Polar temperatures and strong northern winds failed to dissuade four mountain climbers from Foca, who managed on New Year’s Eve to summit Bregoc, the highest peak of Mt Zelengora and ring in the New Year at 2,014 metres above sea level.
Head of the Zelengora Mountaineering Club Karlo Simovic who took part in the feat himself told Srna that temperatures plummeted 25 degrees below zero during strong gusts of wind but that they had warm clothes on.
“I have never experienced such cold weather in my life. It was so cold you could feel your blood freeze in your veins and breath freezing too, but when we came to the top, we realised our beer and food in our rucksacks were also frozen, so we made the New Year toast with the tea we had brought in a thermos. I had three caps on my head and could still feel the wind breaking through to my skin,” recounts Simovic.
The ascend lasted four hours, an hour longer than planned because they couldn’t get to their anticipated starting point by car due to snow drifts on the road.
Simovic says the night was bright but dark. “There was no moonlight and you could only see as far as the light of our headlamps could reach. We used GPS navigation and also had help from the markings on the path.”
“In some places there was very little snow, and then you’d suddenly fall waist deep into snow. The wind formed snow drifts. We didn’t stay long at the top, we saw off the Old Year and welcomed the New, wishing each other a Happy New Year and toasting to the beautiful mountain which gave our club its name,” says Simovic.
He added that all climbers were so happy and thrilled about their successful climb and almost saw a pretty big bear, whose big footmarks they spotted at the very top.
For some this would be an insane move but for the four young men who grew up surrounded by the Foca mountains, rivers and forests, this is yet another proof of their love for the nature and gratefulness for everything it offers.
The four men who rang in the New Year at Bregoc are Srdjan Kulic, Dejan Lucic, Djordje Miletic and Karlo Simovic.
Source: Srna
