High altitude sickness also referred to acute mountain sickness (AMS), is the effect of the environment at higher elevations (above 2440 meters) on the body. You don’t have to be attempting an 8000-er to experience this. It is common among skiers, travelers, hikers, and climbers and should be taken very seriously. I have had my…
Hidden Hippy Hot Springs in Greece
Oh, all the marvels you may come upon if you only make a little detour from the main road! Such an impulsive turn may lead you to the hidden hippy hot springs in Greece. Close to Nea Peramos and Nea Iraklitsa, an old abandoned public bath and the hot springs surrounding it, have become one…
Experience Meteora: magic in the middle of the sky
Perched on fairy-tale-like sandstone peaks, the ancient monasteries of Meteora have turned into one of Greece’s top attractions. The windswept monoliths that rise above the town of Kalabaka are a magnet to both curious tourists and adventurous thrill-seekers. History The word Meteora derives from meteorology and translates into “middle of the sky”, “suspended in the…
The Bergschrund
The Bergschrund is the crevasse separating the horizontal of the glacier and the vertical of the mountain. It is the void left after the glacier detaches from the stagnant, loyal to the mountain ice left above. I gaze upon the void that separates the world into two distinct spaces. Down–where when I slip, I fall…
Mission Lunatica in the Mad Cow District
My consciousness is sliding down the blurry edge between awake and dreamy state. An eerie breathing interrupts my passage to the land of dreams. It also gives me the chills. What is it? Surely not Sasho, having troubles breathing at 4474 meters. We are, by now, well acclimatized. Maybe a monster from a dream? Nope.…
1 climb, 2 girls, 3 traverses & some extra cheese
They say a story is only worth writing about when there has been a gone wrong situation in the plot. When two girls go on an adventurous holiday, one would expect a lot of twists and turns, especially when they rope up for the first time. The best thing about generalizations is that they are…
The ABC of Huaraz: Adventure, “Beep”, Ceviche…
“Beep!” – the familiar sound of the klaxon indicates a danger to my brain. I turn – nothing. “Beep!” – again and again, a symphony of horns orchestrates the streets of Huaraz. The beep around here absorbs a vast amount of meanings. Some of them seem logical, such as allowing other drivers to know you…
Alpamayo – the one we almost never saw
1.30 P.M, June 27th, 2018 We are below the summit. It is dangerously late. You can see it, so painfully close. You can almost touch it, just a few meters above, yet the snow mushroom is a pile of crumbling sugar that won’t let us summit. Sasho has being trying to make his way up…
Inka Waqanqa: an OM away from busy Huaraz
If you are hanging around in Huaraz and you have your climbing shoes and chalk bag in your backpack, which is kind of like the way to go, the area offers a variety of options where you can try your best on sight or get stuck on a project. Hatun Machay is the most popular…
Ivan Vazov: the Patriarch of Bulgarian literature and 3 pitches of karma
The beginning It was the spring of 2017 when my fingertips first touched it – a line which was about to inflame fear. After spending the winter skiing and mountaineering, my first climb at Vratsa’s rock formations was wedded with loads of adrenaline, enthusiasm, and pain. Jenny and I had just finished our first multi-pitch…