From the snow to the Rila Monastery - far to the south lie the mountains of the Pirin National Park, which we will be visiting in the coming days: They glow promisingly in the sun. At the very bottom of the forest, far away from the highest point here, lies the famous Rila Monastery...
...The racy gully and the wide slopes below with the sparse pine forest promise endless turns and gliding in firn snow and slush. So off we go into the "Promised Land" before the sun thwarts our plans. We have no regrets, the decision was the right one and in the midst of a Nordic-looking landscape, we cruise south to Suhoto Ezero, the "dry lake" just below the 2000-meter mark. We pass a collapsed waterfall and enter the steep pine forest, which already smells warm like spring and exudes a resinous scent. We finish at the hiking trail to the monastery, shoulder our skis and trek out to the cool fountain in the Rila valley. Comment from Ivo "...there is always a way..."
An austere, cool atmosphere and devout silence
greet us as we step into the inner courtyard of the monastery complex, still drenched in sweat. The monks, tall like NBA basketball pros, wear black down vests and dark beards. The facades of the holy place are colorfully painted. Medieval fantasy creatures with pincers and instruments of torture in constant battle with the heavenly hosts adorn the exterior facades in bright colors. Sublime icons with gilded wood carvings inside the church, accompanied by the murmuring prayers of the faithful. These octagonal walls with the snowy peaks in the background are the farewell backdrop for our skiing adventure in the Rila mountains. Later, in the village square of Rila, in front of a small café, we enjoy the last rays of sunshine of the day. A few Roma youths join us for an after-work beer and are delighted to see the ski tourists in their exotic garb. Our road trip continues - past Blagoevgrad and Razlog, we head for the ski resort of Bansko.
Bansko - the gold mining town of the ski scene
Located in a valley basin on the northern edge of the Pirin Mountains at 900 m, Bansko is an excellent starting point for our planned crossing. Soviet soldiers left behind a chairlift in 1984, and in 2002 the First Investment Bank financed the construction of the ski resort, which was built in no time at all. We enjoy cabbage with rice and hearty sausages, the inevitable rhakia and Bulgarian folk music in the folklore restaurant on the first evening. The contrast couldn't be greater when we meet Maya and Andy in the loungy, trendy B4 pub and talk about the freeride opportunities on Todorka.
Freeride mecca Bansko
Maya and Andy run the Oxo ski and snowboard school, which means "guy" in Bulgarian. The petite, pretty Maya has taken part in freeride events in the Alps, and both have known the gullies on Todorka for years when they used to travel here every weekend from Sofia. The western flank of Todorka is criss-crossed by eight large and a few smaller 40 degree steep gullies between 600 and 900 meters in altitude. The two are in Bansko in winter for teaching and freeriding and in summer they run windsurfing courses on the Black Sea coast. They founded the Bulgarian Extreme and Freeskiing Association (BEFSA) back in 1998. Late in the evening, we agree that Maya should accompany us on our last day on Kutelo.
Godless mountain - from Bezbog to Polejan (2851 m)
From Dobrinishte, the sleepy little village next door to Bansko, we now want to take a proper ski tour under our skins. The very comfortable old chairlift takes us to the summit station on Bezbog ("the godless") and we hope that the heavenly weather will not leave us in the next few days. To the south, we see snow-covered summit destinations for even more ski tours: the Demirchal (2673 m) or the better-known Kamenitsa (2822 m) above the "Priest Lake" towards the Pirin Hut, which could be reached from here in half a day? Between the summits of Bezbog and Polejan, could we now also carve a steep descent to Bansko? We stick to the original plan and climb comfortably up to the head of Polejan (2851 m), where we hear Swabian power expressions.
A dialect that is unmistakable,
even if we greet each other in English - we meet four helmeted sports friends from Swabia on the Polejangipfel (2851 m). Actually, the boys only wanted to dive into the powder this week, but the good weather motivates even heli fans to go touring. Especially as the chutes on Todorka are very icy and unpleasantly hard at the moment. Ivo knows alternatives - so we rattled over slab powder in long turns to a couloir filled with untouched powder. These first 500 vertical meters weren't bad to start with, so we climb straight back up to the Straijte rocks (the "guardians" in German) made of the best primary rock, between which wide gullies promise evenly steep cruising in the afternoon sun. The whole team is enthusiastic about the detour and we glide in large radii in the firn towards the forest in the shady hollows above the Gazeiski lakes, where the last knee-deep powder drives us to exuberance.
In the witch's cottage - Demianica hut
We are still exuberant when the loose white dream in the high forest turns into knee-deep sulz on the descent to the Demianica hut. Everyone hangs upside down at least once in the small stream with the crystal-clear water, having to be careful not to get run over or drowned by their colleagues. Having already saved the shower, we reach the rustic Demianica hut full of exuberance. The witch's cottage with Hansel and Gretel couldn't be more fitting for a Grimm's fairy tale than this hut in the Bulgarian mountains on the banks of the Demyanishka stream. The stove roars warmly and candlelight brings romance. Even the bedroom with the bunk beds is heated. Hut host Milosch conjures up a multi-course meal for us and the two French guests and puts a fruity red from Melnik on the table.
Little Todorka and Ribno Lake
A strong south-westerly wind rattles our skis as we trudge the last few meters along the ridge to Little Todorka (2712 m). To the east, we can see the rocks and gullies of the Strajite Group (the Guardians) from the previous day. The view of the inviting descents to the next ski destinations - the Vihren (2914 m) and the Kutelo (2908 m), which can be recognized from afar on the racy summit flanks and make our mouths water for steep gliding in the firn. As almost everywhere in Europe this February, the southerly wind has pressed the powder into windswept jibs and slabs. In the foehn wind, we quickly head out to Ribno See (Fish Lake) in the Banderitsa Valley. Another change of scenery, another great valley with countless tour destinations for winter and summer.
