Hungarian Ski Tourer was always going to be a long shot and a hard sell. Hungary is not the flattest country in Europe but is not far off it. However, bordering the plains of the Danube are a few wooded hills and on some of them pistes have been cut to create tiny ski areas. Bankut is largest of these minnows offering five pistes totalling 3.5km in length and a similar number of lifts. Looking at the publicity photos the Bánkúti Síiskola ski school is kept busy on the increasingly rare snowy days of winter.
Our plan was to skin up through the woods, descending the pistes should there be insufficient snow between the trees. We were booked into the Fehersas ski lodge and looking forward to experiencing the Hungarian ski vibe.
Sadly there wasn’t a snow flake. Not one, and we were the only guests at the lodge. No snow, no skiing and we had to make our own vibe! Unfortunately the snows of November and December had disappeared due to the record-breaking warmth of January and February 2024. It was 10°C when we set out to walk the deserted slopes.
Still, it was nice to see and we loved our two-day visit to Budapest. Much as it was enjoyable I’m not sure Hungarian Ski Tourer will feature in the programme again!