Hotels near Shiligarnik 1 (Piste No. 5)

Piste No. 5, Shiligarnik 1, is the run that turns a nervous beginner into a skier who can get down a mountain. It measures 2,047 m with 487 m of vertical, making it the longest blue-graded descent at Bansko Ski Resort. The Shiligarnik four-seat chairlift that serves it is almost exactly the same size, 2,042 m long with a 483 m rise and a capacity of 2,000 people an hour, so a lap takes well under half an hour door to door.

The Shiligarnik sector sits at about 1,730 m, above Banderishka Polyana and below the Todorka bowl. Wide and partly tree-lined, it holds snow through the day and stays skiable in flat light when the open upper slopes turn featureless. There is one steeper roll partway down that local instructors call the wall, best taken in short traverses rather than straight-lined. Ski school groups occupy the lower half between 10:00 and 12:00, which is the one hour of the day to be somewhere else.

Pro Tip: Ski Shiligarnik 1 between 12:30 and 13:30 while ski school groups break for lunch. The Shiligarnik chairlift usually loads without a queue in that hour.