Travel Guide Mont Igman

Mount Igman/Игман (pronounced "igmane") occupies the southwestern part of the Sarajevo metropolitan area and is part of the municipality of Ilidža. The main centers of activity are the ski resorts of Malo Polje and Veliko Polje. The latter is 24 km south of Ilidža and 28 km southwest of the old town of Sarajevo(via Krupac/Крупац). Bus connection: Veliko Polje is connected to Sarajevo once a day during the ski season: outbound from the Vijećnica at 8:30 am, return from the Bjelašnica station at 4 pm.The small Igman mountain range reaches an altitude of only 1,502 m at Crni Vrh ("Black Peak"), but it forms a rare ecosystem: together with the neighboring mountains Bjelašnica and Treskavica, it has a richer biodiversity than metropolitan France. Researchers regularly discover here new plant species surviving from the ice age. It is necessary to say that it is on the plateau of the mount Igman that was recorded, on January 24, 1963, the lowest temperature of the Balkans: - 42,5 °C! This climate has earned the resorts of Malo Polje and Veliko Polje ("small" and "large field") to host the cross-country skiing, Nordic combined and ski jumping events during the 1984 Olympic Games. Unfortunately, the mountain remains marked by the conflicts of the 20th century with the terrible "Igman march" of the partisans fleeing the Nazi troops at -40°C in January 1942, then the fighting around the "Igman mountain trail" in 1992-1993 to supply the besieged Sarajevo.