I went ski-touring with Iulian in March 2005. We are a group of five, and after having climbed and skied mount Damavand in Iran we decided to look for some skiing adventure in Romania. One of us located Iulian through the internet, whereupon Iulian pretty much told us he could arrange everything and would show us the best skiing places. Not only did he guide us to the impressive Bucegi range, beautiful Balea Lake and Sambata valley for some terrific powder skiing (and I mean loads of powder!!) but Iulian told us a lot about his country, and showed us many of the cultural highlights of Romania such as Peles Castle, Brasov (great night-life by the way), Bran Castle and Sigisoara. We did not exactly know what to expect from skiing in Romania, but although the maximum altitude does not exceed 2600 m. it was possible to make beautiful tours with descents of more that 1000m. We stayed in the weather station at Omu, at Balea Lake in a very good hotel (much more luxury here then a swiss mountain cabin), and in a cabin in Sambata valley. One of the huge advantages of Romania was that it’s not crowded and we were almost everywhere the only skiing group. We had a great holiday! Iulian continuously gave us the feeling that everything was arranged (which it was), as he has skied and climbed in Romania his whole life he really knows where to go en when to go and we have the impression that he is a very good mountain guide for whom safety is important. It was a lot of fun travelling with Iulian, it is only too bad that he picked up the game of poker so fast that others had to lose…. Iulian thank you for the fantastic trip and for your and your families hospitality!!
Katelijne Kohnstamm & friends, the Netherlands
