Catski in Ukraine – how it started?

November 9, 2021

Freeride on Drahobrat is one of the most accessible and interesting in the whole country. All the cards are in the right place here: weather conditions with a long and fairly stable snow season, a full-fledged ski infrastructure with accommodation to suit every taste and budget, lifts and entertainment, as well as fantastically diverse terrain, freeride schools and catskiing (freeride on snowcats*).

* Catskiing allows riders to easily get to truly unique locations that are inaccessible from the upper lift stations.

But how has it all started? Why has Drahobrat become the mecca of Ukrainian freeriding and backcountry? Read below to find out.

We asked Mykhailo Zhuravel about the development of skiing on Drahobrat and the beginning of freeriding on its slopes – his family was one of the first to start a business on Drahobrat, now offers accommodation services in the Zhuravel estate, and Mykhailo is one of the best snowboard instructors on Dragobrat, a freerider and skitour guide, as well as Andriy Nenko, the head of the freeride school and a guide for Golden Ride and Kuluar Freeride.

Mykhailo, tell us how long your family has been working on Drahobrat, how did it all start?

It all started with my grandfather, Aleksandr Zhuravlev, who is a great enthusiast of skiing. For a long time he worked as a coach at the Yasinya ski school. Even before Drahobrat became a resort, they used to hold training camps there, bringing portable lifts because the snow was still falling until June.

For you to understand, it was the 70s and 80s of the last century 🙂

My grandfather built his house on Drahobrat in 1997, when I was 7 years old, and since then I have been there every winter from the beginning to the end of the snow.

I know you used to go skiing, right? Tell me, how did you get from “toothpick” slalom to snowboarding and even splitboarding?

I began to ski in 1996, and there was no choice then – either you ski or you don’t ski )))

Since my father’s side of the family are all professional skiers and my grandparents are coaches, the grandson has to train. But since I was a kid, I wasn’t interested in achievements that would earn me a certificate, but just skiing was a thrill, and I still love the feeling in my body when I ride.

I used to go skiing in the morning and come back when the lifts were already shutting down, I was always drawn to the off-piste, where not everyone could go. And then in 2002 I saw a snowboarder on Drahobrat, and from that moment on everything went differently. It had a pretty significant impact on my life. For me, snowboarding is not about adrenaline or extreme sports – it’s a process, a ritual. If I have the opportunity to ride, I ride, and it’s not the quantity that matters, but the quality – that’s how I came to split. I love nature, I love silence, I love to walk and take a long time to choose a slope to go down, and the splitboard is a perfect match for that

Splitboard. Does it have a future in Ukraine?

Of course it does, and this future has already begun! It just requires certain conditions that are not suitable for everyone. The first is your physical condition, the second is the ability to buy the necessary equipment (it’s not cheap), that’s why we almost don’t have rental shops where people can try it and decide whether they need it or not. There is also a third, fourth and fifth thing, but I won’t talk about it)

Freeride on Drahobrat – how do you see its development in the next 5 years?

Freeride on Dragobrat… I see two directions: snowcats and skitour. 70% of people will go on a snowcat, 30% will go skitouring. People are becoming interested in avalanche safety, and this is good, because there are those who can give lectures and teach how to behave in the mountains – as long as there is a willingness. And it’s better that way, because we shouldn’t underestimate the “small Carpathians”.

What do you think is so attractive about Drahobrat?

It is difficult for me to give an independent judgement because I live here. From my observations of visitors, I see that they like the place, the nature. It is very diverse here. The snow here is natural, and I won’t even compare it to the snow shot from snow-machines!

If you could change something on Drahobrat in one second, what would it be?

Sewage treatment systems, clean streams without sewage, organised recycling, and environmental inspection. This, in my opinion, is the basis. Until we start taking care of nature, Drahobrat will get worse. Infrastructure, a road, a single skipass – all this is also needed, but only after we learn to behave environmentally and do business environmentally.

What is your snowy dream, where would you like to ski?

My snowy dream is high mountains: Alps, Caucasus, Himalayas, North America. I want to go skiing somewhere there, but probably still not enough – because I’ve never been anywhere before)))

What advice do you have for beginner freeriders?

