Develop winter sports in Montenegro
After successful trips to Macedonia and Kosovo, Peter toured the Balkans. The region is still undiscovered to the general public; however, the mountains offer incredible prospects. Local people are eager to develop winter tourism, but facilities are limited. The enthusiasm is excellent, and after visiting a local ski club, the local’s enthusiasm brought high spirits to the group.
Elevating their enthusiasm, we donated our old drone to the Ski Club Bogicevica in Plav, Montenegro. Allowing them to raise the profile of their ski club. You can look at their Facebook page to get an idea of the activities.
Free classes for local children
Throughout January, local children in Plav have no school classes. During this period, it is usually cold, and there is little entertainment in the town. The Bogicevica ski club boys gave these school children free ski lessons. In the mountains of Hoti, there is an old drag elevator (a 100-meter rope) that allows children to learn skiing. The local government provides money for diesel and food (for the children) to make this possible. Ahmed Sabovic leads the organization and makes sure some skis are present for the children.
Currently, only 5-10 pairs of (neglected) skis are present, which also needed to be shared among the 50-100 children. We are trying to send better equipment for the coming seasons with the help of donations. We also plan to attend in January 2019 to help with the organization. Winter sports opportunities in the far east of Montenegro are fantastic. We plan for trips here ourselves in the future. As mentioned, there is currently one drag elevator for locals. So the guys at the Ski & Snowboard Club Bogicevica usually go tour skiing or split boarding. Here, too, we do what we can to provide support.
Last week we skied ourselves in Montenegro. With touring skis, we climbed to an altitude of 2,300 meters. Here lies the tri-border point of Montenegro, Kosovo and Albania. There were more than 2 meters of snow, and there were many possibilities for winter sports. Esad Redzematovic led us through the inhospitable mountains with great enthusiasm. It’s incredible to see the passion for winter sports among the local guys. Until last season, they still walked up on ski boots (with the skis over the shoulder) for one descent a day. Two years ago, Picture Organic Clothing, Let’s be Nomads, Gear4Guides and Faction Skis shot here for the In Gora film. They donated touring skis which now allow them to conquer some accessible mountains.
