Rock climbing in Macedonia

Most of the climbing “scene” in Macedonia at this moment is concentrated in the capital, Skopje, and many foreign climbers passing through the country mostly stay there, so I should first mention the local climbing area in Skopje, called Matka.

Matka is a canyon on the river Treska situated only 30 minutes drive from Skopje. This is a very special place where in the past there were thriving orthodox monasteries and the silent prayers of the monks enchanted the entire area with eternal peace. Now there is only one working monastery, but the churches dotted everywhere around still spread the calming vibration throughout the area.

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The artificial lake on the river with a hut on its bank inspire many people to visit the place regularly – just to sit and enjoy the afternoon after work or the weekend with their family and friends. The river is famous for its kayaking course where European or world championships are held. Also, because of the limestone character of the area there are many unusual caves can be found that are subject of research by local and international speleology teams, not to mention the great possibilities for hiking... But for me the most important thing is the rock jutting upwards about 200 metres high. The rock is limestone and very unstable and fragile, yet this is where we all made our first steps in the climbing world and it is very dear to us. There are many routes of four or five pitches and a also few sport-climbing playgrounds, the closest of which is very near to the hut (which is only 10 minutes walk from the parking lot); the rest are not so very far from the hut either.

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- SCMT members climbing on Matka

We visit the place at least every weekend; often it happens that we come almost every day of the week. The routes are, as I said, 4-5 pitches long, with grades from III up to VII- (and up to VIII for the sport climbing routes).

Other areas that we visit for rock climbing in Macedonia are Demir Kapija that has a limestone rock about 300 meters high and Soulunska Glava that has a big amphitheather that in its middle section reaches a height of 600 meters. The exit is on the top of 2538m high Jakupica, making the climbing a real mountain adventure. Due to the long approach and exit route, the remoteness and unstable character of the rock (limestone, again) this face is not frequently climbed and has many possibilities for new routes.

more photos... - Matka, Demir Kapija and Solunska Glava

The whole climbing “scene” in the coutnry is in a period of “awakening” and the local climbers are working on the revival of these and other areas: for example, Ostra Karpa, with its granite rock and the frozen waterfalls in the very scenic mountains in the western part of the country…. I will soon write about some of these places; we all hope that very soon they will be put on the “must-do” list of all climbers visiting this part of Europe.

-by Igor Talevski

Cross-posted from

Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team articles - more articles

About the author:

Tejvan organises short-distance running and cycling races for the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team in his home city of Oxford. He is also a very good cyclist, having won the National hill climb championships in 2013 and finished 3rd in the National 100 Mile Time Trials in 2014.

In the 27th edition of the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence Race, Tswi Wen-Ya attained a new women's world record for the 3100 Mile Race, in a time of 45 days +12:28:44. The diminutive runner from Taiwan, overcame tiredness, heavy rain and numerous physical challenges to set this remarkable new record which involved running an average of 68 miles for 45 days straight. After a short victory celebration, she continued to set a new world record for 5,000km in a time of 45 days +14:56:42.

The race saw fourteen runners take to the start line, and each runner had their own unique experience of self-transcendence. The first place finisher was Andrea Marcato from Italy. it was his fourth consecutive 1st place in the 3100 Mile Race and comes after an amazing year which included two ten day races and other ultra-distance events. His time of 43 days+13:33:23 was not a personal record, but he joins the Finnish men's world record holder Ashprihanal Aalto for being the only runner with four consecutive first places.

Another notable achievement was 2nd place, Lo Wei-Ming (Taiwan) who covered 17 of the last 19 days in 71+ miles, including 14 days over 72.4 and 74.3 miles, with two days wrangling 79.4 miles. He averaged 68.343 miles/ 109.986 km per day. He then completed the 13 extra laps needed to reach 5000km in a sparkling time of 45 days+ 11:16:51. These top personal results are National records and Asian records.

The race was inspired by Sri Chinmoy who saw distance running as a unique challenge to bring to the fore all the inner and outer resources of the competitor. Sri Chinmoy taught the real goal was not the outer accomplishment, but the inner progress which can come from transcending our previous capacities, and remaining cheerful whatever happens during the race.

“We compete not for the sake of defeating others, but in order to bring forward our own capacity. Our best capacity comes forward only when there are other people around us. They inspire us to bring forward our utmost capacity, and we inspire them to bring forward their utmost capacity”

– Sri Chinmoy

The race inspired many people who both took part, but also who came to help or cheer on the runners. This video gives an insight into the thoughts, feelings and experiences of the runners

3100 Mile Race Feature on US National Public Radio

3100 Mile Race Featured on NPR

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About the author:

On 30 August 2023, the 27th annual Sri Chinmoy 3100 Mile Self-Transcendence Race began in Jamaica, New York, US. This year, there are fourteen runners are on the start list and it is set to be a great race.

The start list includes the winner of the 2022 Race (Andrea Mercato, Italy) and last year's first woman (Susan Marshall, New Zealand). There are also four new runners - Tsai Wen-Ya, Mahasatya Janczak, Adrian Papuc and Jason Lester who will be entering the 3100 Mile Race for the first time. Despite being experienced ultra-distance runners, there is nothing that can fully prepare you for this unique ultra-marathon event.

In order to meet their goal of 3100 miles (4989km) in 52 days, they must log an average of 59.6 miles (95.9 km) per day. The runners begin at 6 a.m. and run for extended periods throughout the day. If they want to, they can continue as late as 12 midnight when the course closes for the night. After completing the race, runners have the option of continuing on to complete 5000km.

For many years, the race was held in the middle of the New York summer, with scorching temperatures adding to the challenge. Last year, the runners had cooler temperatures but also had to contend with the tail end of a hurricane and frequent heavy, persistent rain. This year the runners will be hoping for more favourable weather conditions, but whatever the conditions, the runners will be ready to seek their own personal self-transcendence and seek to overcome the many obstacles.

Sri Chinmoy the founder of the race saw distance running, and this race in particular, as a valuable opportunity for the runner to seek a life-transforming physical and spiritual self-transcendence.