On the deserted slopes of Trostyan...
I love skiing.
This passion came to me not very long ago - just a few years ago. I live in the city of Lvov - "little Paris", as it was once called in the former USSR. From it to the Ukrainian Carpathians is within easy reach. But somehow it didn’t occur to me that even in winter you can have a very good time there, skiing, and not sit out all the winter months in four walls watching TV.
But, everything has its time! "Stand up" and I'm on skis. It didn't happen right away, of course. I had to spend a lot of effort, fill a lot of bumps and bruises before something started to work out.
And then I went with my dear wife, who persuaded me to try to fill my leisure time with new, absolutely incomparable impressions, to conquer my first ski slopes!
There is a saying among the lovers of this leisure, living in Ukraine, that a skier is not a skier yet, if he has not skied Trostyan in the Carpathians. The height of this mountain is 1234 m. Not a very high mountain, of course, if we compare it with the highest peak of the Ukrainian Carpathians, Hoverla (height - 2061 m). At its foot is located the most famous ski resort Slavske since Soviet times.
And I'll tell you frankly: Trostyan is an absolutely wonderful mountain! This is one of the most famous Carpathian peaks. It is remarkable, first of all, by the fact that it is on its slopes that there are ski slopes, similar to which, in terms of complexity, you will not find in other “ski meccas” of this region. These words, which may seem very surprising to someone, nevertheless, are confirmed at least by the fact that it was here that they prepared for performances at the "winter" Olympiads in the 1960-1970s. Soviet skiers. From those times, at the foot of the "most beloved mountain in the Carpathians" (as it is directly indicated on Trostyan's "personal" website by her "hot" fans), the base of the Dynamo sports society has remained. As well as several other very solid and well-functioning, despite their "grandfather's" age, ski lifts.
I have been to Trostyan more than once. And I also fell in love with this mountain with all my heart! When we go to Slavske in winter, we certainly try to visit there, to ride on the slopes of our favorite mountain. Although, in general, Slavske is a small "ski country" in a country with almost a dozen mountains, "covered" with ski lifts and on the slopes of which every skier will find a track, as they say, to his taste.
But, I repeat, I visited Trostyan only in winter. What it is like at other times of the year, I did not know. And now, in the fall of 2018, this annoying “gap” was finally filled!
Despite being busy with various things, the presence of various problems (life is life, what to do! ) It was decided to spend several days from a rather short vacation in September at our “family council” in the Carpathians. It is in Slavske - near Trostyan.
And that's about one day that we spent on its slopes, and there will be my story.
When I remember this day, it appears before my "mind's eye" as a series of sort of peculiar "frames" - details imprinted in my memory from the time spent there. There - on the slopes of Trostyan, unusually deserted that day.
So, I'll play this "film" for you! And for myself too.
“Frame” by “frame”…
Frame 1 - "On the Foot"
In a small family hotel, which we chose as a haven for these three days in Slavske, we are the only guests. Empty! After all, it is already autumn, becoming more and more cold, in the yard. And not winter and not summer, when there are always enough guests in the Carpathians who want to "taste from their generosity".
Having gathered in the morning, we leave, while the September sun has not yet begun to bake. The day, fortunately for us, turned out to be very warm and extremely clear. The foot of the mountain begins just a few dozen meters from our hotel. We need to walk a few kilometers to the place where we will start the real ascent to the “steepness” of Trostyan. A rather big foot at Trostyan! This path, which is not very steep yet, I call myself “car lift”. Here in the winter during the day, the movement does not stop for a minute. Local residents make good money at this time, bringing all willing skiers to the lifts of the main slope of Trostyan in their off-road vehicles of the UAZ brand (military and "loaves" or "farmers"). Only a powerful car will pass on a road with such a slope. UAZs are ideal for this purpose. This road is a completely ordinary rural street, strewn with gravel, but having a considerable steepness, quite usual for Carpathian villages, on which an ordinary "passenger car" will not get out.
It's unusually quiet on this hill today. Nobody around. No cars, no people, as one old song says! And no one will look out of the huts at the sound of our steps. Weekday! All the villagers are busy with their own affairs, they are not up to us. So we walked all these "auto-kilometers" without seeing almost a single living soul.
And here we come to the old ski lifts of the central ski slope of Trostyan - "Center" in the "slang" of the regulars of this mountain.
A little needed help
All the slopes of Trostyan, in the vernacular of skiers who love skiing here, have short names - depending on which side of the world the slope “looks”. Therefore, Trostyan ride on the "North", "West" and "Center". The southern slope of the mountain is unsuitable for skiing, it is overgrown with forest. "Center" is located on the eastern side of the mountain, it is called so, because it is this track that is the most difficult, here the greatest slope. It was here that Soviet Olympic skiers once trained. If Trostyan's "Center" has submitted to you - "respect to you and respect! " This is what skiers say in such and similar cases.
