Olympic mountain Bjelasnica is preparing for the new winter season. Employees of ZOI’84 are busily ending installation of vertical transport that will transport skiers and all visitors from Babin do to the top of this mountain.
As announced from ZOI ’84, vertical transport will be in operation from the beginning of November, which will increase the competitiveness of Bjelasnica in relation to ski centers in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region.
– Vertical transport is one of the most demanding projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is a project that has been discussed for 20 years, and its implementation began this year – says Midhat Hubijar, director of the ZOI ’84.
Restaurant Restoration
According to his words, with vertical transport in function, there will be a six-seat lift that will go from Babin do and go to a height of 1,960 meters.
– When skiers arrive at 1,960 meters, they will be provided with another type of transport, which is a four-seater that goes at a height of 2,067 meters. The transport time to this point is 5.5 minutes, instead of the past 13 minutes. So far, we had 1,000 skiers per hour, and now we will have 2,400 skiers. On the other hand, four-seater will transport about 600 skiers per hour – emphasizes Hubijar.
Installation of vertical transport at Bjelasnica will link winter and summer season as mountaineers and hikers could not get to the top of this Olympic beauty before.
– Now this will be enabled because vertical transport will work even during the summer where we will offer a wide range of sports-recreational and family contents. Vertical transport will have places for bikes and all those who want to ride bikes on the top of Bjelašnica will be able to do this thanks to vertical transport. In addition, before the war, ZOI ’84 had a restaurant on the top and we plan to restore it – says the director of ZOI ’84.
In recent years, due to climate changes and frequent snow deficiencies, the ski season was shorter, causing great losses to the company.
– In order to prevent this in the future, we had to prepare ourselves for artificial snowing. We made artificial reservoir and water supply that will provide enough water to make artificial snow so that our users have a complete atmosphere. We will have a modern accumulation of 40,000 cubic meters of water that will be used by 37 cannons for artificial snow. Quite enough to cover the season, we believe, at least five months. For the first time, the ski season will not depend on snowfall – says Hubijar.
In order to activate cannons, or to produce artificial snow, temperatures of minus one degree Celsius and lower are needed, and the skiers will be able to enjoy, according to the climate at Bjelasnica, from the end of November to the end of April.
When we finish all this, we expect a greater influx of skiers, but also tourists. According to Hubijar, the main goal is to return people who went to other destinations to Bjelasnica.
Ski slopes
– We will fight for every person, because Bjelasnica will be a tourist destination which will offer entertainment throughout the year – he says.
When it comes to plans for the next period, company ZOI ’84 continues in the same pace and there is no break.
– For the next year, we are planning to make a new track for sledding. We will clear the forest and make a path that will end at Veliko polje on Igman. Therefore, using vertical transport, those who like sledding will climb on top of Bjelasnica and through the forest, via path that is more than seven kilometers long, will descend to Veliko polje on Igman. It is planned to make small restaurants or cottages every 500 meters on this route, where people will be able to rest, drink tea or coffee, and continue. At the end, two eco buses will wait for them to return them to Bjelasnica. Buses will drive continuously from Babin to to Veliko polje – says Hubijar.
The entire project of reconstruction and modernization of the skiing area in the Olympic mountain costs 16 million BAM, and the Government of Sarajevo Canton finances it.
