This year’s winter in Bled was generous with snow and cold – maybe the lake will freeze in the coming days! In the past, the lake froze almost every year, so there was a lot going on on the icy lake.
With a suitably thick ice rink, there used to be a lot of skaters on the lake. The icy lake also served as a shortcut, so horse-drawn carriages could be encountered. Farmers and foresters used the snow blanket and ice to make it easier to harvest wood and hay from the higher areas into the valley.
Winter sports have always been at home in Bled. Between the two World Wars, there was a ski jump in Zaka, and figure skaters and ice bowlers found their home on the lake. Ice bowling is one of the oldest sports in Bled.
A few years ago, a recreational league in broomball was organized at Mlini, a special version of hockey where players do not use skates and have special “brooms” instead of a hockey stick. In 2013, the European Broomball Championships was held in the Bled Ice Hall. Until recently, only a step away from the center of Bled, the Straža ski resort operated in favorable winter conditions.
And if sometimes there was no doubt whether the snow and ice will be in the winter or not, in recent years the winter image of Bled is completely different. The lake was last frozen ten years ago, so skating is only possible in the Ice Hall and on the ice rink on the terrace of the Park Hotel. To find a real winter joy, you mostly have to go to Pokljuka or the higher parts of Bohinj.
