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| Malovan   | 
| Page Type: Mountain/Rock Location: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Europe Lat/Lon: 43.54300°N / 17.11300°E County: Hercegbosanska Activities: Hiking, Skiing Season: Spring, Fall, Winter Elevation: 5991 ft / 1826 m | Page By: toc Created/Edited: Sep 3, 2006 / Sep 27, 2008 Object ID: 222188 Hits: 2389 Loading... Page Score: 86.2% - 7 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
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The Malovan page also available as shorter link http://lnk.in/44k2,
feel free to bookmark it.
Overview
As the Dinaric Alps stretch in parallel NW-SE ranges, so do the large
karstic depressions called polje.
Total number of polje's well
exceed 100, 3 largest ones known as Trium camporum (Livanjsko,
Glamocko, Kupresko)
going almost parallel and being divided by the long parallel
ridges as well. All those ridges terminate with lookout summits. Malovan
peak is the final summit of the long ridge stretching NW-SE of the
24m long and 10km wide Kupresko polje - positioned similar to the ship bow it is considered the lookout summit of the area. Apart of being the balcony with the view,
Malovan's another worthy feature is the abdundance of endemic mountain flora,
specially on the top.
Look and feel: Best
and the most common view of the mountain is from the east. Seen either
from or accross the Kupresko polje, Malovan appears as the giant yet lazy whale
emerging out of the still green-red casted sea. Feels pretty much same
as any other lookout summits in the polje district (Tusnica, Kamesnica).
With grassy and steep slopes leading all the way
to the top, one has a feeling
of hiking up very large, narrow angled pasture.
Boundaries:
Kupresko polje and the Malovan pass from the east and SE, long undulated
Hrbina plateau backs Malovan
from the NW, Mt. Cincar and (likely) the landmines
are edging from the west.
Ascend: There are
no waymarks to the summit, yet ascending is more or less straight forward. From
the scattered housings
of Donji Malovan village
at the SE foot of the mountain (Tomislavgrad-Kupres-Bugojno thoroughfare) spot
the limestone crags underneath the upper plateau. That is the landmark
to follow, follow the path leading to the aforementioned crags, with the coniferous
wood easily noteable all the time on your right side. Once at the plateau
above the crags, fork right for another 15-30 minutes to the summit. Summit itself
is marked with vertical wooden pole fixed by the small stone cairn. Allow yourself
2 hours or so for the ascend. Return the same way.
Gear:
normal hiking boots, walking poles very handy for descend. it is a walk-up with
some 600m of elevation gain.
If going in winter, please note that Kupres
area has developed as wintersport resort since 1984 Sarajevo winter olympics,
and Malovan is recently known as icey extreme free ride hotspot among the
boarders. |
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Panorama views
Security
Because of the strategic location, both town Kupres and the surrounding
area have witnessed lot of army movements. Some of the most severe battles during
the WWII in ex Yugoslavia took place here. So did the unfortunate civil war
in Bosnia decade and half ago. Somewhere in early 90s Mt. Malovan found itself
on the frontline and for the safety reasons exploring of the southwest
slopes facing Mt. Cincar is not adviseable. Note that same goes for the northeast
slopes of Mt. Cincar, facing Malovan. For additional info one may contact BiH
mine action center. |
.
Getting there  Larger scale topo and road map
Nearest airports are Split international and Sarajevo international.
Nearest town is Kupres, just 15km or so accross the Kupresko polje. Both
Kupres and the trailhead start at Malovan village, are on the main Livno-Bugojno
road which is served by national and international coach services. Nearest
railway station is so far that is no worth mentioning (shortage of railway tracks
is long term trademark feature for this part of Bosnia-Herzegovina).
By
car easiest access from the North is down the Banja Luka-Jajce-Bugojno main
road, at Bugojno fork right (westbound) for the Kupres pass (1348m) and then
down to Kupres. Bugojno-Kupres 20km. From the South, direction Mostar; drive
again till Bugojno and fork left up the Kupres pass then down to Kupres. From
the South, direction Split/Dalmatia, drive Livno-Suica (no need to go over the
Kupres). From the West, it is long Bihac-Jajce-Bugojno-Kupres drive, with
alternative in Bihac-Petrovac-Drvar-Grahovo-Livno-Suica route, the latter involving
half dozen poljes and mountain passes connecting them. |
Camping
Camping is not prohibited, still it is good idea to talk with the locals
whom own the land.
Commercial accomodation is readily avilable in town Kupres
(wintersport resort), large ski centre with the hotel
on the Malovan SE foothill
as well
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Weather
Hot summers, cold winters. It is worth noting that Kupres is renown
for snow precipitation as well for the strong winter winds and Kupres area is
locally known as the Bosnian Siberia. Winter conditions may affect the traffic
as well, so the passes leading to the Kupresko polje may be closed, depending
of the weather conditions.
http://www.fmzbih.co.ba/prognoza-livno.php
Bosnian meteo service nearest match
http://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Kupres.shtml
Detailed forecast in English
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Bits on the ethimology
The whole area was populated by Illyrians (Delmats), Romans, Vlachs
and Slavs in respective order, both local ethimology and toponyme naming being
affected by the settlers.
Name Malovan is assumed most likely to derive
from latin Male ventum, at the time common descriptive naming for the
places looking "not welcoming" to the potential visitors.
Kupres derive from the two illyrian words, Kupe(bowl) and Rrash(plain)
practical way to describe karstic depression.
And again,
nerby mt. Cincar was named after "Cincars", colloquial name
for Vlachs used by the Slavs |
Images
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