Ski tour from Nistrovo to Golem Korab
The peak of the 2764-meter-high Golem Korab is located right on the border between North Macedonia and Albania. It can be accessed from both countries via several options for ascents and descents. The standard route may be a partial copying of the summer route from Strezimir. Getting to Strezimir can be problematic in winter due to the valley and the road covered with avalanches.
An interesting backckountry skiing alternative is the route from the village of Nistrovo (1150 m), which leads along the ridge above the village with a subsequent transition around the mountain huts to the Korab area. Depending on the current snow conditions, it is possible to put on skis right behind the village and start climbing to the ridge at an altitude of over 1700 meters. After reaching the ridge, we move through slightly undulating terrain until not far from the end of the valley, where the mountain huts are located by the summer water source. From the mountain huts we climb further towards Korab and continue along gentle slopes deep below the summer tourist route to the summit.
Until the summer of 2019, there was a classic concrete inscribed "obelisk" on the summit of Golem Korab. Unlike other Macedonian peaks, this obelisk fell apart last year and an advertising tripod was installed there in the summer instead.
There are several downhill options from the summit of Golem Korab. The safest is to descend along the ridge and then circle the rocky area from the south. Under suitable snow conditions and a low avalanche danger, a downhill along the rocks from the south is highly recommended, where the slope reaches over 40 degrees. Attention - the display of the slope gradient in mapy.cz is quite inaccurate for the Macedonian mountains!
Below it is again possible to choose gentler or steeper downhill options. We then follow the ascent route to the plains high above the valleys. We turn south along the side ridge towards the abandoned village of Zhuzhinje. We avoid entering the stream bed and prefer to stay on the open slopes. In the spring, there may be no snow above the village, so we reach it on foot.
From Zhuzhinje, it is another three kilometers to Nistrovo, which is a walk along the “road” with skis on our backs.