Rediscover Jahorina – A brand-new ski resort in the same stunning mountain scenery

Jahorina, the Winter Olympic queen, welcomes the coming winter as the most modern ski centre in this part of Europe. The new gondola lift Poljice, a regional innovation created by the Italian designers Pininfarina, is the most important investment in a string of new innovative concepts. The gondola has a capacity of 3,600 skiers per hour, and its light effects and heated tunnel that leads to the Olympic Bar, are what makes it suitable for both daytime and night skiing, and for panoramic rides. Two completely new six-seat chairlifts and two new ski lifts round out the facilities offered by this ski centre with a total of 24 ski slopes that are 47 km long, which are mutually connected to form a single system with 16 vertical transport installations and a total capacity of 28,800 skiers per hour. In addition to the 47 kilometres of alpine ski runs that are perfectly prepared in line with the highest international standards, Jahorina also boasts 10 km of tracks for Nordic skiing.

Director of the Jahorina Olympic Centre

With its highest peak, Ogorjelica, sitting at the altitude of 1916 metres above sea level, this magnificent mountain of the Dinaric range is located at the border between the cold continental and warm Mediterranean climates. Such a climate is suitable for plenty of snowfall, and the average number of days with snow cover annually is more than 145, with the snow cover reaching as much as 5 metres in height. Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is the nearest major town. There are two ways to get to Jahorina from Sarajevo Airport. The first one takes you through East Sarajevo and is 31 km long, and the other passes through Pale (37 km). The distance from Jahorina to Banja Luka is 210 km, to Ljubljana it is 540 km, to Podgorica 260 km, to Zagreb it is 400 km, and to Belgrade 320 km.

Director of the Jahorina Olympic Centre

Back in 1984, Jahorina was one of the venues for the Winter Olympics, held that February in Sarajevo. The top skiers of the time competed on the slopes of Jahorina. That year, Jahorina was the symbol of friendship and peace, promoting all religions, cultures and traditions, all of which still holds true. The rich history, which we cherish and promote, coupled with the state-of-the-art skiing infrastructure, are what keeps this Olympic mountain at the very top of the list of excellent skiing destinations in the region and elsewhere.

Professional skiers still choose Jahorina as the ideal destination for boot camps and training, and the 11 homologated ski runs allow the mountain to continue to organise the largest international competitions. This is the only mountain in the world that can boast runs that bear the name of Novak Đoković, the world’s best-known tennis player, and it is unique in that it has as much as 5 kilometres of ski runs ready for night skiing. The cult ski run, the Olympic Downhill, has been made available for skiing and the testing of Olympic ski records once again, after more than 30 years.

Director of the Jahorina Olympic Centre

While experienced skiers choose the Black runs and enjoy the rush that this mountain can give, beginners have at their disposal three state-of-the-art ski slopes. With professional trainers from the Olympic Centre Ski and Snowboard School, you are bound to consider skiing and snowboarding your new favourite sports and will be able to successfully and bravely conquer even the Black run much sooner than you might expect.

Jahorina is a famous entertainment hub among ski centres and is known for its large concerts featuring the most popular regional stars, as well as music festivals and theatre shows. The fun and friendly atmosphere, as well as the excellent dining and wellness offers, are typical of this mountain and mean that visitors return home with tonnes of new experiences, charmed by everything Jahorina has to offer, and already looking forward to coming back again.

The Olympic Bar

At the Olympic Bar at the very top of Jahorina, an extraordinary view of the large lake and nearby mountains awaits. Comfortably tucked into an area of more than 700 square metres, the Olympic Bar is the mountain spot with the best dining options. Pushing the limits of enjoyment, you will be able to satisfy your senses with the finest food made from domestic ingredients that are typical of the region and with the sublime offer of beverages, including both refreshing soft and alcoholic drinks. A special heated tunnel will take you from the new gondola to an even warmer environment where the kind staff await. In the evenings, the bar turns into the best place for entertainment, giving you the unique feeling of being on top of the world. It is particularly enjoyable to observe the mountain at night, when it exudes might and serenity, and ride the cabin gondola or the powerful snow groomer in the late evening while going home. Be ready to create new and unforgettable memories…

Director of the Jahorina Olympic Centre

The Gift Shop

At the summit of Mount Jahorina, at the very entrance to the Olympic Bar, there is the conceptual giftshop, featuring both an atmosphere and merchandise that fully complement the ambience of Jahorina, in harmony with local traditions and heritage.

A souvenir is a special part of the tourist experience that emotionally binds the visitors and reminds them of the time they spent at a particular destination. Each souvenir is also an ambassador of tourism promotion, an object of memory and we often buy them with the intention of giving them to a person we love, to somebody dear, to somebody we wish to cheer up, or else we simply buy them as a reminder of our stay in a particular place.

The giftshop is a special part of the Jahorina OC and its appearance and the products it offers strike a chord with our visitors. The space of the giftshop is picturesque, intriguing, warm, welcoming and somehow different. It takes just a glance to notice that the atmosphere is quite complementary to the tourist experience of Jahorina, based on our traditional stories, our heritage, and various ecological and ethnological motifs.

