Straja resort is an Eastern European ski and snowboarding resort, situated at an elevation of in the

Vâlcan Mountains The Vâlcan Mountains are a chain of mountains in the Southern Carpathians in Gorj County, Romania. They are part of the Retezat-Godeanu Mountains group, and run for approximately . The highest point is Oslea Peak at , and the second highest is ...

of the

Southern Carpathians The Southern Carpathians (also known as the Transylvanian Alps; ; ) are a group of mountain ranges located in southern Romania. They cover the part of the Carpathian Mountains located between the Prahova River in the east and the Timiș and ...

, in the

Jiu Valley The Jiu Valley ( , ) is a region in southwestern Transylvania, Romania, in Hunedoara county, situated in a valley of the Jiu River between the Retezat Mountains and the Parâng Mountains. The region was heavily industrialised and the main activity ...

region of

Hunedoara County Hunedoara County () is a county (''județ'') of Romania, in Transylvania, with its capital city at Deva, Romania, Deva. The county is part of the Danube–Criș–Mureș–Tisa Euroregion. Name In Hungarian language, Hungarian, it is known as , ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. The resort is a relatively new one, being declared a resort in 2002. Access to the resort can be made from

Lupeni Lupeni (; German: ''Schylwolfsbach'', Hungarian: ''Lupény'') is a mining city in the Jiu Valley in Hunedoara County, Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. It is one of the oldest and largest cities in the Jiu Valley. It is located ...

(a small mining town), on a long paved mountain road or by a gondola. The Straja resort has about of ski area; 20 km are equipped with artificial snow. The 11 cable cars provide access to all the slopes of the resort. There are 12 slopes, each equipped with a cable car. Five of them also benefit from a nocturnal facility, making it possible to use the slopes until late at night. They are maintained with snow-blowing machines to keep them in the best possible conditions for skiing. The snow season here usually starts in the first week of December and ends in the last week of March. Due to the construction of the gondola and the chairlift on the Straja Peak () there are new slopes, the longest being the Straja Strand, with a length of 3.8 km. In season 2016-2017 the chairlift on the Constantinescu Piste had been open, and in the 2017–2018 season, another chair lift had replaced the ski lift number 2. Since 2001, a brown bear named Baloo has been on display at the ski resort despite a poorly enforced 2005 ban by the Romanian government prohibiting private individuals from owning bears. Baloo, who lives in a small rusty cage without enrichment, is said to be given alcohol to drink along with an insufficient diet. Libearty Bear Sanctuary has been working to rescue Baloo, but the ski resort owner refuses to relinquish the bear to the sanctuary.

References

{{coord, 45.3207, N, 23.2369, E, source:wikidata-and-enwiki-cat-tree_region:RO, display=title Jiu Valley Ski areas and resorts in Romania

See also

References