Words Elias Elhardt Photos Carlos Blanchard T o reach the Sharr Mountains from the south, one must first drive the winding roads of rural Albania, in the shadow of the country’s eponymous Alps. It’s a land shrouded by recent conflict, a meandering route leading to the disputed state of Kosovo. Last March, I found myself rolling north with Markus Keller and filmer Karsten Boysen, heading for a resort named Brezovica in the transborder Sharr Mountains. We approached an old building on the side of the mountain, the road blocked by a simple boom gate sur-rounded by military trucks and heavily armed men. This marked entry into Kosovo and with it, another world. Turning down the music, we handed over our paperwork. The im-migration officer looked through our passports, checked out the pile of snowboards in the back, issued our stamps, looked at us and asked, “Would you like a coffee?” Kosovo had welcomed us with open arms. 054 THE SNOWBOARDER’S JOURNAL
The Snowboarder's Journal frequency 17.4: Page 56
