Mosor

Introduction

While not being among the highest mountains in Dinarides or at Adriatic coast, Mosor has other attractive attributes:
- position next to large town and important traffic hub
- good infrastructure in marked paths and mountain huts and shelters
- variety of routes from easy walking (although in rough carst terrain) to real climbing routes
- and - last but not least - superb views on Croatian islands, Split / Solin / Trogir / Kastela urban area, coastal mountains such as Biokovo or interior mountains such as Dinara, Troglav, Kamesnica, Vran or Cvrsnica - situated behind interesting landscape of Dalmatian "Zagora" (meaning "country behind mountains") and Cetina river canyon.

Overview of mountain

Mosor stretches between town of Split and canyon of Cetina river, parallel with Adriatic coast, following usual NW -> SE direction of Dinarides. It has form of about 25 km long, relatively narrow main ridge, with steep southern and northern slopes.

The ridge has white limestone colour with spotted pattern coming from sparse vegetation.

On southern side, Mosor is separated from coast by another ridge, divided in two sections by Cetina canyon. Western from Cetina is up to 600 m high ridge called Poljicka planina. Between Poljicka planina and Mosor there is historical Poljica county, famous for resistance against Ottoman Turks and other conquerors, with autonomy rights from 12th century until 1807. Eastern from Cetina is 853 m high Omiska dinara, stretching towards Biokovo.

The very western end of Mosor is Klis pass (about 300 m high) with medieval fortress. This is main connection between Split and backcountry.

On northern side, slopes descend into large undulating karst plain of Dalmatinska zagora. It has harsh terrain with rare villages.

The eastern end is marked with Cetina river canyon, wrenching its way towards sea. Ridge descends gradually, obscured by Omiska dinara.

On NW end of Mosor, Split is the second largest town in Croatia. The core of town is palace of roman emperor Diocletian, with many structures preserved, such as Peristile or former Mausoleum which is now perhaps the oldest cathedral in whole world. Neighbouring Solin, roman Salona, also has many archaeological remains of ancient past. Split is also famous for athletes in various sports, such as tennis maverick and Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic, or NBA respected player Toni Kukoc. On last Olympic games, all five olympic medals for Croatia were won entirely or partially by Split citizens. At sea level, Split is also home of Croatian national bobsleigh team (do you remember their jamaican counterpart story?)

Mosor (as well as nearby 779 m high, rocky Kozjak and more serious Biokovo) was also school ground for many croatian climbers, including most famous Stipe Bozic. Mountaineering club "Mosor" is very well organized and keeps many marked paths and all mountaineering objects on Mosor. There is also very efficient mountain rescue service (in Croatian "Gorska sluzba spasavanja" or GSS).

Mosor ridge can be divided into three sections: western, central and eastern.

Western part stretches from Klis pass to foothills of Ljubljan peak. Important peaks are Debelo brdo (1044 m), most prominent peak in section; Plisivac (1053 m), and at the end of section Kunjevod (1082 m)

Central part starts as 200 m high slope towards Ljubljan peak, then continues as ridge until descent to Ljuto kame pass. Important peaks are Ljubljan (1262 m); Mosor (1322 m), also known as "Vickov stup"; and highest peak Veliki kabal (1339 m). On northern branch of main ridge is Jabukovac (1182 m).

Eastern part begins at 1081 m high Ljuto kame pass, and ends with Cetina canyon. Important peaks are Botajna (1196) and Kozik (1319 m), probably the best viewpoint on Mosor.

Hiking advices

1 day tours:

Starting from Klis:
Debelo brdo and whole western part of Mosor can be passed in one day, enjoying superb views.

For return you have following options:
- to return to Klis
- to continue towards "Lugarnica" or "Umberto Girometta" huts and, if neccessary, to Sitno Gornje or (long trip) Zrnovnica


Starting from Sitno Gornje (or from "Umberto Girometta" hut):

Ideal tour is round trip over whole central ridge from Ljubljan through Vickov stup to Veliki Kabal, and then either directly to "Girometta" or to extend circle through Ljuto kame.


Starting from Dubrave:

This is starting point for Kozik ascent; you can descend same way or continue towards Gata / Omis area


If you have more than 1 day:

The whole Mosor can be passed without much hurry in 3 days:

Day 1 - from Klis over Debelo brdo to "Lugarnica" or "Girometta" hut; sleep there

Day 2 - from sleeping place over central ridge (Ljubljan - Vickov stup - Veliki Kabal - Ljuto kame) and sleep either in "container" or return to "Girometta" hut

Day 3 - from sleeping place back to Ljuto kame and then over ridge thorugh Botajna to Kozik; descend to Dubrave or continue towards Gata.


