Aleko, Vitosha

Aleko (Bulgarian: Алеко) is a site on Vitosha Mountain in Bulgaria situated at the northern foothills of Malak Rezen Peak (2191 m), in the watershed of Yanchevska River draining eastwards towards the village of Bistritsa, Sofia.

The oldest and most popular ski run is Stenata (‘The Wall’), while the longest and most difficult one is ‘Vitoshko Lale’ originally built for the 1983 Winter Universiade held on Vitosha.

Aleko is also the starting point of a number of tourist tracks leading to Cherni Vrah and further south to the villages of Chuypetlovo and Yarlovo, to Bistrishko Branishte Nature Reserve to the east, and to Zlatnite Mostove to the northwest.

A monument on the nearby Mecha Polyana (‘Bear Meadow’) commemorates Bulgaria's foreign minister Ivan Bashev who died in December 1971 in a blizzard that swept the area.

Such accidents are not uncommon to Vitosha, with inadequately equipped or overconfident visitors overwhelmed by fast deteriorating weather.