Finding Climbing in Prilep

Last month Andreya and I went to Prilep, Macedonia for the birthday party of another Peace Corps Volunteer. It was a great chance to catch up with some other volunteers and check out the city with the only Thai restaurant and the best bouldering in Macedonia.

In need of some gear and advice about the climbing area, I contacted the president of the rock climbing club in Prilep. I emailed him telling him I was coming into town, and I wanted to borrow some gear. I felt like it was a long shot since I didn't know the guy and that climbing gear is precious and hard to come by here. However, he simply responded that I could get anything I needed from him.

  

We arrived Friday night at the Hotel Breza. I called the guy, as we had planned, understood little of what he said in Macedonian, and then he showed up at the hotel to meet us. He invited us to go to a climbing gym, but we declined because we were meeting some volunteers at the Thai food restaurant. He said no problem and that we would go climbing the next day.
  

After a delicious breakfast at the hotel, I called him to see the plan. He gave me his address. Still not knowing what was happening, we took a taxi to his home.

He met us in front of the house with two crash pads and a beautiful bouldering guide of the area. He called a taxi, got in the car with us and took us out to this beautiful area covered in boulders. We hiked around for a while hearing about his job as a climbing instructor for the Macedonian Sport Climbing Federation and his responsibilities of the climbing club. He works as a guide for new climbers in the area and organizing climbing events to promote and increase the accessibility of climbing in Macedonia. He had much to say about the history and nature of the area we were in. He pointed out hawks and eagles flying overhead and talked about about how peaceful the area was. It was just a five minute taxi ride out of town, but soothing and beautiful. It was so wonderful to have him with us because there were no marked trails. We climbed some easy warm up routes first; then moved on some of the more popular routes. He gave us pointers on which routes to climb and where to go next then left us to enjoy a very beautiful day climbing together in Prilep.

  

When you live in a country without Clif bars,
your trail snacks are homemade hummus and cranbran muffins.

It was a wonderful day. It has been a bit of a struggle to get outdoors. Back in college Andreya and I were camping at least once a month. Now it has been 6 months since our last night outdoors. Hiking in our part of the country has required host country nationals who know where to go. There are very few clear cut trails with markers, is little information on websites, and no outfitters to supply gear in our area of the country. We require the support of host country nationals who have invested their own time and money to know the land and have the gear. It has been difficult to find the people. However, each time we have, they have had that strong Macedonian hospitality and friendliness. I love outdoor recreation because the community is so connected. We only know a few climbers here from a few different cities in Macedonia, and they all know each other. Plus, any outdoor enthusiast from anywhere, as I am learning, is willing to do what they can to get fellow enthusiasts outside.
  

  

Macedonia is a beautiful country. There has not been a city that I have been in that has not had a river and mountains. However, it seems there is only a small portion of the population who like to enjoy it as we do. I think this is evident by the amount of litter. It is nothing to see someone in front of you unwrap a candy bar or finish a bag of chips and then casually toss the trash to the ground. Between the city and the boulders of Prilep there was a big part of the field where trash had been dumped seemingly by the tractor and trailer loads. This may be a result of lack of infrastructure to deal with waste, (our host family during pre-service training told me all the waste water from the house went straight to the river near by), or an over-reliance on disposable plastics.
  

It makes me sad to be in such a beautiful place that is covered in trash. I think Macedonia will change these ways with time. Things have changed back home for the better. I have seen trash discarded in similar ways, but people are becoming more aware and have better methods of maintaining the environment.

-Jarred