Director of the Jahorina Olympic Centre

Riding the Snow Groomer and the VIP Gondola Cabin

Be sure to take the opportunity to enjoy a ride on the snow groomer and feel the magic of the mountain at night. Choose an unforgettable ride to the top of the mountain from the Poljica starting point between 5 pm and 9 pm or book a private 20-minute ride via e-mail at: [email protected].

If you decide to book a seat in a VIP cabin on the Poljice or Partizan gondolas, this special experience will be recorded in a memorable way. Enjoy a romantic ride for two or celebrate an important event with your friends, get comfortable, and savour various mountain delicacies and champagne on this glamorous ride.

AN INTERVIEW WITH DEJAN LJEVNAIĆ

Together with the members of his team, the person who is most responsible for the flourishing success of Jahorina is the manager, skier and visionary, Dejan Ljevnaić, who explained to The Collection what it is like to create the future of skiing in the Balkans and how his ski journey has even taken him as far as China.

Dejan Ljevnai’, Director of the Jahorina Olympic Centre – Photo Courtesy of OC Jahorina

Where and when did you first feel the love for skiing, which has guided you to success you’re your remarkable achievements over the past 15 years?

It all started in Rijeka, the town where I was born and where I used to live. Then, I ended up in Belgrade where I continued my education, attended the University there, and after that I started my professional career in ski resorts by first managing the ski resorts of Kopaonik, before finally ending up in Jahorina. My first ski trip was to Platak where I took my first steps in the snow and stood on skis for the very first time. I remember going to Platak for a school trip as a pupil of Vladimir Gortan Primary School and this is where this infatuation with both mountains and skiing was born. In time I was able to turn this love into my profession, which is something I truly enjoy.

Before I became the Director of the Jahorina Olympic Centre, for 10 full years I worked on the development of ski centres in Serbia, where I can honestly say I honed my craft. I adapted my previous experience together with my team and applied it to Jahorina, and now we can proudly state that we are managing the most modern ski centre in the whole of the wider region.

Of course, we invested a lot in the know-how and engineers since this is, after all, a specific line of work that not many people have the necessary experience or knowledge. At Kopaonik in Serbia we built more than 17 new ski lifts, and we also built the entire Stara Planina ski centre, the Tornik ski centre on Zlatibor, and also Brezovica ski centre, which we redeveloped, and Divčibare ski centre. We are currently working across the entire region, in North Macedonia near Popova Šapka, in Montenegro we have a presence at almost all of the major centres,, in Mavrovo, Žabljak, Kolašin, Cmiljača and Mojkovac; in Bosnia and Herzegovina we have worked at Bjelašnica, and in Croatia at Sljeme, while in Slovenia we work with almost all the major ski centres.

Director of the Jahorina Olympic Centre

Throughout your years spent in the ski business, and after much time and effort invested in knowledge building, your career has been marked by the construction of many ski centres across Europe. Is it true that you are now expanding your activities to encompass the Chinese market?

Now, after 15 years of work and gaining knowledge and experience in the world of ski tourism, I was engaged to participate in the preparation of the Winter Olympic Games in China, where, together with my partners, I designed ski runs, planned and constructed systems for snowmaking, and educated and trained Chinese skiers.

Our cooperation with China started four years ago. To be honest, skiing, as a bourgeoise “middle class” sport has historically been unpopular among the Chinese. However, after they were awarded the rights to organise the Winter Olympics and after it was announced that Beijing would host the Winter Olympic Games, they decided that by 2022 they would have to construct ski resorts, with the aim of developing facilities for up to 200 million skiers and bringing this sport closer to the wider population. In China, 47 ski centres are being built ahead of the Games, and in addition to the investment in infrastructure, they are also investing significant resources in the development and promotion of skiing as a sport, and their athletes train all over the world. Some of them have even trained at Jahorina and Bjelašnica. Until recently, there were no snowmaking systems or ski lifts in China, and they are now building all of the necessary infrastructure, which is a big deal for the development of skiing in a country which is the largest potential market in the world given the size of their population.

Director of the Jahorina Olympic Centre

Skiing in China is developing rapidly, and in addition to investing significant resources into skiing infrastructure, the Chinese are also investing in the training of professional skiers. That is how two years ago more than 150 professional skiers successively spent time at Jahorina and Bjelašnica, where they trained and prepared for the Olympics. They were more than happy with the conditions and they expressed the desire to return to Jahorina, which gave us the opportunity to present our new investment opportunities, which have been successfully implemented.

Another major recognition for me is the fact that I was proposed as a member of the Shanghai Ski Club, which was founded before the Olympic Games, aiming to connect the Alps and China. Some of the members of this prestigious club include the most renowned names in skiing such as Erich Gummerer, the owner of TehnoAlpin, who invented and developed the most widely used snowmaking system, as well as various Austrian Olympic skiers, such as Herman Maier and Marc Girardelli, and Michael Doppelmayr, the owner of Doppelmayr, the company which is the world’s leading producer of ski lifts.

[email protected]

[email protected]

Tel: +387 57 270 003

www.oc-jahorina.com

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