Vihren

Vihren
Вихрен
Vihren from the north
Highest point
Elevation	2,914 m (9,560 ft)
Prominence	1,783 m (5,850 ft)
Listing	Ultra
Coordinates	41°46′04″N23°24′03″E
Geography
Vihren Location in Bulgaria
Location	Blagoevgrad Province,Bulgaria
Parent range	Pirin Mountains
Climbing
Easiest route	Hike/scramble from Vihren refuge

Vihren(Bulgarian:Вихрен[ˈvixrɛn]) is the highest peak ofBulgaria'sPirin Mountains.Reaching 2,914 metres (9,560 ft), it is Bulgaria's second and theBalkans' third highest, afterMusalaandMount Olympus.Although Vihren is deprived of lakes and streams due to the karst topography, a number of Pirin's lakes are located around the peak, as is Europe's southernmost glacial mass, theSnezhnikaglacieret.Until 1942 Vihren was known asEltepe(peak of storms); it was also calledBuren(stormy) andMalnienosets(lightning-bringer).TheUNESCOWorld Heritage SitePirin National Parkwas originally known as theVihren National Park.Vihren is included in the100 Tourist Sites of Bulgariaunder No. 2.

Geography

A view of Vihren

Vihren is situated in the northern subdivision of Pirin on the mountain's main ridge between the summits ofKutelo(2,908 m) to the north-west andHvoynati Vrah(2,635 m) to the south-east.It is connected with these two peaks via the saddles of Premkata (2,610 m) to the north and Kabata (2,535 m) to the south.The summit is located between the valleys of the riversVlahina rekaof theStrumadrainage to the west andBanderitsaof theMestadrainage to the east.

Seen from the town ofBansko,situated at the foothills of Pirin to the north-east of Vihren, the peak looks like a truncated pyramid, and from the south — like а tetrahedral pyramid.The summit is built up marblesand has a karst topography which determines the lack of streams and lakes around Vihren. The closest lakes are theVlahini Lakesto the south-west.To the north are situated the deep and waterless cirquesGolemiya Kazanand Malkiya Kazan, known as theKazanite(the cauldrons).Below the 450 m-high walls of Vihren facing Golemiya Kazan there is a small glacier calledSnezhnika,which is Europe's southernmost glacial mass.Its size in summer is 80x90 m.

The average annual minimal temperature varies between –25° and –21°С, while the maximal temperatures are between 15° and 23°С. The mean annual precipitation is 1150 mm; the snow cover reaches depth of 3 m.There is a meteorological station at 1,950 m.

Wildlife

Vihren seen above the forests

The wildlife is alpine. The flora of Vihren's slopes consists of herbaceous plants and lichens.Vihren is home to a number of habitats, including alpine and sub-alpine open calcareous grasslands that at inclination of 30–45° at altitude over 2,500 m on the marble bedrock formsphytocenosisdominated bySesleria korabensis,and alpine and sub-alpine closed calcareous grasslands on very rocky bedrock.With less abundance is the relict plantCarex rupestris;some plant communities have an abundance ofCarex kitaibelianaandSesleria coerulans.There are alsoAlyssum cuneifolium,Bellardiochloa variegata,Bromus lacmonicus,Cerastium lanatum,Koeleria eriostachya,Onobrychis pindicola,Scutellaria alpina,Sesleria coerulans,etc.Rare or endemic herbaceous plants that grow on the slopes of Vihren are edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum),Pirin poppy (Papaver degenii),Oxytropis urumovii,Alyssum pirinicum,Timmia norvegica,Thymus perinicus,etc.

The fauna includes various bird species, small mammals and abundant populations ofchamois.

Tourism

Vihren

Vihren is among the100 Tourist Sites of Bulgariaunder No. 2 and stamps to verify the visit can be found in the Museum ofNikola Vaptsarovin Bansko and in Vihren refuge.The summit is part of the initiative of the Bulgarian Tourist Union "Conqueror of the Top Ten Mountain Peaks" to promote mountaineering.

Vihren was first climbed in winter on 9 January 1925 by T.Atanasov, D.Stoykov, V.Baynov and N.Bozhinov.The classical route to climb the peak is from the Vihren refuge (1,950 m) to the south via the Kabata saddle; this route takes three to four hours in summer and is steep, reaching denivelation of almost 1,000 m in а short time.Other routes include those from the Banderitsa refuge (1,810 m) or across the knife-edge crestKonchetofrom the north. From theKazanitecirques in the north there is a 400 m-high steep wall which has several tracks from alpine climbing.This wall was first climbed in 1934 by the German alpinists W.Mosel and F.Auer; in winter it was first ascended in 1949 by Al.Belkovski and Vl.Lobodin.

From the top there is a view to almost the whole of northern Pirin, as well as to the mountain ranges ofRila,Rhodope,Maleshevo,Ograzhden,BelasicaandSlavyanka.

Honour

Vihren PeakonLivingston Islandin theSouth Shetland Islands,Antarcticais named after Vihren.

See also

• Pirin
• Kutelo
• Pirin National Park
• List of mountains in Bulgaria
• Geography of Bulgaria
• List of mountains of the Balkans
• Southernmost glacial mass in Europe
• List of European ultra-prominent peaks
• List of the highest European ultra-prominent peaks
• Most isolated major summits of Europe
• List of mountain ranges

References

• Мичев (Michev), Николай (Nikolay); Михайлов (Mihaylov), Цветко (Tsvetko); Вапцаров (Vaptsarov), Иван (Ivan); Кираджиев (Kiradzhiev), Светлин (Svetlin) (1980).Географски речник на България[Geographic Dictionary of Bulgaria] (in Bulgarian). София (Sofia): Наука и култура (Nauka i kultura).
• Душков (Dushkov), Добри (Dobri) (1972).Пирин. Туристически речник[Pirin. Tourist Dictionary] (in Bulgarian). София (Sofia): Наука и култура (Nauka i kultura).
• Grunewald, Karsten; Jörg Scheithauer (2010)."Europe's southernmost glaciers: response and adaptation to climate change"(PDF).Journal of Glaciology.56.International Glaciological Society:129–142.ISSN0022-1430.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2 April 2015.Retrieved6 March2015.

External links

• "Pirin National Park".Official Site of Pirin National Park.Retrieved6 December2017.
• "Official Site of the Bulgarian Tourist Union".Retrieved16 December2017.
• "Ultra Prominent Peaks".Retrieved16 December2017.
• "Vihren".Peakbagger.com.Retrieved16 December2017.
• "Vihren webcam at 1972m".Retrieved29 July2020.