Despite being one of the most southern countries in Europe by its geographic position, Macedonia with its configuration and climate conditions, offers numerous possibilities for the development of winter sports. The wonderful mountain ranges protect the terrains below and, particularly true of Bistra and Shara Mountains, enable for a six-months long snow covered terrains. This is, one must admit, rarely to be found elsewhere in the world and whenever I tell someone that such a micro-climate exists in Macedonia, they shake their heads in disbelief.

Krushevo in winter

This is the rationale behind the fact that skiing Alpine and Nordic has long been a cherished sport in this part of the world. With the desire to do something for promoting our mountain beauties, the ski workers of Macedonia, assisted by the community, have been organizing two traditional sports events for a number of years now: Popova Shapka hosts the International Alpine Skiing Tournament called Shara Mountain Cup, whereas Bistra, the mountain by Mavrovo Lake, has preserved the lengthy tradition of organizing the Mavrovo Memorial Tournament in Ski Runs.

These two events are a stimulus for the Macedonian skiers. They are the challenge giving exceptional impulse in their world and simply “push” them forward, towards development in the attempt to approach international qualities and standards. This is a fact confirmed by many of our Alpine and Nordic skiers who have won FIS points in the last few years.

Popova Shapka	The Popova Shapka Ski Cup

There is no doubt that the international skiing competition Shara Mountain Cup is the oldest sports event in Macedonia. It started being organized back in 1947 on the tracks under Ceripasina peak with skiers from Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and former Yugoslavia. It was something like the Balkan Championship , and the first victory was won by Hungarian Peter Silko. This may sound strange, yet it is true: Hungary, a country which does not have much to do with Alpine skiing, gave birth to such a big champion.

Years went by in which the organization abilities of the Macedonian skiing workers were confirmed and in 1994 the Cup became a European FIS officially recognized competition. There were, indeed, irregular attempts to achieve the same in women’s competition.

Mavrovo	Mavrovo

Shara Mountain and its terrains have witnessed the performance of numerous outstanding world Alpine skiing champions. Austrian Leopold Grueber, triumphing in 1968 and 1971 and Russian Aleksandar Zirov, double winner of the Cup, Leonardo David from Italy, who unfortunately, after the victory at Shara Mountain was tragically killed in a downhill race at the World Cup.

The last seasons at Popova Shapka and the tracks of Ezerino and Orlova contributed to successful skiing careers of a few champions. One of them , Italian Nana Mateo, won the Cup in 1996. His race at the Shara Mountain Cup was good luck and promotion into the champions’ heights. He became regular member of the Italian representation and participant in all world championships and Olympic games. The same applies to Slovenian Rene Mlekuz, winner of the 1995 Cup. In addition to receiving the Cup, they were also given shepherd dogs and were extremely pleased with this gift. We believe the tradition will never die out and the Shara Mountain Cup will continue to be organized. The winners will certainly receive their deserved living prizes.