Winter Ascent of Musala Peak

A winter ascent of Musala Peak via its classic route: passing Musala Hut, the Musala Lakes, the Ice Lake Shelter, and then following the fixed steel rope to the highest peak in the Balkans — Musala (2,924 m).

On the morning of January 7, we set off early from Blagoevgrad so we could be at the gondola lift by 8:30, which would take us up to Yastrebets Peak. Upon arriving in Borovets, we noticed the first change — “No Parking” signs had been installed everywhere, and parking lots that had recently been free now charged 12 BGN per day.

The lift starts operating at 8:30, but in yet another example of poor management in Borovets, the ticket office also opened at 8:30. As a result, a queue had already formed, with people waiting to buy lift passes. We lined up, bought round-trip tickets for 30 BGN, and after about 10–15 minutes managed to board the lift, heading uphill toward the starting point of our hike — Yastrebets Peak.требец.

Normally, the winter route descends to the lower lift stations at Markudzhitsi, then follows the Musala Trail to Musala Hut. However, due to the lack of snow and closed ski runs, we took the summer trail instead, reaching Musala Hut in about 40 minutes. We stopped there for a brief five-minute break before beginning the real ascent.

From Musala Hut we followed the winter trail, which passes Lower Lake and Karakashevo Lake, then climbs through a gully to Aleko Lake. From there to the Ice Lake Shelter the gradient is more moderate, and the views of the Musala Lakes and surrounding peaks are absolutely stunning.

We more or less walked nonstop to the Ice Lake Shelter, pausing only briefly to catch our breath. We took a longer break at the shelter, in a sheltered, sunny spot. We put on our crampons, had something sweet to eat, hydrated well, and then continued upward along the fixed rope toward Musala Peak.

On the final ascent, our small group became somewhat stretched out. Along the way we met a Slovenian hiker, and the two of us continued climbing together using the rope. We were bigger guys and just a bit slower than the others. I was climbing with alpine crampons and an ice axe, having left my trekking poles at the shelter. That said, many people were ascending with just hiking crampons and poles, which is perfectly sufficient for Musala.

We reached the summit before noon. My total time from Yastrebets to Musala was 2 hours and 40 minutes; the others made it in about 2 hours and 30 minutes. At the top we took photos and sat down for lunch. We didn’t stay long, as a cold wind was blowing.

The descent was generally faster. On the way down we passed quite a few people — no surprise, given the beautiful weather. We also encountered two large groups of foreigners, one of which was a mixed group from the Western Balkans.

We were back at the lower gondola station before 3 p.m., loaded up the cars, and made it back to Blagoevgrad while it was still light.