TOP TO BOTTOM The Accursed Mountains trace a series of modern-day borders in southeastern Europe, making it easy to ski through multiple coun-tries in a single day. Photo: Slavko Nikolic/Solutions4you Wander Balkans is the only cat-skiing opera-tion in the region, shuttling a growing number of guests into the mountains of Western Kosovo. Photo: Slavko Nikolic/Solutions4you Lapping untouched runs at an empty resort is a treat, though the question of whether skiing is making a comeback or a start remains unanswered. Outside the small town of Peja in Western Kosovo resides the Balkans’ only cat-skiing operation. On the final day of Ski Tour Fest, we pile into a snowcat that looks like a hot dog stand mounted on a piste groomer and ascend the steep ridge to 7,500 feet. It’s Gigo’s first time in this area of the country. Montenegrans weren’t allowed to come here until their war ended in 2006. His head is on a swivel. “It’s exciting to find all these new places so close to home,” he says. “We need more guides in Kosovo,” says Bardhosh, the owner and operator of Wander Balkans, an adventure tourism guiding company that’s been around for TK and TK. “More groups are starting to come and we have to turn them away.” It’s another playground of features—cliffs, trees, mini-golf zones, chutes. One jagged peak looks familiar and I learn we’re on just the other side of the ridge from Bogićevica where the festival began. The guides are staring back into the Montenegran valley, already making plans to turn the festival into a hut-to-hut touring trip next year with a several-day linkup hosted by local families in their shepherd cabins along the way. It’s never been done before, but in the Accursed Mountains anything is possible. Accursed Mountains 063
The Ski Journal Volume 17, Issue 2: Page 63
