We had a lot of snow last month in Norway, but you can never get too much snow!
Keep your winter coats on, tie your ski boots and let's go to the largest ski resort in Eastern Europe: Let's go to Bukovel!
Welcome to Ukraine!
Thanks to Jerry Heil and her mesmerizing “Malanka” that won FSC #179 in Hammerfest, we’ll be enjoying February in Ivano-Frankivsk oblast, Western Ukraine.
So let’s hear the song again:
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We're in Bukovel!
On the ridge-lines of the Carpathian Mountains lies the ski resort surrounded by beautiful mountains:
The top elevation is on Mount Dovha at 1,372 meters and the base elevation is 900 meters above sea level, for a total vertical drop of 472 meters.
There are five distinct mountains in the area: Bukovel, Chorna Kleva, Babyn Pohar, Dovha, Bulchinokha.
On the other side of mount Babyn Pohar is the nature reserve "Gorgany". The nature reserve consists of 46% old-growth forest which means that it's among the last and largest of such forests in all of Europe. The main reason why it was created as a reserve in 1996 was because of the stone pine trees that needed complete preservation. That's why the public access is strictly limited; the reserve is mainly for protecting and studying.
Bukovel is growing rapidly, and new equipment and runs are being added each year. Back in 2012, Bukovel was named the fastest-growing ski resort in the world, and it just continues growing!
Bukovel's high season depends on climatic factors and is usually around the beginning of December to mid-April.
The resort contains all facilities for sports, business, leisure and health. There are top ski runs equipped with snow cannons, running for 60 kilometres around the area, 67 ski runs of various difficulty levels. If you aren't that steady on your skis yet, fear not! There's a ski school too, including a school for children.
Bukovel hosts plenty of biathlon, skiing, snowboarding, freestyle, mogul, mountain biking sports events.
After the current constructions are complete, Bukovel will have 118 kilometres of ski tracks and enter the top 50 largest ski resorts in the world.
In 2006 the local government announced their plans to bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics with the expansion of the area with 262 acres. When the deadline for bids had passed, Bukovel hadn't applied though, and especially the lack of proper infrastructure would have been a serious challenge, even if they had. They still didn't give up on the dream of hosting the Olympics and they've considered both bidding to host the 2022 and 2026 editions. Because of the war it seems unlikely that they'll get to host anytime soon.
Another obstacle is the environmental groups that fear that hosting the event would be an excuse for the government under president Volodymyr Zelenskyj to implement some constructions in the Carpathian mountains that could potentially be a serious threat to the the local eco-system.
Bukovel offers high-profile hotels, 4- and 5-star chalets with a garage, swimming pool, sauna and a personal ski-in and ski-out. It has capacity to host 1,500 people at the resort itself and 12,000 people in the vicinity.
One of the most famous, alongside luxury hotels like Radisson, is the Hrybova Hata Hotel, "The Mushroom
House".
The hotel and restaurant is well known for its interesting outside architecture, as well as innovation in designing and furnishing the interior. Traditional Ukrainian style is mixed with more modern designs to create an amazing experience for the guests who venture into the mushroom. The restaurant serves all sorts of both Ukrainian and Hutsul dishes.
The area was historically inhabited by the Hutsul people, an Eastern Slavic ethnic group, mainly living in Ukraine and Romania.
Just a few kilometres from Bukovel lies the Carpathian National Nature Park which contains a number of monuments of Hutsul history and architecture, including historical wooden buildings. The main attraction in the National Nature Park is, however, the stunning nature, among other things the tallest Ukrainian mountain, Hoverla, with its peak reaching the skies more than 2000 metres above sea level. It's the first national park in all of Ukraine and one of the biggest ones in the whole country.
So plenty here for tourists to see, when hiking on one of the 48 maintained trails in the park.
The landscapes in the park include both Alpine meadows and forests. The three most common tree species in the park are silver fir, European beech, and spruce. Another great thing for tourists to visit is The Huk Waterfall, located within the park. It's the highest single-drop waterfall in the Ukrainian Carpathians, falling 84 metres. The unique nature contains two lakes of glacial origin too. There sure is a lot to explore in the Carpathian National Nature Park.
