The mountain I saw from my hometown, the mountain where I did my first hiking, Retezatul is a special place for me. We return here in any season and much more often than in other places. So it doesn’t matter how many times I’ve been to Retezat peak, if it’s good weather it’s a favorite destination.
Although almost all of us also go ski touring, we still choose to travel on snowshoes, not knowing the terrain configuration and especially the snow condition. We leave from Răușor the small ski resort quite empty after the ski season has been declared closed … which is why we find difficult to book an overnight stay. We climb to the top of the Prelucele ridge and it was no small wonder when the huge juniper forest had disappeared without a trace under the snow. We use the snowshoes but the last 200m level difference we pass on the snow crampons.
For diversity we choose another secondary ridge, Valerească ridge on the descent to Râusor and we traverse a pine forest (pinus cembra). We promise that we will return next season on tour skiing especially for the descent from Valereasca.
