Azuga Ski Slopes

The Azuga ski area lies on the slopes of the Sorica and Cazacu ridges of the Baiu Mountains, east of the town centre, with its base on Strada Sorica. The runs are served by a Leitner gondola opened at the end of 2007, which starts at the foot of the Sorica run and gives access from its top station to all the slopes. According to the mayor, the gondola, a private investment of 5 million euros, runs for about 1,800 m, climbs about 550 m to an altitude of 1,530 m, has 49 eight-seat cabins and carries 2,000 people per hour. It replaced the old chairlift on Sorica. The prepared runs are: Sorica, 2,100 m long, intermediate, with a 561 m vertical drop, floodlighting and snow cannons; Cazacu, 1,920 m, intermediate, with a 530 m drop; Cazacu variantă, 400 m, with artificial snow; Cazacu bretea, 715 m; Sorica Sud, 770 m, easy; and La Stână, 910 m, easy. The Sorica and Cazacu runs are also homologated by the International Ski Federation, so they can host slalom and giant slalom races. Besides the gondola, the area has drag lifts, small drag lifts and beginner lifts. Near the Cazacu run there are cross-country ski trails and a snowboard route totalling about 10 km. Because the wind blows almost constantly on the ridge in winter, the gondola's top station was placed a few metres below the summit. The base of the slopes is about 2.5 km east of the town centre, which lies on the DN1 road and the Ploiești-Brașov railway.