Bosnia and Herzegovina, with its wild and untouched nature, is a lure for adventurers, those who want to feel the adrenaline, but also enjoy the areas that leave no one indifferent.
All this results in a great popularization of mountaineering in our country. Armin Gazić, 27-year-old from Zenica, is a typical representative of this sport. Successful Bosnian climber started doing this adrenaline sport as a twelve year old. First, he walked on the nearby hills, and began to ski, and little by little, he fell in love with the ascension.
– I was not a fan of football, basketball, or other popular sports. I have always liked extreme sports related to nature and mountains. As I walked trough mountains more and more, I got to know similar people and mountains, so I became more involved in this – says Gazić.
In Zenica there was a club where there were a lot of young people who have influenced him. Thus, the love was born and he began setting goals to himself. This was followed by the first great results, going to the Alps, numerous climbings, etc.
– One of the most significant is climbing though the north wall of the Matterhorn. This is a rock 1,200 meters high and is considered one of the most difficult for climbing in the Alps, and a climb through it some consider more difficult than climbing Mount Everest – he points out.
He never says that mountaineering is just the sport, but a culture of life and more than a sport.
– You live it, constantly think about it. When you reach one goal, you immediately set the new one in your head. Three years ago, I had an accident on the mountain Prenj where I almost died, and it happened because I relaxed because of all previous experiences and I stopped respecting safety rules. If you respect these rules, no accident can happen. It was a good lesson for continuation of mountaineering – says Armin.
He spent plenty of time on the Alps, in Slovenia, Switzerland, Austria, France, but our mountains, as he pointed out, are much nicer.
– The first thing is that our mountains are not commercialized, because when you go to Treskavica, Prenj, Čvrsnica you can meet a few people or no one, and the other important thing is an untouched nature. I’m part of the Sarajevo school of alpinism which has 50 years long tradition, and through education and organized summer and winter courses it popularizes the mountains of our country, attracting an increasing number of climbers and nature lovers and spreading positive story through education – says Gazić.
According to him, in the last five to six years climbing has seen an expansion in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and all major towns such as Mostar, Bihać, Banja Luka, Zenica, Tuzla have several clubs with a few hundred members.
– Climbing here does not have that popularity as for example in Slovenia or some other western countries. Unfortunately, in spite of all that our country has to offer, adrenalin freaks and lovers of mountaineering who come to our country with the aim of practicing this sport are rare – concludes Gazić.
