The Olympic mountain Bjelašnica

Bjelašnica is a mountain in central Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is found directly to the southwest of Sarajevo, bordering Mt. Igman. Bjelašnica's tallest peak, by which the whole mountain group got its name, rises to an elevation of 2067 meters (6782 feet). Other notable peaks are Krvavac (2061 m), Mali Vlahinja (2055 m), and Hranisava (1964 m). The Bjelašnica range is bordered by the Rakitnica in the south, the Neretva in the west, Mt Igman in the north-east and Mt Ivan in the north-west. Only at 20 minutes distance of Sarajevo, it is a popular tourist attraction for hiking and skiing.

Bjelašnica has been, in certain areas, the site of extensive combat during the 1992-'95 Siege of Sarajevo and particular areas pose a high mine risk. There are numerous trails set up and maintained by local mountain clubs that lead to the bald peaks higher up. The mountain is also popular with mountain bikers and has become recently a frequent base for paragliders.

The mountain's name stems from the root bijel, which means "white". The white snow cupola of Bjelasnica is a familiar sight from the higher points in Sarajevo in the period from mid October until early June. Bjelašnica's base is largely forested - mixed forest, mostly beech - however there are no trees above the 1500 meter (4921') tree line.

Bjelašnica summit is easily recognized from the distance by the structures that have been erected on top of it. After the Austro-Hungarian Empire occupied Bosnia following the Congress of Berlin in 1878 the Austrians installed almost immediately the first meteorological station on the summit in 1878, creating the first meteorological station in the whole area of the Balkans. This structure was replaced in 1894 by an - at that time - very advanced meteorological observatory with an all-year around manning.

The observatory is still there, has been repaired of the damage sustained during the last war, and still functions as an important chain-link in the meteorological survey of the Balkans. The communications Centre with its landmark tower that used to stand next to the observatory was destroyed in 1993. The sad remains of the broken tower were removed in 2006.

Olympic games

During the 1984 Winter Olympics, Bjelašnica hosted the men's alpine skiing events, where brash Bill Johnson (USA) won the downhill after boldly predicting victory, overtaking Swiss ski legend Peter Müller who took silver. The American twins Phil and Steve Mahre took gold and silver in the slalom at Bjelašnica for the US as well. Switzerland's Max Julen surprisingly took the gold in the Giant Slalom, while the silver went to the Yugoslav favorite Jure Franko. Major investment was done by the Yugoslav authorities in order to accommodate the Winter Olympics.

The Babin Dol area was developed for the necessary construction and a long main ski lift was built from Babin Dol up to the summit of the Bjelašnica summit. In preparation of the Games, a road was constructed across the Igman plateau connecting Sarajevo through Hadžići to the Malo Polje, Veliko Polje and Babin Dol venues. The Babin Dol area has several structures dating from that time, including the renowned Maršal (then: Famos) Hotel and most of the skiing facilities in the area.

FIS World Cup events took place on 18 January 1983 and 21–22 March 1987. In 1983 it was only the downhill (winner: Gerhard Pfaffenbichler, before Steve Podborski and Franz Klammer) that was done. In 1987 contests were done in Men's Slalom (winner: Grega Benedik) and Giant Slalom, Men's (winner: Marc Girardelli) and Women's (tied victory: Maria Walliser and Vreni Schneider) Other FIS events have taken place and are still taking place at Bjelašnica.

The Bjelašnica Olympic Mountain Ski Centre

The Bjelašnica Olympic Mountain Ski Centre and its facilities are all located on the eastern slope of Bjelašnica main summit. There are 6 lifts, with one modern three-seat carrier lift departing from Babin Dol, three anchor lifts and two remaining single saucer lifts. Next to the original 3100 meter Olympic Downhill run and the Giant Slalom run there are four more pistes varying in length between 3200 and 550 meters and covering all difficulty levels between bleu-red-black.

A lot of investment has been done to develop the Ski Centre and the Babin Dol area since the era directly following the Dayton Agreement, with another peak during the last couple of years. New hotels, apartment complexes and restaurants have turned this area into a modern ski resort.

Hiking

The Bjelašnica range consists of basically three ridges, the Vlahinja ridge, the Strug ridge and a more southern ridge parallel to the Rakitnica and separated from the other ridges by a wide valley called Dugo Polje. A number of popular hikes exist in these mountains. One trail approaches the Bjelašnica main summit (2067 m.) from the north and is called Josipova Staza after its most famous hiker: Josip Broz Tito.

From the main summit a ridge walk leads north-east towards the summit of Mala Vlahinja (2055 m.). The last summit of this ridge in the west is called Hranisava (1964 m.) and can be better ascended to by a trail starting in the hamlet of Lokve, between Hadžići and Pazarić. This offers a beautiful hike towards a fantastic view from this most western summit of the Bjelašnica range.

Another beautiful hike departs from Dugo Polje and leads via a difficultly retrieved trail through thick shrubs of Pinus Mugo the summit of Krvavac (2061 m.). One of the most popular hikes leads parallel to the Rakitnica Canyon, departing from Umoljani and ending at Lukomir, known to be the last all-year-through inhabited semi-nomadic settlement at this altitude in the Balkans.

There is quite a number of well equipped mountain huts to be found within this mountain group. Stanari P.D. (1540 m.) is an excellent base for hikes in the central-western part of the mountain range. There are other mountain huts at Sitnik, Umoljani and Lukomir that might require prior reservation.