How it was on the plateau
Recaps of what fills Straja in winter: ski races, snow festivals and a pilgrimage that climbs the mountain in the dark.
The events below are illustrative, written as memories from past editions. The official calendar will be curated by the resort team.
01/06
January – February
Open the season, usually in January or February
Straja's first big winter event, with slope demonstrations and the Romania Mini-Cup for children up to 12.
The plateau fills with families, music carries from the base of the runs, and the evening runs long on the terraces, smelling of packed snow and mulled wine.
02/06
Peak season
Annual editions, on a mid-season weekend
A relaxed snowman-building contest on the plateau, made for families and groups of friends.
An afternoon of snow sculpture, with carrots, scarves and a lot of laughing, while the runs above keep working as normal.
03/06
February – March
Annual editions, February and March
Short-course races for the youngest skiers, run together with the Jiu Valley clubs and the Straja camps.
A hand bell at the start, bright helmets, parents filming from the side, and medals for absolutely everyone.
04/06
Early March
Hosted at Straja, usually in early March
Junior slalom stages brought onto the Straja runs alongside the local cups, in a dense week of competition.
Slalom gates, a stopwatch, coaches with a radio in hand, and a run prepared hard, on edge, for real times.
05/06
March
Annual editions for more than five decades, usually in March
One of Romania's oldest ski races of its kind, a gathering of veteran skiers who return year after year to the same runs.
More celebration than race: stories on the chairlift, applause at the finish, and generations of skiers who recognise each other by style, not bib numbers.
06/06
Good Friday
Every year, on Good Friday before Easter
A pilgrimage of more than ten kilometres, with fourteen stops marked by stone crosses, from Lupeni to the skete below the Heroes' Cross.
It sets off in the dark, with candles; thousands climb in silence, and when day breaks on the plateau the view over the valley opens all at once.
