Instead of sitting cooped up inside four walls, take a walk into town. So what if December has the shortest day of the year, when Biesko-Biała offers many sporting attractions which are non-dependent on the time of day or year? Winter is approaching in leaps and bounds and with it a snow-filled frenzy. Before setting out for the slopes, get into shape by making use of some of the city’s facilities.

OSR VICTORIA

You’ll find plenty of room in the Victoria Sporting and Recreational Centre for all manner of activities. The sports hall and multi-purpose pitch – which in winter transforms into a floodlit ice rink – are open from dawn until dusk. You’ll meet not only amateurs but professionals here, such as players in the Bielsko Basketball League, The Beskid Integrated Table Tennis Association and the Bielsko-Biała Amateur Table Tennis League. Additionally the Euro Fitness School organises international Fitness conventions twice a year and these are hugely popular. Some important information for visitors: the building offers accommodation as well as a rehabilitation clinic.

ORLIK

In the Orlik Sports Complex you’ll find football playing enthusiasts . Track and field athletes are well-catered for, too, with a 300 metre rubberised surface running track, a shotput throwing area, and long jump and triple jump pits. And now, as the chill wind blows, I encourage you to visit the covered ice rink. During the frenzy of pre-Yuletide preparations it’s worth taking a breather and bringing along the whole family. A Christmas Show on Ice is also usually put on here in December.

NIGHT-TIME ORIENTEERING

If you’re a tourist who enjoys running you might find the orienteering ‘races’ “Bielsko-Biała Nocą” (Bielsko-Biała by Night) to be an interesting proposition. This is a regularly organised sporting event which can be enjoyed by all because participants range from experienced runners to ordinary families with children and grandparents. It starts at 7pm and the course is designed in such a way as to allow all those taking part to finish within two hours at most. The last opportunity to get to know the city in this unusual fashion is normally in mid-December.

TRANGO

And what if we really want to expend some energy in the mountains but the weather thwarts your plans? It’s worth going to Trango Mountaineering Sports Centre in Bielsko-Biała. Here you’ll find the largest and highest climbing wall, all of 19 metres, in Silesia. You have a choice of two ‘boulders’ (rock climbing walls) and for less experienced climbers there is a wall measuring 12 metres in height. It’s worth going with children as they will be doubtless enjoying climbing a wall specially constructed for them. If you want to improve your climbing skills in a short space of time you’ll find offers of indoor and outdoor individual and group courses organised for you at Trango.

MOUNT DĘBOWIEC

A walk up Mount Dębowiec can be an excellent antidote to the autumn blues. Getting up to the top takes less than 20 minutes and the view across Bielsko-Biała from the summit is magical indeed. An added attraction is the dry toboggan run at Słoneczna Polana, at the foot of Mount Szyndzielnia. An adrenaline boost is always guaranteed when taking a trip on it, regardless of the season, because thanks to the heated rails and lighting along its entire length you can go on it all year round.

So what sort of warm-up are you going to choose to do before the snow-filled frenzy on the slopes?