Sochi opens alpine ski season

Today, the "Gorki Gorod" Resort in Krasnaya Polyana has opened its alpine ski routes; and over a thousand ski passes have been sold to skiers.

"This year, we have prepared new 'blue' and 'green' trails for easy and quick skiing; we are preparing pupils' routes, since there are many newcomers. We'll open the 'Husky Centre' for riding dog sleds. On the first day of the winter season, more than a thousand skiers came to the slopes," said Lyudmila Kuznetsova, a deputy general director of the "Gorki Gorod" all-season mountain complex.

In total, this year, mountains of Krasnaya Polyana will have over 120 km of alpine ski trails, including more than 10 km of new ones, the "Rossiyskaya Gazeta" reports.

Earlier, Krasnodar ecologists defined the fight against the capture of lands of the Sochi National Park and the Caucasian Reserve in the vicinity of Krasnaya Polyana, claimed by large tourist companies and ski resorts, as their priority. In November 2015, Russian and international environmental organizations sent a letter to the UNESCO expressing concern about the fate of the World Heritage Site "Western Caucasus", caused by the plans to build ski resorts near its borders.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.