Improve your technique, explore the mountains, learn what the causes and consequences of accidents due to negligence are. Don’t let your ambitions get the better of you, be honest with yourself. Take care of your health, because without it, there will be no freeride))

Thank you, Mykhailo! See you on the slopes of Drahobrat.

What will Andriy Nenko, the man who stood at the beginning of the Catski freeride on Drahobrat, tell us?

Andrii, hi! To begin with, where and how did snowboarding start for you?

My snowboarding journey has started in a completely unconventional way: back in 2008, with the purchase of my first snowboard set. It was a basic all-mountain model with standard bindings and boots. Interestingly, before I learned how to edge, I started jumping and doing freestyle tricks in my first season. My progress went very quickly because I had been actively practising taekwondo and my body was in great shape. It was probably already then that it became clear that just riding on the slopes was not for me.

How did it happen that out of all the ski resorts in the world and Ukraine, fate brought you to Drahobrat?

Drahobrat is a truly unique place and I have the impression that it called me. For more than ten years of working with clients in this place, I realise that Drahobrat does not leave anyone indifferent! You (or rather he) either doesn’t accept it or falls in love for life. My case is the second one – Drahobrat and I have mutual love.

On my first day on the Drah, there was a pitch white-out fog, and it was completely unclear where you were and where you were going. But on the second day, magic happened – out of the same milk, climbing on the Kuryatnya ski lift, we rode above the clouds into the bright sun, with only snow-capped peaks sticking out above the clouds. Anyone who has ever been in the mountains above the clouds will understand me – it is an amazing view when it seems that you are getting closer to God himself.

You were at the very beginning of freeriding on Drahobrat as a movement. Tell us how it was?

Shortly after I started going to the Drahobrat, I moved to the Carpathians to live in Kosiv. Even then, bus tours to Bukovel/Dragobrat were popular, and we started our own company. Drahobrat attracted me with its off-piste skiing opportunities. In those years, only Gendarme and Blyznytsia were the only freeride destinations on Drahobrat. Some people were already riding quite serious spots – the slopes of Blyznytsia and the so-called “Selyodky” or “Tserkvy” (technically difficult slopes with an angle of inclination of more than 45 degrees). Already at that time, either from the Drahobrat mountain or from the upper station of the Carpathian Chaika lift, ratraks started running to Zhandarm (at that time, it was more like a kind of snow taxi and the service cost 50 UAH per person for one lift). The most common question after getting off the snowcat was something like: “Okay, where do we go from here?”.
In fact, in our tours, we abandoned the widespread alcohol trash and occupied the freeride niche. It was already then that we started our first trips to the backcountry in Zastiazhzhia.
I remember how Taras Kovbasniuk’s old snowmobile made the first descents to the backside of the Stog. We even started this snowmobile as a group at the bottom after the descent, when the battery died 🙂 But the beginning of the catskiing was set.

Even then, I realised that the most interesting slopes and the best snow were somewhere further away, and in order to be able to ski it, a rider needs to constantly grow, learn technique and other freeride components. Because freeride is not about skiing, it’s about the mountains. And it’s definitely not about the destination, but about the journey.

For me, the seasons I spent in the great mountains of the Caucasus working with Wild Guru were a serious level-up, a change in my outlook and approach to the ski business. The guides there already worked according to international mountain quality standards, and it opened my eyes to a completely different approach to freeriding and the attitude towards clients and their safety. During those two seasons, I rode all the possible spots in the vicinity of Gudauri and the Greater Caucasus, including making my first trips to interesting and sometimes scary locations. The icing on the cake of that period was a ski alpine expedition to the Tien Shan and the Tuyuk Su glacier.

Catskiing. Why on Drahobrat?

In general, catskiing is a really cool freeride offer with a fairly low entry threshold for riders. It doesn’t require much effort to get to the start of the route by foot (bootpacking) or by skitour – you’ll be taken there by a snowcat. In one day, a client can ski from 6-8 slopes of varying degrees of difficulty – from wide virgin fields to steep couloirs, powder pillows and drops. Catskiing is a much more affordable service than its flying counterpart, Heliskiing. Firstly, it is much cheaper, and secondly, risk management is much easier. A helicopter flight is only possible in truly ideal weather conditions, when a snowmobile with experienced guides can safely fly into variable cloud cover.

