Jahorina Mountain winter adventure
Among hidden mountain jewels of former Yugoslavia, Jahorina Mountain in Bosnia and Hercegovina stands out as the ultimate blend of untouched nature, undisputed hospitality and everlasting spirit of winter sports
I still remember iconic Winter Olympic Games in 1984. I was 5 years old, proud cheerful boy, witnessing my homeland Yugoslavia and city of Sarajevo hosting the most inspiring winter sports event in the world. Excitement was all over and sentiment of being such an important focal point on the planet was truly special. “If I ever learn to ski, maybe one day, I’ll be able to get a piece of eternity by slaloming slopes of Jahorina Olympic Mountain”, I was thinking at that time.
In December 2021, only thirty seven years later, Covid-19 pandemic caused for my family to seriously reconsider previously used Alpine resorts for our new winter adventure. Regional ski centres of the Balkans were taken into consideration.What to choose between fancy and expensive Kopaonik Mountain in my home country (Serbia), super affordable Bansko and Borovets ski resorts in Bulgaria, or to finally discover and truly feel Jahorina Mountain in Bosnia and Hercegovina?
Comparing all major components, we easily voted for Jahorina.
How to reach Jahorina Mountain
This amazing ski resort is located only 5h30min drive from Belgrade or Novi Sad (Serbia), less than 6h drive from Zagreb (Croatia) and around 40min drive from Bosnian capital Sarajevo and its international airport. This explains how Jahorina settled right in the heart of former Yugoslavia. Maountain and its surroundings today belong to the Republic of Srpska (Serbian Orthodox population dominated entity) as a part of modern Bosnia and Hercegovina independent country.
Bus ride from my hometown Novi Sad (Serbia) to Jahorina was more than pleasant. Crossing the border with Bosnia, next to Drina River and Zvornik town was super easy, since between two countries we have clear entry, without any covid-19 protocols.
Drive through eastern Bosnia was a travel through time, while experiencing vast mountain lands and pastures of Romanija Mountain, ravaged by fights during WWII.
Final approach to Jahorina Olympic Mountain was marked with loads of snow and unique, nostalgic sentiment about times of former Yugoslavia. First slopes, perfectly lit up for night skiing started to appear behind emblematic Olympic circles, right at the entrance to this famous ski resort.
It was fascinating and clearly visible how Jahorina keeps up with the high standards of European ski resorts and balancing them with traditional spirit of the place. I felt super impressed with 47km of Jahorina ski slopes, their maintenance and modern ski lift infrastructure. It surely satisfies needs of every beginner, intermediate or an advanced skier.
Jahorina accommodation varieties are incredible, ranging from luxury spa hotels to more than affordable private chalets, rooms and apartments. But wherever you stay in Jahorina, your hosts will welcome you with their opened hearts. “Be careful” only when you eat at the restaurant, since nobody can resist and have control over marvellous food delicacies of Jahorina.
For me, this was the best ski resort ever regarding perfect, authentic and relatively cheap local flavours. Just be ready and enjoy unique and yummy palette. You will simply adore superb nature of this mountain as well. Here, it is way more about the natural sense and skiing, than about active aprés-ski night life. Perfectly balanced, real mountain adventure is surely something to expect. Just let yourself to open your mind and soul for this hidden gem of Bosnia.
For many of us, living through the old Yugoslavia era, experiencing Jahorina is usually a mix of brilliant memories from the time of peace and prosperity, sense of pride for hosting Sarajevo ’84 Winter Olympics and deep admiration for natural and culinary wonders of this spectacular mountain.
While driving back to Serbia, my wife, my son and I were chatting about our truly marvellous winter adventure on Jahorina Mountain. Our hearts were warm, loaded with superb feelings, while genuine smile on our faces meant only one thing: “Oh yeah, the iconic spirit of Jahorina is still here”.
