Situated on Trebević mountain and overlooking the city of Sarajevo, the Sarajevo Bobsleigh Track is a reminder of turbulent times. It was once a place of admiration, where thousands of spectators flocked to watch international sporting competitions.
Now it’s a structure covered in graffiti and worn down by the atrocities of war.
THE 1984 WINTER OLYMPICS
The history of The Sarajevo Bobsleigh Track starts with the 1984 Winter Olympics. Picked 7 years prior to hosting the games, Sarajevo proposed a bobsleigh and luge track to go along with its bid.
Like most of the other Olympic facilities in the city, Yugoslavia (the country at the time) brought in some of its greatest architects and engineers to design the track. In the end, it was Gorazd Bučar who created the innovative winter complex.
What made it so unique was both it’s cost effective build and shiftable sections. The technique of spraying concrete onto the track’s frame instead of pouring it saved money. The ability for it to change sizes by adjusting 3 separate sections into 1 made it truly exceptional.
In 1982, the bobsleigh track was finally finished. A few months later it held its first competition, the 1983 Bobsleigh European Championships. The next year was the Olympics and it was followed by numerous European Championships in the late 80’s. It was a place that was sought after due to its steep and fast running track.
A TIME OF INTENSE CONFLICT
I wish I could end there and just talk about the positive aspects that it made within the sporting world. However, like most buildings in Bosnia & Herzegovina, the structure suffered damage throughout the Bosnian War.
The concrete slabs that make up the Sarajevo Bobsleigh Track were used as strategic positions for artillery during the Siege of Sarajevo. Although it’s mostly intact, bullet holes dot the structure like pockmarks. Some areas have turned into ruins, and plants have grown through cracks to create a post-apocalyptic vibe.
Abandoned and forgotten places tend to attract budding street artists, and here is no different. Some amazing and colorful graffiti is painted along the turns and walls. If you are a fan of the visual arts, this is one of the coolest places in the Balkans.
In recent years, there’s been a push to renovate the track. The goal is to create a fully serviceable venue for training and future contests.
How to get the Sarajevo Bobsleigh Track?
There are a few ways to get up to the bobsleigh track. Car and taxi are always an option, but I’m going to stick with the two ways I know.
The first is the Trebević cable car, which leaves from the city. It costs 20 KM (10 Euros) for a roundtrip ticket or 15 KM one way, and will take you around 10 minutes. Once on top, it’s a short walk to the start of the track. You should see signs and/or people making their way in that direction.
There are some amazing views of Sarajevo from the mountaintop. So, it’s worth heading towards it to look across the city.
The second way is to hike up one of the trails. I can’t stress this enough, stay on the trail if you decide to hike. The mountain still has unexploded mines littered across its surface. They won’t be along the path, but they could be anywhere else.
Besides that, the trek up is really nice. It’s extremely steep and tiring on the legs, but there are some abandoned buildings to see along the way. Plus, the bottom of the bobsleigh course is very calm, with far less tourists heading so far down. You can walk the majority of it all by yourself and enjoy the mix of art and urban exploring.
In my mind, the Sarajevo Bobsleigh Track is a must see place in Bosnia & Herzegovina’s capital. It combines sport, history, nature, and art to make a should-be lost structure into an outright special site.
If you want to have some peace and quiet or are in a Cool Runnings type of mood, this is the place to come in Sarajevo.