Getting riders to the spot with a snowcat is a very popular type of freeriding around the world.

Why Drahobrat? The Svydovets ridge, on which Drahobrat is located, is a really convenient place for the snowcats to travel and super diverse for skiing. The large scale of the alpine and forest area allows you to ride both in good visibility and find the right locations in the famous “Dragobrat Fir Trees” in case of limited visibility.

Чи популярний Драгобрат закордоном? І, якщо так, що саме в ньому так приваблює райдерів?

Завдяки розвитку скітуру та фрірайду на Драгобраті, а також дякуючи його суворій красі і свого роду “дикості”, серед клієнтів у нас часто зустрічаються і європейці (або ласкаво “європулі”). Сам курорт хоч і розташований на відносно невеликих висотах – 1300-1881м – але має всі характеристики високогірного. Охоплює три зони: лісова, субальпійська та альпійська, має відповідний рельєф і величезну територію за межами гірськолижної інфраструктури, придатну для беккантрі.
Якщо порівнювати вартість послуги catski в Україні та, умовно кажучи, в США/Канаді, різниця в ціні буде колосальна. Окрім того, за словами наших друзів і клієнтів із-за кордону, у нас відносно недорого, але  смачно готують і весело частують.

Я вважаю, що розвиток таких напрямків у фрірайді, як catski та скітур – абсолютно правильний та класний крок для популяризації Драгобрату серед райдерів з інших країн. Це – крок у майбутнє!

What would you say is missing in Ukraine to become a powerful freeride spot for foreigners?

First of all, we are lacking a developed ski infrastructure. Speaking of Drahobrat, this includes an adequate access to the resort, a single ski lift, proper disposal of hotel waste, cooperation and collaboration among businesses. The second, no less important, factor is the competent approach (according to international quality standards) of those who provide freeriding services.

One of the main tasks of the Golden Ride Freeride School and Catski Safari is to develop freeride services to such high standards. Freeride must be safe!

If we speak about the way freeriding itself is organised in Europe, it is based on professional guides with appropriate education and qualifications, who are paid accordingly – that is, the client knows what they are paying for, freeride routes within a particular region are clearly defined, and avalanche services and forecasts are available.

Unfortunately, in Ukraine, people are only just getting used to think in terms of 5-10 years or more ahead, which requires cooperation, openness and development. Many people would rather think about how to make a quick buck today and not worry about tomorrow. But this is futile, you need to think ahead.

What are your plans for the season?

This season, together with the Zhuravlev family and Mikhail personally, as well as with Kuluar, a leading tourist travel company in Ukraine, we are launching a Catski-safari service on a snowcat, and we plan to try a completely new product – Catski-backcountry. In addition, we will continue to hold freeride schools for skiers and snowboarders, and develop the ski touring on the Svydovets ridge and in Ukraine as a whole. These are the cutting-edge European ski trends that we are catching up with, with a few years’ delay.

What are your freeride dreams?

As a guide, I dream about strong and interesting clients, with whom you develop yourself and open up new horizons in freeriding for them.

As a rider, I dream of and plan serious expeditions to Alaska, the Himalayas and exotic high mountain systems.

What advice do you have for a beginner freerider?

I strongly advise you to approach the issue of freeriding responsibly and seriously. Be sure to do physical training and improve the RIGHT technique, don’t learn from your friends, because they often unknowingly do you a disservice by teaching you the wrong technique, and it’s better to work with an instructor who teaches according to international methods. Because mistakes in technique are not very noticeable on the track, and when you go out on natural snow, they immediately come out sideways. It is much harder to relearn from wrong to right than to learn from scratch.
Don’t neglect safety, go to freeride schools – everything is already laid out on the shelves there – in the end, you will save both time and money on development and protect yourself from unnecessary mistakes. And carefully choose the people you ride with – either really reliable teammates or proven qualified guides!

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