Brezovica Mountains, Sharr, Kosovo

[airkosova]

BREZOVICA MOUNTAINS

NORTH SLOPE, SHARR MOUNTAINS

Kosovo’s Brezovica ski resort is located in the heart of the Sharr Mountains. With a spectacular north and northwest facing ridgeline and a commanding view, the wider resort area represents one of the last remaining under-developed ski areas in Southeast Europe. The ridgeline enjoys altitude, slope, and temperatures allowing it to support a ski and winter sport season extending well into the spring.

Originally developed as a ski area in the 1950s, Brezovica served as an alternative downhill ski location for the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics and is certified by the International Ski Federation, having hosted many competitive races during the 1980s and 1990s. It is now ready for expansion into a year round outdoor tourism destination.

BREZOVICA SUMMER

Current summertime activities on the mountain include trekking, mountain biking and family events.

There are also opportunities for horseback riding and mountain climbing and facilities for weddings, conferences and spa services.

The Brezovica ski resort area is ideally situated on north and northwest facing slopes of Kosovo’s Sharr National Park. The ridge line spans 39,000 hectares of high alpine mountain terrain and forests, with a highly diverse and abundant offering of flora and fauna. Located within 90 minutes of two international airports, the Brezovica Resort area represents one of the last remaining under-developed ski resort areas in Southeast Europe.

The current ski resort area was originally established in 1954 in Shtërpcë/Strpce municipality, just south of the town of Shtërpcë/Strpce. In 1979 the first ski lift was installed at the resort. Although Brezovica has a prestigious past, having served as an alternative site for downhill skiing events of the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympic Games and having hosted a number of International Ski Federation events in the 1980′s and 1990′s, the current resort has not received meaningful investment for more than two decades. Today, with responsible investment, development, and operation, it offers tremendous potential for value-oriented tourism.

The ridge line’s terrain offers an unmatched opportunity in the region for the development of an all year mountain resort. In the winter, snow falls from mid-November through May, with an average of 128 skiable days. Summer eco-tourism opportunities include hiking, mountain biking, golf, and other outdoor recreational activities.

Brezovica is unquestionably one of the most promising ski resorts in the Balkans, but years of neglect due to Kosovo’s disputed status and interethnic tensions have thwarted all attempts to realise its great potential. Only three of its nine ski lifts work, and that’s on a good day, many of the hotels have not seen a cent of investment in the past 20 years, and at weekends the roads and pistes are jam-packed with buses of children and unprepared townies. But these gripes aside, Brezovica remains a superb place to ski, especially if you are able to visit on a weekday, and provides ideal hiking ground in the spring, summer and autumn.

Brezovica is 45km east of Prizren and 70km south of Pristina, in the southern Sharr mountains which border Macedonia. Its heyday was the 1980s, when it became the favoured skiing destination for the Yugoslav elite, hosting 120,000 overnight stays a year. In 1984, it was an alternative venue for the Sarajevo Winter Olympics and the slopes have been officially registered by the Federation Internationale de Ski (FIS). The nine ski lifts were built in the 1980s by German and Swiss contractors but have received little investment since then, resulting in regular breakdowns. The actual village of Brezovica is at 900 metres above sea level. It’s a 10-minute, steep drive to the ski centre at 1,800 metres. The settlement is mostly made up of holiday chalets, once owned by the Yugoslav elite and more recently bought up by wealthy Kosovo Albanian businessmen and politicians.

Mountain in Brezovica

BREZOVICA TRANSPORT & ORIENTATION

Brezovica is a 70km, 90-minute drive from Pristina and a 45km, 40-minute drive from Prizren, and is signposted from the Prizren-Štrpce road. In winter, snow chains are highly recommended for the steep final 8km. Travel agencies in Pristina and other cities arrange tour buses to the slopes in winter.

Brezovica’s ski centre has no obvious street names or landmarks, but is vaguely centred around the huge Hotel Molika. On foot, follow signs to Pizzeria Tina by a wooden map of Brezovica and you’ll find a clutch of bars, restaurants and the Woodlands Hotel.

SKIING IN BREZOVICA

At weekends, two long chair-lifts and one T-bar are usually operational, with one of the two chairlifts mostly closed on weekdays. It is not unheard of for the employees not to start the lifts at all during the week if there is not enough demand. A ski pass will set you back €12 for a day, a two-day pass €20, a week pass €60 and a season pass €150. One, five and ten-ride cards are also available for the chair and ski lifts. Passes can be purchased at the ticket centre under the Molika hotel or from the lift attendants.

The main descents take you down from a height of 2,500 or 2,200 metres to the main centre at 1,800 on a mix of red, black and blues pistes, which do not meet Alpine standards in terms of maintenance but are nonetheless pretty well-kept. These are not slopes for beginners, but the width of the runs and variety in terrain mean that intermediate skiers can plot a route down even on the black sections. The views on the way down are superb, taking in the deep river valley and the series of snowy peaks which make up Kosovo’s mountain ranges.

Experienced skiers rave about the quality of the slopes and snow, and there is good off-piste action to be had. It must, however, be noted that the parts of the Sharr mountains are mined, that avalanches are not uncommon and that search-and-rescue and first aid facilities are very limited. If you want to go off-piste, it’s recommended that you take a guide with you.

The only option for beginners is a blue slope with a T-bar lift, which is often too crowded at weekends for true novices to take lessons. A snow park opened in 2010 with a range of ramps and pipes for snowboarders and skiers to enjoy, and a yearly extreme sports’ event, including DJs and concerts, called Snowpark (www.snowpark-ks.com) was held for the first time in March 2010.

Brezovica01

Brezovica’s promoters often boasts of having good snow conditions for an average of 130 days a year, with the season spanning from November to May, but based on conditions in recent years, this is a tad optimistic. The 2009/10 season was, by all accounts, one of the worst in decades, as the snow arrived in late December and the spring thaw arrived in late March. In between, skiers often had to brave foggy conditions and strong winds.

Brezovica suffers from frequent power cuts, but the lifts have a generator back-up, meaning that you will not be stranded for long if the electricity cuts out. January tends to be the busiest time, when the slopes are full of school children. March offers the best skiing, combining warmer, sunny days and good snow.

Be warned, weekends can be absurdly busy, with often poorly skilled skiers showing little regard to safety, kamikaze sledgers hogging the baby slope and women in high heels mingling, fag in hand, by the chair lifts. These factors may not aid skiing, but certainly make Brezovica a great place to soak up the atmosphere, grab a bite to eat or party the night away.

Decent skiing equipment can be rented for about €10 per day from a few shops, where enough English is spoken to ensure you get the right boot size. The shops listed here also offer lessons, for which it is advisable to book ahead.

BREZOVICA SKI INFORMATION

It’s not easy to find out what’s going on in Brezovica and if the lifts are working, often because the decision is only taken in the morning. It’s best to call one of the hotels or restaurants.

[sabre]

Wow der naechste austragungsort der winterolympiade