And there's no one here! Only the cables of the lifts creak in the wind and the autumn sun shines brightly - it even bakes quite well! Therefore, since my skin is delicate, like a girl’s, and “burns out” in the sun instantly, I wrap my neck with a towel I brought with me and try to remove my cap from my head only in case of emergency.
We arrange a small halt with a “snack” on the benches near the ski lifts. While we chew sandwiches, we admire our favorite slope. He is such a "cool" one! In the ski season, when you start to climb it on a yoke, you have to be very careful. Otherwise, you will break loose and, to the laughter of the rest of the queue to the lifts, you will roll head over heels down! And the money for one lift is lost! Please be at the tail of the queue again!
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But now, in September, there is not a soul here. The lifts are standing. On the slope, still green with grass, no one wanders, picking blueberries. The blueberry season is also over. With this blueberry, or rather with jam from it, the locals then make delicious pancakes in winter and sell them here, on the slopes of the mountain, to skiers. We took them too! I remember how great it was! You ride, you decide to make a “pit stop” and right on the top of the mountain for very little money you buy a mug of the most fragrant Carpathian herbal tea and a plate of nastiniks, and you start to enjoy life! And I just want, following the hero of a famous film, to say something kind of joyfully philosophical: “To live, as they say, is good! ”.
A dot moving down appears on the slope. Someone is coming. Fifteen minutes later, a fit man of about fifty walks past us, dressed in a marching style, with a backpack. Talks on mobile. If only he looked in our direction...
Well, okay, we had a bite to eat, rested a little and move on - to the slopes, to the top! Today we want to look at Slavske from top to bottom!
And we will do it!
Shot 2 - "Carpathian Yogi"
We begin the ascent. We do not go straight along the grassy slope between the drags, but we go out onto the path that starts to the right of them. This path winds like a serpentine along the slope of Trostyan, from time to time disappearing into the forest, and then, higher up, emerges from it again.
We pass by a hut on which a webcam is installed, from which the image of the foot of the mountain and the situation at the lower stations of the Center ski lifts is transmitted to the Internet in winter. Does she work now? Hardly.
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And the rise is quite "cool". Walking becomes more difficult. But for us this is not a problem. We are skiers! And the sun warms very cool, not in autumn somehow. It's hot!
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Finally, we enter the first grove on our way. We pass it and climb up the clearing to a small clearing located on a ledge on the slope.
Before we go out there, I feel someone's presence, although no sounds can be heard from ahead. Did I have a sense, like an animal, or something? Or is it that “sixth sense” that worked? And for sure - my instinct does not fail me. As soon as we climb this peculiar ledge, we find a man sitting there in the “lotus” position. The stranger is young. He has a kind, even handsome face. Mustache, beard, long hair intercepted with a ribbon, like our ancestors from films about the times of Kievan Rus. He took off his shoes, undressed to the waist - to see for a more complete unity with nature! Nearby, his old backpack and outerwear lie on the grass. He pays absolutely no attention to us, completely immersed in himself. Meditating, probably, a citizen! Obviously, a follower of some Eastern philosophical teachings. Or is engaged in one of the types of martial arts. Meditation is also very welcome there.
We don't want to interfere with the person and, looking at the panorama of the mountains, more and more unfolding in front of us, as well as at Slavske below, below us, we quietly move on.
And then another thought was born in my mind. For me personally, something very striking. And for you, dear readers, perhaps even funny. This is what came to my mind - no matter how much we were in the Carpathians, and none of the people we accidentally met there, both local and tourists like us, treated us hostilely and did not want to harm us. On the contrary, if we turned to someone with a request or a question, everyone was friendly to us and tried to help us. Maybe this is how mountains affect people? And all the evil of our world remains, somewhere down there - on the plains and in the lowlands? And that's why those pretty girls were not at all tense at the moment when my face suddenly appeared from the bushes in front of them - not very pretty, I confess.
And not in vain, as you know, mountaineers in their daily lives, unlike us city dwellers, when they go somewhere, they usually look up - into the sky. They are closer to him than we are. Maybe that's the whole point?
We continue our ascent. The serpentine path winds up the slope.
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After a few hundred meters from the clearing, where, probably, the young "fairies" continue to chirp carelessly, we approach the blueberry, which stretches for 50 meters along our path. Under the leaves in some places we still see berries. Well, let's take a blueberry break! Why not take advantage of the forest gift? And five minutes does not pass, as the fingers of both of us turn blue-violet.
Well, sir, "have a bite" and it's time to move on. We get out of the blueberry and immediately almost step on a viper, basking in the sun on a path strewn with sand in this place! Here's another meeting!
