We are planning a winter trekking through Bjelanisca and Prenj in February/March 2012. It is really hard to get any information, even trekking bureaus in Bosnia don't respond. I only have one helpful contact but this man also has to look for the right information.
We have enough of experience with winter conditions and camping. The main issue is to find a safe route in terms of landmines. So I really need hand-on experience of people that still visit those mountains and can tell me which routes are taken and which routes should be avoided. I found a map of Bjelanisca on this site, but no map of Prenj. So I would also like to find a map of this area.

This is our plan:
- Transfer Airport to Bjelanisca
- Traverse of Bjelanisca with visit of Lukomir along the way
- End in Konjic to get a real bed, shower and food
- Traverse of Prenj
- End in Neretva (?)
- Transfer to Mostar, and later Sarajevo

Can anybody help me?

Debbie & Ivo
Belgium

Try asking this guy.

Anyway, aren't you by any chance the folks we met in Albania in July?

gr,
Kamil

Should be another couple that you met in Albania. We are planning to go next year (Prokletije).

I have already tried to reach Green Visions (since August) but they have not responded yet. I called and their simple answer was that they should indeed already have responded and they would do so. But in the meantime we are another 2 weeks later.

Luckily, I have have made some contacts now by emailing some Bosnia experts from Summitpost. Looks our plan is on the good way.

For those that are interested, we are traveling on snowshoes and with a tent. We also take crampons and ice axe in case the terrain gets to steep or icy. After our winter hike in Bulgaria, we really like to continue exploring Eastern Europe. Pictures of our trip to the Rila can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debbekes/s ... 840985757/

Cheers,

Debbie
Belgium

Debbie, if you wish I can contact Samer in person, he's my friend and really knows his stuff
In July we met a group of 8 Belgian trekkers in the village of Nikc in one of the remotest parts of Prokletije and we sorted the transport together back from there - that's why I asked.
Ik moet jouw blog lezen om mijn slecht Nederlands/Vlaams niet allemaal te vergeten
Groetjes,
Kamil

PS. Just read the description of your winter Rila trip and I'm now looking at the pics - looks like a nice adventure! I've only been there once in summer - here is my trip report.

I like your report from Bulgaria! We would like to back one day to cross Rila and Pirin in summer conditions. Nice to hear you speak Dutch. You certainly can travel anywhere in Europe then.

Every kind of help is welcome. I'm now in contact with Saša Kovačević, Alexei Chirov and Matias Gomez. It's good to have such helpful people. So few people here in Western Europe have been travelling to the Dinaric Alps so nobody to ask advice.

Cheers,

Debbie

dsanders wrote:
This is our plan:
- Transfer Airport to Bjelanisca
- Traverse of Bjelanisca with visit of Lukomir along the way
- End in Konjic to get a real bed, shower and food
- Traverse of Prenj
- End in Neretva (?)
- Transfer to Mostar, and later Sarajevo

Can anybody help me?

Debbie & Ivo
Belgium

I came across this thread accidentally.
I remember seeing mail from you sometimes before, during the summer season. However, to be honest I was too busy to answer and thought somebody else from the organization will do that. Sorry for no reply from Green Visions (but possible that nobody was able to answer you on your questions).

Anyway, I think your plan at this moment looks quite unrealistic. Not because I think you can't do it, but simply because of the logistics and things which are possible or not possible to organize here in Bosnia, without car or maps.

If you have any concrete questions I will try to answer.
Next few days I'm in the city, so will be available to do so.

Greetings from Sarajevo!

I wasn't too sure about our plan, that's why I contacted several people and organisations. Those that responded a bit more quickly were quite positive. They already gave we a lot of help, including scanned maps and routes in google earth. It looks quite feasible so we will go for it. We are travelling to Bosnia the 1st March and going back 12th.
We will go for the 'easiest' route in Prenj (going north - south). Staying on the right track seems quite important taken into account the unpredictable weather and the minefields. We have all the gear we need, including camping gear. I will post our route in more detail somewhere in november/december.

Debbie

dsanders wrote:I wasn't too sure about our plan, that's why I contacted several people and organisations. Those that responded a bit more quickly were quite positive. They already gave we a lot of help, including scanned maps and routes in google earth. It looks quite feasible so we will go for it. We are travelling to Bosnia the 1st March and going back 12th.
We will go for the 'easiest' route in Prenj (going north - south). Staying on the right track seems quite important taken into account the unpredictable weather and the minefields. We have all the gear we need, including camping gear. I will post our route in more detail somewhere in november/december.

Debbie

Hello!
However, if you need any help or info, that I can provide, feel free to contact me.
I would like to see your route anyway, once you decide how it will look like.

Samer.

We had a wonderful hiking trip in Bjelasnica and Prenj. The weather and conditions were excellent. Often we just stopped and enjoyed the scenery and complete silence. We only met 1 skier on our trip.

Pictures can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debbekes/s ... 571767423/. Click on ‘slideshow’ and then ‘show info’ (above right) to have my (English) commentary on the pictures. I also added our track on the maps. On the left bottom side you can click on the play sign and than you can manually change pictures with the prev and next signs in the middle above.

Thank you to all hikers that have helped us plan this trip! Without you this would not have been possible! And ofcourse this website, otherwise I would never have been able to find you.

Next trip goes to Prokletije on the border of Albania and Montenegro. Suggestions always welcome! We have 12 days to spend in this lovely range.

Best wishes,

Debbie

dsanders wrote:We had a wonderful hiking trip in Bjelasnica and Prenj. The weather and conditions were excellent. Often we just stopped and enjoyed the scenery and complete silence. We only met 1 skier on our trip.

Pictures can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debbekes/s ... 571767423/. Click on ‘slideshow’ and then ‘show info’ (above right) to have my (English) commentary on the pictures. I also added our track on the maps. On the left bottom side you can click on the play sign and than you can manually change pictures with the prev and next signs in the middle above.

Thank you to all hikers that have helped us plan this trip! Without you this would not have been possible! And ofcourse this website, otherwise I would never have been able to find you.

Next trip goes to Prokletije on the border of Albania and Montenegro. Suggestions always welcome! We have 12 days to spend in this lovely range.

Best wishes,

Debbie

I just saw your great photo album, about your trek through Bjelasnica & Prenj. Nicely Done.
I was at Bijele vode hut on weekend 10&11 March, climbing Zelena Glava second day. I saw remaining of shelter where you placed your tent in front of the hut.

I'm glad good weather followed you.... All the best Debbie!