to high temperatures for this period, the tourist season started late in 2025 as well and is predicted to be poorer than other years in terms of visitor numbers. Other such places have remained deserted, because the slopes – the attraction around which they developed – have remained “black”.
Located at 1,400-1,600 meters above sea level, Straja, the most popular mountain resort in western Romania, includes 12 slopes with a total length exceeding 25 kilometers, and most of them can be covered with artificial snow. The winter season officially opened here on December 20, with sunny weather but little snow for skiers. In the past, in the Vâlcan Mountains resort, the ski season was open from December 1, and tourists could find the prepared slopes as early as November.
“Three installations are functional daily, between 9 am and 5 pm: the gondola, the Alfa chair lift, the Constantinescu chair lift (without slopes) and the Alfa slope. The opening of other slopes depends on the next snowfalls”, the resort administrators said.
Sled on rails and snow cannons
In anticipation of the snow, forecasted for the Christmas period, some slopes are equipped with artificial snow, the quality of which can be affected by the temperatures. But until the first snows arrive, tourists are offered a new tourist attraction, inaugurated at the beginning of the season. A toboggan facility was built in the resort after a local company secured European funding for a €2.6 million project through the Just Transition Programme. The roller coaster was named the Baloo Coaster after the resort’s “mascot”, Baloo the bear, who has lived here since 2000.
In 2000, the bear cub was found by hunters in the forests of Parângu, unconscious, hungry and lost by its family, and over time a 1,200 square meter pen in Straja became its home. The ski area and the almost 200 guesthouses and cabins developed around it, which made Straja a place increasingly sought after by tourists.
Tobogganing isn’t the resort’s only attraction for all seasons. A hermitage established at the end of the 90s, at the foot of the Straja Peak (1,621 meters), is among the tourist attractions of the resort. Above it was raised the Heroes’ Cross, a monument almost 20 meters high, in memory of the Romanian soldiers who died here in the First World War. The entrance to the courtyard of the hermitage can be made through a tunnel of more than 50 meters, similar to an entrance to a mine, decorated with the icons of saints from the Orthodox Calendar.
Unlike the Straja resort, located in the Vâlcan Mountains, in other recreational areas in Romania the investments aimed at making up for the lack of snow on the slopes were almost non-existent. The snow cannons are missing, the toboggan runs are non-existent, the spas are considered too expensive for the expected number of tourists, and their managers say they have begun to take their minds off other investments aimed at increasing the appeal of the resorts.
Resorts almost deserted, in the absence of snow
In Pasul Vâlcan, located near Straja, in the absence of snow, tourists can take a gondola ride up the mountain at affordable prices (a ticket costs 10 lei one way or 15 lei round trip), and then they can continue their walk on the spectacular ridges of Vâlcan.
“In recent years, the snow in Pasul Vâlcan appeared especially after the winter holidays, when many people were already thinking about spring. Therefore, we have not made investments for the cold season. Those who come to Valea Jiului to ski can go to Straja, which is nearby. We want Pasul Vâlcan to become more attractive in the summer, when we host a longboard competition.”says Cristian Merișanu, the mayor of the municipality of Vulcan.
On the other hand, in Râușor, the only resort in the Retezat Mountains, the snow was left to wait this winter, and so far the recent investments in the development of ski slopes and the construction of a chair lift have proven ineffective for this season.