After the first, completely understandable to most of humanity, by no means joyful, the excitement subsided (after all, according to statistics, only 1% of the Earth's population is sympathetic to snakes), we carefully examine the reptile lying in front of us for several minutes. The length of the snake is twenty centimeters. Color - dark grey. Lies quietly. The wife takes some pictures. Then he asks me to disturb the "aboriginal woman" - he wants to see firsthand how she will squirm. And at the same time take a few pictures in motion. I carefully stomp my foot nearby - no reaction. Fell asleep, right? Gently touch it with a stick. Finally! The beauty moved and squirmed! And darted into the grass.
Let's move on.
It's not far to the top. And here are the upper stations of the "West" - the western slope of Trostyan. It is so unusual to walk here among the still high grass, while once in the winter I went skiing here.
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There is a small wooden table and bench here. Don't miss a chance to sit down and take a break. Of course, we admire the panorama of the mountains! And listen to their music! Her chords are brought by a slightly blowing wind...
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Chu - you can hear the noise of the motor! Who else is there to follow us? It will still interfere with listening to us, few cars in the city spoil our health... A small jeep with Polish numbers appears. Passes by. The two shaven-headed big men sitting in it do not even look in our direction. Are we invisible? And then the car gets stuck in a huge puddle that spilled right across the road. Well, I immediately thought, now I'm going to help guests from a neighboring country. But no, the jeep "hands over" back, takes acceleration, overcomes an obstacle and disappears around the next turn in the road.
We get up from the bench and continue moving to the top. She's coming soon!
There we will get acquainted, you see, with unexpected fellow travelers. I know Polish. My distant ancestors come from the Commonwealth. So I’ll practice at the same time - for a long time already “not rozmavyalem in Polish”!
Frame 4 - "Empty 'ski village' at the top"
And here we go to the top of the mountain.
First, we see the houses of "ski" cafes, in which in winter all kinds of "pickles" are prepared and sold for all the conquerors of the Trostyanovsk ski slopes. Here we drank the very fragrant Carpathian tea and ate it with pancakes with blueberry jam from berries that are gathered here, on Trostyan, in the summer. There are dozens of such "glutton points" here. A whole small village of them formed at the top! On a short winter day, life is just seething here. And now - emptiness... Nobody, nothing.
All these "huts" are padlocked. The wind rolls various trifles from end to end of the deserted "village". The ropes of the yokes of the "Center" and "North" converging here are buzzing. All this is so unusual for me, who was here only in winter... It even somehow becomes uncomfortable.
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Looking around, we pass through the streets of the "village".
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We see very good alpine skiing left by someone. True - without sticks. But you can't take them! You're in the mountains, but they don't steal here!
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Wait, where is that jeep that almost got stuck in the mud before our eyes twenty minutes before? Neither he nor his "riders" are seen anywhere. Here are those on! Where did they go? Have you fallen into a parallel dimension? And those whom we have already met before because they didn’t notice us, because they are also from there - from the “mirror”? Miracles are happening to us today and only...
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We immediately head to the central slope of Trostyan. From there, the view of the mountains is the best! Now we will admire the Carpathians! Breathe in the purest mountain air! Listen to the very incomparable "music of the mountains", which is best heard here!
And we will make cool photos, which we will later enjoy on long quiet winter evenings in our very small but very cozy apartment in Lviv.
Frame 5 - "Long contemplation of the mountains to their" music "
We approach the upper station of the Center, from where a magnificent view of the surroundings of Trostyan should open before us and again we hear girlish voices. But, first, of course, our eyes are attracted by the stunning panorama of the Carpathians unfolding in front of us!
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After that, we look down and see that towards us, right along the steep slope, on which only skiers with considerable experience ride in winter, two girls of 16-17 years old are climbing. Not the ones we met on the "serpentine" of the ascent. These decided to conquer the mountain differently and went the other way, shorter, but at the same time more difficult. It is better to climb along the "serpentine". Although the path is longer, but there are much more impressions! And making your way along the slope in a half-bent position, sticking your nose into it, is less interesting, as for me. Well, as they say - whoever likes what.
Both strangers, barely looking in our direction, immediately arrange a mutual photo session, starting to shoot each other on the cameras of their smartphones. And we, after standing for several minutes in complete silence, having seen enough of the surrounding beauty and "breathing" it, direct our feet to the old chair lift, which has been serving people for many decades. My wife made a lot of climbs on it in her student days. More than once she told me that this climb can even be considered some form of "extreme". This chairlift is old. And sometimes it stops at the most inopportune moment. And since it is single-seater, that’s why it’s not very fun, it happens, to “hang” on it for half an hour, or even more. Once my “half” had to spend about such a time just like that. And the frost was not bad, and even the wind, besides. And to the ground in that place there was a distance equal, somewhere like that, to the height of a nine-story building. That was extreme - you can’t say more precisely!
