Bjelašnica is a mountain in central Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is found directly to the southwest of Sarajevo, part of the Dinaric Alps and rises to an elevation of 2067 meters (6782 feet). Other notable peaks are Krvavac (2061m.), Mali Vlahinja (2055 m.), and Hranisava (1964 m.).
The mountain's name stems from the root bijel, which means "white". The white snow cupola of Bjelasnica is a familiar sight from the higher points in Sarajevo in the period from mid October until early June. Bjelašnica's base is largely forested, -mixed forest, mostly beech- however there are no trees above the 1500 meter (4921') tree line. The Bjelašnica range is bordered by the Rakitnica canyon in the south, the Neretva gorge in the west, Mt Igman in the north-east and Mt Ivan in the north-west. Only at 20 minutes distance of Sarajevo, it is a popular tourist attraction for hiking and skiing.
Bjelašnica mountain was also home to Olympic Games in 1984 with mens alpine skiing competitons and still remains a very popular skiing resort in the region.
There are 8 lifts, with one modern three-seat carrier lift departing from Babin Dol. Next to the original 3100 meter Olympic Downhill run and the Giant Slalom run there are six more pistes varying in length between 3200 and 550 meters and covering all difficulty levels between blue-red-black.
A lot of investment has been done to develop the Ski Centre and the Babin Dol area - new hotels, apartment complexes and restaurants have turned this area into a modern ski resort.
There are numerous trails set up and maintained by local mountain clubs that lead to the bald peaks higher up. The mountain is also popular with mountain bikers and has become recently a frequent base for paragliders.
One of the most popular hikes leads parallel to the Rakitnica Canyon, departing from the village of Umoljani and ending at Lukomir village, known to be the last all-year-through inhabited semi-nomadic settlement at this altitude in the Balkans.
There is quite a number of well equipped mountain huts to be found all around the Bjelašnica mountain.
