Alongside with downhill skiing, cross-country skiing is also becoming still more popular. Well maintained cross-country trails of various levels of difficulty and length can be found in several ski resorts (e.g. Štrbské Pleso, Tatranská Lomnica, Skalka, Tále, Osrblie, Šachtičky, Donovaly, Jasná).
The lower Carpathian mountain ranges provide cross-country skiers with very good skiing grounds (e.g. the Malé Karpaty Mountains, the Biele Karpaty Mountains, the Považský Inovec Mountains, the Veporské vrchy Mountains, the Levočské vrchy Mountains, the Kysucké Beskydy Mountains) where not only marked tourist routes are used, but also other tracks and forest paths. During the winter season one can meet a lot of lovers of this winter sport. Unforgettable are the ridge crossings of some of the Slovak mountain ranges (e.g. the Veľká Fatra Mountains) that offer, besides good quality skiing conditions, beautiful views of the environing countryside.
In the mountain ranges with both summer and winter marked tourist tracks that make orientation easier, it is strongly recommended to use these marks. Moving around along the unmarked tourist tracks and summer marked tracks can be difficult and dangerous because of impassable ground, bad orientation and avalanche danger. This is the case of tracks in the region of mountain meadows in the Malá Fatra and the Velká Fatra ranges. Tourist tracks and forest paths can be considered as tracks reserved for cross-country skiing if the snow conditions are good on them and if the season closing does not apply to the region given. On all tourist tracks and forest paths skiers have to give way to walking tourists.
The Slovak Ski Association - Slovenská lyžiarska asociácia (SLA) is responsible for ski trails and technical equipment used for races. The trails have to agree with the valid regulations of SLA which awards certificates of the homologised cross-country skiing trails. The trails for international races have to be homologised by the International Ski Federation (FIS). In Slovakia the trails with the FIS certificate are the 5, 10 and 15 km trails in FIS Ski Centrum Štrbské Pleso.
For complete information on cross-country skiing areas and current conditions please visit:
www.nabezky.sk
www.bezkar.sk
Cross-country skiing trails with the certificate of the Slovenská lyžiarska asociácia (according to SLA)
| Cross-country trails Name | location | altitude start/finish | length of trails in km |
| Štrbské Pleso | Vysoké Tatry | 1 360 m | 5, 5, 10, 10, 15, 15, 30, 30 |
| Skalka Kremnica | Kremnické vrchy | 1 197 m | 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 10, 15, 30 |
| Kuzmínovo | Oravská vrchovina | 535 m | 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| Látky - Hriňová | Slovenské rudohorie | 1 000 m | 2, 3, 7, 10, 15 |
| Regetovka | Busov | 520 m | 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| Košice - Kavečany | Volovské vrchy | 598 m | 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 5 |
| Vápenička - Štrba | Kozie chrbty | 810 m | 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| Medzihory - Svit | Kozie chrbty | 738 m | 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| Areál Štôla | Vysoké Tatry | 860 m | 2, 3, 5 |
| Pod brehom | Liptovská kotlina | 754 m | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| Lyžiarsky bežecký areál Šachtičky | Starohorské vrchy | 958 m | 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10 |
| Ťaskovka - Klin | Podbeskydská vrchovina | 726 m | 1, 2, 3, 5 |
| Ski resort of Králiky | Kremnické vrchy | 745 m | 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 7, 5, 10 |
| Kojšovská hoľa | Volovské vrchy | 1 135 m | 2, 3, 5 |
Source: Vydavateľstvo DAJAMA