And we decided to take pictures one by one on one of the chairs of this "historical object", which, fortunately, froze almost at the very "landing point", and on this seat, having pulled ourselves up, it was possible to "perch up" without any problems.
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While we were “perpetuating” like this, a couple in love appeared on the top, because the first thing they did when they reached the edge of the top was a tender kiss. After that, we immediately went to several old wooden tables and benches standing nearby, which are used here for a “snack”, probably all year round. As they say in one proverb: love is love, but you always want to eat! They also looked at us, if they looked, then only out of the corner of their eye, no more.
Here one of the young conquerors of Trostyan calls me up and asks to take a picture of her with her friend. Well, thank God - that means we have not become invisible! And I willingly fulfill the request of my colleagues in conquering the mountain...
After that, we also go to the tables already vacated by the lovers, who, having had a quick bite, also started taking pictures.
But not so much to eat and drink (we don’t really want to), but to sit down and listen to the “music of the mountains”!
And we listen-listen-listen…
And we're not in a hurry! We are in the mountains!
Frame 6 - "Descent at a run - for the good of the cause! "
But everything in this world comes to an end. . .
This is the moment for us. It's time to return. It's evening. Before dark, we need to return to our base. And the hospitable hostess of our hotel promised to cook dinner for us. You can't make a good person wait!
At the top of Trostyan, we are alone. Other lovers of the Carpathians, whom we met here, have already left. Both the girls and the couple chose the same way back to Slavske - down the ski slope of the Center.
We, having cast another glance at the panorama of the mountains, set off back the same way we came. We pass through an empty "village" of ski "cafes" and enter the forest. The wind rustles in the tops of the trees all the stronger. It's getting cooler and cooler.
When we go out to the upper station of the "West", from afar we hear some kind of rattling, which is becoming more and more audible. Who else has no peace on a Carpathian autumn evening and still wants to drive along dark mountain paths? Finally, a helmeted motorcyclist emerges from a bend in the path in the distance. It's heading straight for us. Dressed in camouflage. The face is not visible - the helmet shield is lowered. What kind of "warrior of the mountains" is this? Call for another duel! This is not very time and place for us! My beautiful lady, in whose eyes one can accomplish a feat, is with me, but as for armor and weapons, this is worse. Cudgel, is it something to hastily break out of the nearest bush?!
Okay, it's all a joke guys! We are in the mountains, but here people, as I have already guessed earlier, are closer to the sky. And therefore, probably, much kinder and sincere.
And we calmly follow the stranger with our eyes when he drives past us. And he didn’t even turn his head in our direction.
Let's go down further. In the clearings where we met the young “Carpathian fairies” and “yogi”, there is no one anymore. It becomes somehow sad in my soul...
And then my wife, who can’t stand being sad for a long time, in general, and really doesn’t like those moments of our life together, when her husband for some reason looks sour, in particular, she suggests, to improve the general mood in our “camping group” and for health benefits, run the rest of the way! Like, come on, hubby, let's work out! We are athletes - let's run! And sets an example for me, not listening to my protests. What to do - you have to follow your wife! I'm running after you!
We ran a hundred meters like this. . . Two hundred. . . Three hundred. . . And then a familiar rattling sound was heard from behind. The "Carpathian warrior" is back! Who is he, I wonder? Maybe some kind of guard who went, on an alarm signal, to check the “object” at the top? But we didn’t touch anything there, we didn’t “burst” through locked doors... I shout to my wife to take a step. I don't want confusion! What if my uncle thinks that we are running away from him? ! In general, we take a step, take a breath. "Warrior" carefully drives past, again without even looking in our direction.
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And ahead you can already see the lower station of the "Center" yokes. In a few minutes we approach her.
Compulsory program completed!
Frame 7 - "Bye, Trostyan! "
The next day it became noticeably cold, the sky was covered with clouds, it began to rain. The real autumn has come…
We spent a few hours before the arrival of the train, which was supposed to return us to Lviv, at the window of our room, looking at the top of the mountain we visited yesterday.
It was time to go back. . .
But in the winter we will definitely come back to you, Trostyan!
We are from that "population" that enlivens your slopes at this time of the year!
Alexander is the author of the text,
Lydia is the author of photos
Lviv, September 2018
P. S. Dear my readers! Many of you, having read my story, may find its title somewhat inappropriate to its essence. After all, we still met people on the slopes of our beloved mountain. But, believe me, this is so negligible compared to those wonderful frosty winter days, when life here is in full swing! So I was not so wrong in calling the slopes of Trostyan deserted that day...
