Pilsko Ski Resort in Korbielów

Pilsko Ski Resort is a complex of ski runs in Korbielów, in Jeleśnia municipality, on the north-eastern slopes of Pilsko (1,557 m above sea level) in the Żywiec Beskids. It is regarded as the highest-lying ski resort in Poland outside the Tatras. The resort's base is in Korbielów-Kamienna.

What the runs are like

The resort has a traditional, mountain character. Most runs are neither lit nor covered with artificial snow: only the runs below Solisko have lighting, and artificial snow is made on runs 1, 2 and 3 (below Buczynka) and on run 6.

Part of run number 5 has FIS homologation: for giant slalom between 1,450 and 1,150 m above sea level, and for slalom between 1,310 and 1,150 m above sea level. The black run number 7 is one of a dozen or so black downhill runs in Poland, is not groomed and is rarely open. A curiosity is lift number IX, which runs downhill over a short stretch, so a skier pulled by the button has to snowplough.

What else is on the slopes

On the slopes of Pilsko stand the PTTK mountain hut on Hala Miziowa and a catering facility on Hala Szczawina. GOPR posts operate on Hala Miziowa, Hala Szczawina and Solisko. In Korbielów-Kamienna there are car parks, toilets, a ski equipment rental and service shop, a ski school and catering pavilions. Among the nearest destinations is the mountain hut on Hala Miziowa.

Where the lifts came from

The drag lifts and downhill runs were built by Silesian companies at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, and building them involved clearing 10.5 hectares of forest and 0.25 hectares of mountain pine. In 1994 the infrastructure passed to the newly established Gliwice Tourist Agency.

Later investments were a chairlift from Polana Struga, opened in 2007, a four-person chairlift to Solisko, launched before the 2013/2014 season, and a lift to Buczynka, which replaced two old drag lifts. The Buczynka lift was completed in 2014 and brought into use on 9 January 2021.

The dispute over Pilsko's nature

The building of the resort has caused disputes for years. In the 1990s several organisations protested against it, among them the Workshop for All Beings, the League for Nature Protection and the Polish Ecological Club. The result was a ruling by the Supreme Administrative Court ordering some illegally built lifts to be dismantled by the end of 2005, and an expert scientific report that recommended restrictions: a ban on skiing over mountain pine and in the strict reserve on the Slovak side, and making the use of the runs dependent on snow depth. On the Polish side lies the Pilsko nature reserve.

Practical information

• Town: Korbielów, with car parks and facilities in Korbielów-Kamienna.
• The availability of runs and lifts depends on snow and weather, so check the resort's announcements before you travel.
• Information on equipment and runs may be partly out of date.