Kolašin 1600: the back story

About Kolašin 1600: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Ski Resorts Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

For generations, Kolašin was a summer town: a cool green refuge in the mountains of northern Montenegro, between the Tara and Morača rivers and the old forest of Biogradska Gora. In the past few years it has become a winter destination too, with a new ski area on Bjelasica, a heated six-seat chairlift and the country’s first ski-in, ski-out resort hotel.

A new mountain

Kolašin 1600 opened on 16 February 2019, the first of a planned series of ski centres on Bjelasica. Its slopes were officially opened by Bojan Križaj, one of the world’s best slalom and giant-slalom specialists of the 1980s, and the resort takes its name from the height of its base station, where the 400-seat Troglava restaurant now stands.

Two resorts, one ski area

From the base, a Doppelmayr six-seat detachable chairlift, with heated seats, a sound system and Wi-Fi, climbs to 2,035 metres. In February 2022 the new K7 chairlift linked Kolašin 1600 with its older neighbour, Kolašin 1450, and together they offer about 45 kilometres of pistes, around 21 of them at Kolašin 1600, according to the operator, Ski Resorts of Montenegro.

A summer town in the mountains, reinvented as Montenegro’s ski capital.

The road north

The opening of the first motorway section, from Podgorica to Mateševo, brought the ski area within about half an hour of the capital and 45 minutes of Podgorica Airport. New hotels have followed: Swissôtel Resort Kolašin, at 1,600 metres, and, the operator reports, more hotels and apartment buildings under construction or planned at both base areas.

Every budget

This is one of the best-value ski days in Europe: the operator quotes €25 for an adult day pass and €16.50 for a child. Kolašin town, 12 km away, has family-run hotels, apartments and taverns serving kačamak and cicvara, while Bianca Resort & Spa and the Swissôtel offer the full mountain-luxury experience.

Our advice: stay in Kolašin town for value and its restaurants, or at the Swissôtel to ski from the door. Check snow conditions before you travel, as the season depends on the winter, and in summer come back for the hiking, Biogradska Gora and rafting on the Tara.

Kolašin in brief

From Ski Resorts of Montenegro (skijalista.me) and the Tourist Organisation of Kolašin (October 2026).

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Kolašin 1600: the back story before you go.