The flow took me to Prilep, a town in South Macedonia. Prilep is known for its tobacco and beer and for the boulders. Although I already had an idea what awaited me because I watched the 2014 Petzl Roc Trip video about bouldering in Prilep, but these mountains, these rocks, they left me speechless.
Someone said “it’s like a giant randomly dumped huge stones on a mountain” – so true. There are stones everywhere. “Keien” I would say in Dutch, boulders it probably is in English. A playground, a climbers mekka and yet relatively unknown.
I’ve been told that there are 600 routes, but I bet that’s just a fraction of what Prilep has to offer. I haven’t paid attention to the topo at all so I can’t say which sections we’ve been or which routes we’ve climbed, but who cares?
Hitting the wall felt natural, my body knew how to move – feet glued to wall, fingers holding little ridges – only gravity seemed to be stronger than it used to be. Still had a lot of fun though. It makes me so excited, the clapping my hands while smiling a big smile kind of excitement. It has been three years, three years without rocks. Damn I missed it without knowing that I did. Not sure what I’ll do with this information, but for now I’m grateful I had the opportunity to open the door to an old passion. Thank you guys for having and showing me.
Bouldering in Prilep
