The winter season at most Slovenian ski resorts is drawing to a close this weekend, but there will be skiing to enjoy at least until early May at Kanin, the country's highest. Although visitor numbers did not top last year's excellent figures, ski lift operators are happy with the season.

"The winter season was on average about 20% poorer than last year, but we still think it was good," Boštjan Paradiž, head of the Slovenian Ski Lift Operators' Association, told the STA after a meeting of ski lift operators at Krvavec on 6 April.

High temperatures and lack of snow in the second half of December and the first half of January posed a problem, but the conditions were very good in February.

Still, ski lift operators call for further infrastructure development, including for artificial snowmaking. Smaller ski resorts must also be supported, as they provide ski literacy and eventually supply skiers to medium and large ski resorts, said Paradiž.

Although the season started a bit later in most ski resorts and visitors were not as many as last year, when Slovenians did not go abroad due to Covid, ski lift operators are mostly happy with the revenue.

"It shows that people went skiing abroad (this season) just like they did before Covid-19," said the head of the Kanin ski resort, Manuela Božič Badalič. Smaller resorts recorded good visitor numbers because they have lower pass prices.

"Last season was very very good, but we cannot expect records every year, so we're quite happy with the footfall this season," said Irena Golc from the Kranjska Gora ski resort.

A small resort in the southeast of the country, Gače, was close to a record with about 30,000 visitors but financially it only just broke even. One of the largest resorts Mariborsko Pohorje in the north-east also came close to last year's figures with 150,000 skiers.

Most resorts have already closed, while Krvavec and Vogel will wrap up the season with the Easter weekend. Kanin, which still has a meter and a half of snow, is expected to stay open for skiing at least until May Day holidays.

Other resorts are gearing up for the summer season, when they offer summer toboggans, bike parks and panoramic rides.