So we've been speeding down the slopes on skis in the snow and hiked around the beautiful Carpathian National Nature Park. Experienced some traditional Hutsul culture and tasted their fine cooking. Surely we can't do any more activities in Bukovel!
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Is there anything else to do?
I don't know whether your muscles are aching as much as mine? I sure could do with a bit of proper luxurious leisure. Happily we've got both spas and saunas.
And the resort is also known for its baths of mineral water and herb extracts.
Since 2008, Bukovel has been developing as a health and balneotherapy centre for people with different health problems so we're not the only ones seeking some recovery in the hot baths. Bukovel even has a free-of-charge pump room to drink mineral water if needed.
Done relaxing? I sure feel totally revived, and I'm good to get out and be a bit active again. Well, nearly... Perhaps a cold shock could help me get totally ready for some more exciting activities. And a cold shock we'll definitely have if we try dipping into the artificial lake!
The lake was opened in the Summer of 2014, and it's the biggest in Ukraine with an area of 6.8 hectares and a depth up to 15 metres.
It was the most ambitious resort project, worth almost 3.7 million euros. It is a very nice place though where there are deckchairs alongside the shore with 2 kilometres beach and plenty of beach cafes. And it's possible to do a lot of water activities in Summer too, like kayaking, water-skiing or wakeboarding.
This time of year I think I'll rather do some paintball or extreme sport! Cause there is dog sled rides, horse riding, quadracycling, paintball, rafting, snowbiking as well as an extreme sports park in the ski resort.
We've been skiing, we've been hiking. We've been bathing in pleasantly hot baths with mineral water and herb extracts, we've been bathing in a shockingly cold artificial lake. As well as having loads of fun with some of the many other activities that Bukovel has to offer.
But I guess it's time to head to our venue to sit back and enjoy wonderful music by wonderful artists from all around the world.
Welcome to Forum Song Contest #180!
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Our host venue tonight: Buka Concert Hall
Buka Concert Hall hosted concerts by popular Ukrainian and foreign performers such as ONUKA, Artem Pyvovarov, INNA, Dan Balan, Zdob si Zdub, Gaitana, Tina Karol, alyona alyona, MONATIK, The Hardkiss. The venue capacity is up to 2000 people.
The entertainment center offers food court, panoramic bars, bowling, arcade & gaming machines, as well as unique water stage venue for 1000 people.
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Our hosts tonight: Anatoliy Anatolich, Oleksandra Kucherenko & Dmytro Shchebetiuk
Anatoliy Anatolich is a showman, radio and TV host. He started his TV career as a standup comedian, simultaneously hosting the morning show on the radio and his own show where he interviewed numerous celebrities. He hosted the red room of the Voice and morning shows on Ukraina and 1+1 TV channels. He hosts his own very popular Youtube project "The Interviewer".
Oleksandra Kucherenko is a journalist, professional dancer, model, athlete, TV host. Oleksandra is the Miss Ukraine 2016 and Miss World finalist (won the casting while literally coming from the street, without upbringing or money or influential parents), she used money from the contest on her charity project which helps talented children in her city. She's a host on a sports channel, working with football stars and celebrities. She hosted Eurovision 2017 fan zone.
Dmytro Shchebetiuk is a public figure, founder of a non-governmental organization which monitors the disability inclusion of Ukrainian cities, athlete (he was 6th best swimmer in the world), blogger, TV host on Suspilne. He used to hitchhike to 30 Ukrainian and other European cities on a limited budget in order to show that a person with disability can travel the world and the budget doesn't matter. He hosts a Paralympic studio and a comedy show on Suspilne.
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We're nearly ready for tonight's songs, but let's just get in the right Winter mood with some Vivaldi.
Here's Dutch violinist Janine Jansen playing "Inverno", Winter, by Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi:
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Ready? It's time to listen to this month's songs 
for sending your entries, can't wait to hear them.
