Via Ferrata Kotlovi

Grade

C

Cable length

160 m

Vertical gain

82 m

Approach

50 min

Crossing

1 h 30 min

Descent

—

Signed a/b/c. The route mixes all three, with C the hardest sections.

Kotlovi climbs a bowl-shaped wall below the summit of Bjelašnica and finishes at about 2,056 metres. The 160-metre line gains 82 metres and mixes A, B and C sections. Steel rungs protect the steeper passages, and the crossing takes around 90 minutes.

Via Ferrata Sarajevo opened the route in October 2023 with support from the Sarajevo Canton tourist board and GSS Trnovo. Several approaches are possible: the technical road through Štinji Do followed by ski piste 3, the six-seat chairlift from Babin Do, the wooded Josipova trail, or a walk up the ski pistes.

The approach is the hard part of the day. From the Kotlovi basin, red markings lead past a wooden shelter toward the cable; the last climb crosses steep loose stone, and the grass beside it becomes slippery when wet. Route-finding and fitness matter more here than the modest technical grade suggests.

On the cable itself, rungs have come out of the rock in a couple of places, leaving gaps where you climb on natural holds instead. Check each attachment point as you go rather than assuming the line is complete.

After the cable, continue through dwarf pine and loose rock toward the summit and upper chairlift station. Return options include the chairlift, the route past the observatory toward Kuća Spasa, or the ski piste leading past Bivak Božja to Josipova trail. Snow, wind and the high finish limit the practical season to summer and early autumn.