Croatian Olympic Centre Bjelolasica
Croatia's largest ski area and national Olympic training base, where 2,000 people a day once skied; gutted by fire in January 2011, its cable car collapsed under snow in 2013 and it has rotted ever since.
- Region
- Primorje-Gorski Kotar
- Country
- Croatia
- Status
- closed
- Year closed
- 2011
- Reason for closure
- A fire on 25 January 2011 destroyed the main building with its restaurant and sports hall; the centre then went into bankruptcy and never reopened
History
The Croatian Olympic Centre Bjelolasica lay at 620 metres in Gorski Kotar, about 27 km west of Ogulin and roughly an hour from both Zagreb and Rijeka. It was the largest ski area in Croatia, with the greatest vertical drop in the country at 772 m, and at its height 2,000 people skied there on a busy day and 150 staff were employed. Three double chairlifts and three surface lifts served eight slopes totalling around six kilometres, alongside a hotel complex and sports halls that served as the national Olympic training base. On 25 January 2011 a fire destroyed the main building containing the restaurant and sports hall, collapsing the roof; nobody was injured. The centre went into bankruptcy and never reopened. In 2013 the cable car itself collapsed under the weight of snow, which ended any prospect of skiing resuming, and the complex then deteriorated through 21 unsuccessful auctions. In 2021 a Slovak investor, Bioelektro Energy, bought it for 6.1 million kuna; the state remains co-owner of five of the eight thirty-room pavilions that still stand beside the ruined main building, with the Slovak buyers holding three. Croatian television has described the site as a monument to national neglect. The centre's original opening year is not established in the sources consulted.
Lifts
| Name | Type | Manufacturer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double chair lifts | Chairlift - Double | Three double chairlifts served the ski area | |
| Ski lifts | Surface lift | Three surface lifts |
Sources and further reading
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatian_Olympic_Centre_Bjelolasica
- https://total-croatia-news.com/lifestyle/croatia-s-former-skiing-paradise/
- https://www.nacional.hr/foto-proslo-je-tocno-13-godina-otkako-je-pozar-progutao-hoc-bjelolasicu-ovaj-sportski-biser-jos-uvijek-ceka-bolje-dane/
- https://net.hr/danas/rtl-direkt/spomenik-hrvatskog-nemara-bjelolasica-je-nekad-bilo-popularno-skijaliste-a-sada-propada-3134441c-71bb-11ed-b921-d2c350736f5d
Location
45.2700, 14.9800