Ski Lifts in the Gorce Mountains

Skiing in the Gorce Mountains means a handful of small, family-friendly ski areas rather than one big resort. The longest run in the range is about 1.4 km, coming down from Tobołów to Koninki, while smaller slopes operate on Maciejowa and Góra Królewska in Rabka-Zdrój and on Kułakowy Wierch above Rdzawka – a village in the Rabka-Zdrój municipality, which also includes Chabówka.

Koninki and the Tobołów chairlift

The largest ski area in the Gorce is Koninki Ski Station in Poręba Wielka, on the eastern slope of Tobołów. Its main lift is the single-seat Tobołów chairlift, opened in 1982 next to a former holiday centre. Sources give its length differently – about 1,155 or 1,200 m – with a vertical rise of about 300 m; the ride takes around 8 minutes.

Along the chairlift runs a piste that is blue in its upper part and red lower down, advertised as the longest in the Gorce. There are also:

• Hutek – a short children's lift (50 m),
• Hucisko – a 330 m T-bar on a clearing named after an 18th-century glassworks,
• Starmaszka (270 m) and Gigant (150 m) higher up, with a gentle run for beginners,
• a snow park near the top station.

The slopes are groomed, and the runs by the chairlift and the Hutek and Hucisko lifts are floodlit and have artificial snow. The resort also has a ski school, equipment hire and servicing, parking and places to eat.

Rabka-Zdrój and Rdzawka

On the northern slope of Maciejowa (837 m) above Rabka-Zdrój there is a group of lifts; the longest reaches almost to the summit, and the open clearing offers views of Babia Góra and the Polica range. In the town itself, Góra Królewska (also called Polczakówka, 588 m) has a ski lift and a wooden lookout tower on top. By the Zakopane road, on the northern slopes of Kułakowy Wierch (843 m) dropping towards Rdzawka, two T-bar lifts operate next to a car park, restaurant and hotel.

Did you know?

The Tobołów chairlift carries not only skiers but also astronomers – it is the quickest way to the observatory on Suhora, the highest-lying astronomical observatory in Poland. The lift runs all year; outside the winter season it takes groups by prior telephone arrangement, including mountain bikers with their bikes, as downhill trails have been laid out on Tobołów's slopes.

Tripto tip

Families with small children will be happiest on the gentle Starmaszka and Hucisko slopes; confident skiers should head for the long run from Tobołów. In winter, check the resorts' updates on lift operation, as the lower slopes depend on snow. In summer the Tobołów clearing has a snack bar, a panorama board naming the peaks, and the start of the “Around the Poręba Valley” nature trail. From Koninki it is about a 20-minute walk to Orkanówka, the museum of writer Władysław Orkan in Poręba Wielka.