Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
“Let'shavesomefunthen,”Biogradlicsays.Thescreamofthesnowgunpiercesthenight.
In a few moments, the hose grows stiff with water, and a thick white beacon of millions of
fine ice crystals shoots up into the air. It's snowing in Bosnia.
Ismar Biogradlic and Enes Vilić have a wild idea. The two men, both Bosnian Muslims, or
Bosniaks, hope to revitalize their country's alpine-sports scene, which was the pride of the
Balkans until the Yugoslavian civil war ripped it apart. Biogradlic has spent the past decade
fostering youth snowboarding, coaching the national team and courting international events
like the Europa Cup, one of the major circuits of the International Ski Federation. Vilić,
meanwhile, takes a less formal approach: the 26-year-old skier leads a freewheeling, multi-
ethnic group of snow punks called Madstyle Team.
The crew seems a bit ragtag—its members came together to get discounted lift tickets at
Bjelašnica and Sarajevo's other resort, Jahorina, and can seem as dedicated to beer as to ski-
ing. But Madstyle has recently begun to attract big sponsors for their competitions. What's
more, they represent a sentiment that's palpable upon setting foot in Sarajevo: the desire of
Bosnia's youth to move on from the brutal event that for years has defined their country in
the eyes of the world.
“We imagine this developing—not just snowboarding and skiing, but other sports like
skateboarding,rafting,rockclimbing,”saysVilić,whoislankyandhandsomeandwhowears
a blue bandanna around his neck at all times. “The plan is to put things on a larger, social
level. It's the community that counts.”
It'sworthrememberingthatSarajevohashadaloveaffairwithalpinesportsdatingbackto
the Ottoman Empire. In the 19th century, bored kids would hike up the hills to do
liguranje
,
a precursor to the luge. By the 1930s, when Bosnia was part of Yugoslavia, a confederation
of Balkan states, the mountains filled with skiers who built lodges and jumps on 6,300-foot
Mount Jahorina, about 20 miles southeast of Sarajevo. The resort got its first chairlift in
1953,andJahorinaquicklybecameaninternationalskidestination,hostingtheEuropeanand
World Cup circuits. In 1978, the city was awarded the XIV Winter Games. To host the event,
the government built Bjelašnica on the opposite side of Sarajevo in 1982.
The Games almost never happened. On the morning of February 9, 1984, a day after the
opening ceremony, Sarajevo woke up buried in snow. Three feet had fallen overnight in the
mountains, overwhelming the men's alpine course at Bjelašnica. The conditions were similar
at Jahorina, the venue of the women's alpine events. Winds of 125 miles per hour buffeted
the high peaks.
In response, 36,000 organizers and nearly every able-bodied citizen of Sarajevo threw
themselves into the battle against the weather. They carried picks, shovels, and brooms
and stayed warm with homebrewed rakija, a highly flammable local moonshine made from