More information and route descriptions soon!

Alpine and free climbing

Mosor, as well as neighbouring Kozjak and rocky environs of Omis offer good climbing opportunities.

I am not a free climber. Therefore I have to search for qualified sources of information.


More information soon

Getting There

Mosor alone is probably not worth a long trip from Europe or overseas (of all mountains in Croatia, only Velebit and Biokovo belong to this class), so I presume that visitors could come during vacation on Croatian coast, during extended tour through Dinarides, or to take rest during business trip to Dalmatia.

Split is important traffic hub (international airport; car ferry port; railroad and newly completed A-1 motorway to Zagreb and then to rest of the world).

Rail station, ferry port and main bus stations for local and remote bus connections are all situated in close area, just eastern of Diocletian's palace.


Local public transportation:

To reach Klis from Split, catch any bus traveling through Solin towards Sinj (it should go via old road Solin - Klis) and exit on bus stop near restaurants "Perlica" and "Uskok" (you can ask driver); trail from Klis starts here.

To reach southern slope, take local bus going through Zrnovnica (possible start of the trek from lowlands) and Sitno Gornje (nearest to the "Umberto Girometta" hut) towards Dubrave (possible start of the trek to Kozik).

To access Kozik from east, go to Omis (about 30 km from Split) and then seek for connection to Gata.


Access with car:

The best option if you have car is to reach Klis (for western part), Sitno Gornje (for middle part), Dubrava (for eastern part) or Gata (for "far eastern" part).

More information will be published soon.



Text by former maintainer (more information soon):

Easiest way is get by car or local bus to village gornje sitno, then to "umberto girometta", from which you can go to vickov stup, veliki kabal and other peaks. Nice climbing is possible from village amizici, from where you can reach all peaks. The shortiest but hardiest way to climb peak kozik iz from village dubrava.

Red Tape

There are no permits or access fees required.

Mosor was far away from war incidents and therefore 100% safe from remains of war.

When To Climb

Generally, Mosor can be climbed during whole year.

In summer it can be pretty hot there - take enough water and other protection from heat and sunshine. Take into account that there are very few shaded places on the ridge!

Famous "bura" wind can make living on the ridge uncomfortable, if not dangerously. With well marked paths, cloud cap should not prevent orientation, but certainly degrades joy of walking through the ridge. On other hand, thunderstorms have to be avoided at any cost.

Snowfall is not unusual during winter, but low height and closeness to the sea make snow cover less durable and thinner. Snow cover hides holes and cavities in karst terrain, demanding very careful hiking - especially on north face.

In overall, best season is April / May and, if autumn is not too rainy, also September / October.


Excellent general information on climate in Croatian coastal mountains can be found in "climate" section on excellent SP page for Velebit mountain. Climate on Mosor is a little bit milder, due to lower height and fact that Mosor is not rising directly from sea; however, "bura" and "jugo" winds are serious treat here.


The closest place regulary covered by weather forecasts is Split (there is also main Marine Meteorological Center for Croatian coast).


Some meteorological links:

Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Association (Državni hidrometeoroloski zavod - DHMZ) - homepage in English

7-day forecast for Split in English; remember that "bura" comes from NE and "jugo" from south!

Forecast for Adriatic sea in English

Objects

Following objects are kept by mountaineering club "Mosor":

"Umberto Girometta" hut
- 82 beds, water, electricity
- normally open on weekends (permanent keeper); drinks and dishes for sale


"Lugarnica" hut
- 16 beds, water in larger cistern, electricity
- mostly open on weekends, but inquiry before arrival is recommended (no permanent keeper); usually no drinks or dishes for sale


"Ljuto kame" shelter ("container")
- 6 beds, water in small cistern - possible shortage, no electricity (possible with generator)
- opening has to be arranged with club (no permanent keeper)


Other objects:

"Vickov stup" daily shelter
- no beds, no water, no electricity
- only for temporary runaway from wind or rain
- always open


Auxiliary shelter in Sv. Juraj (St. George) chapel on Kozik
- no detailed information available

Shelter on Troposnik
- no detailed information available

Camping in a tent is possible near "Girometta" hut.

External Links

• Information on Sitno village
  Sitno (with parts "Gornje / Upper" and "Donje / Lower" is important point for Mosor treks. Here are some information about village and Poljice area in English, and under "curiosity" some informations on Mosor can be found.
• HPD Mosor
  Homepage of Mountaineering club "Mosor", unfortunately only in Croatian