The movie version of Stephen King’s horror novel The Shining features a psychotic, axe-wielding Jack Torrance/Nicholson running amok in an isolated, mountain-top hotel. The approach to Belmeken reminded me very much of the film: the snow, the seclusion, the inaccessibility and the imposing grandeur but – what a relief – no lunatic on a killing spree.

Belmeken is very isolated, indeed so much so that several people had been literally buried under a mini-avalanche of snow while trying to negotiate their departure a few days earlier. Belmeken’s remoteness is, as we shall see, part of the plan; 2050m above sea level, it commands awe-inspiring views of the Balkan Peninsula’s highest spot, Mount Musala (also spelt Moussala), – “the Mountain of Allah” – formerly named Mount Stalin. Personally, I approve of the name change.

The location is first choice for endurance-training athletes seeking a disciplined and distraction-free regime. At Belmeken you do feel as though you’re on top of Bulgaria. But you could be anywhere: the Swiss Alps, the Pyrenees, the Himalayas or the Rockies. Nothing concentrates the mind like being high in the mountains or in the middle of the ocean. Surrender to nature’s power and a period of soul-searching usually occurs. You may even find yourself changing some bad habits.

Something in the air?
A mere two-and-a-half-hour (140km) drive from Sofia, Belmeken, perched between the Rila and Rhodope mountains, occupies a different universe. The air cuts you with its freshness, the snow is so monumentally pure that it has a blue tinge and the path up is like one of those strange dreams where time and motion are suspended. It was the East Germans who established that the atmosphere and elevation were ideal for endurance training. For the uninitiated, including people like me for whom exercise is raising a glass up and down – good for the arm muscles – here’s the explanation. Altitude is like a drug with a dose-responsive curve. As elevation increases, particularly above 1500m, breathing becomes more laboured and the heart rate increases. The kidneys produce more hematopoieten (EPO), leading to increased red blood cell mass, a positive adaptation for athletes. Gauging the right altitude, however, is vital. Pitch it too low and the EPO response is insufficient to make it worthwhile. Pitch it too high and difficulties associated with acclimatisation make the exercise counter-productive. Scientific and anecdotal evidence cites 2000m to 2500m as the optimal altitude range for many athletes.

Many top athletes undergo altitude training several times a year for the benefits they believe they derive when they return to sea level. Three weeks is deemed the optimum period for endurance training. After a few days at Belmeken you start experiencing symptoms associated with high altitude, such as breathlessness and nose bleeds. After four or five days the body starts to adjust. The higher the elevation, the more gruelling movement becomes, hence the extreme difficulties of mountaineering on Everest’s 8848m. Many of us would view the prospect of attempting such an ascent the height – literally – of folly. Belmeken, a mere quarter of this height, offers us just a minor insight into the challenges involved in such a feat.

Eastern promise
Have you ever wondered why Eastern Bloc athletes cornered the medals at successive Olympic Games in the 1970s? As a child I remember being mesmerised by the sight of massively proportioned female shot-putters, squat, powerhouse weightlifters and cheetah-like athletes – all from behind the Iron Curtain – sweeping all the important medals. Perhaps, I pondered naively, there’s something in the communist air conducive to sporting prowess. Maybe I was closer to the mark than I imagined. The East Germans monopolised the facilities at Belmeken for 23 years from 1968 onwards. Unsubstantiated rumours of “blood doping” apart, it seemed that their training methods reaped dividends. In the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, the Americans won most of the medals. By the time of Montreal’s 1976 Olympics, however, Eastern Bloc nations collected gold in most competitions. In the women’s 800m, for example, East German athletes Tatyana Kazankina and Elfi Zinn collected gold and bronze medals while Bulgarian runner Nikolina Shtereva won silver.

Belmeken is a multipurpose sports complex. The highest peak at Belmeken is 2600m – known as “the tooth” – just below Mount Musala’s 2925m. The resort complex lies just beyond the Rila National Park – also the site of a massive dam – where new construction is strictly forbidden. On the day I visited, an unusually mild February day in Sofia, it seemed like winter was over apart from remnants of black ice by the road as we drove south out of the capital. In order to reach Belmeken you have to turn right at the Ihtiman junction in the direction of Belovo. When you’re in the centre of Belovo you have to turn right to Yundola. Then you begin your painstaking sinuous ascent to a winter wonderland. Gradually the scenery becomes more alpine until the wayside is almost concealed by massive snow drifts. You slow down dramatically as you climb. Soon you’re alone save for the footprints of deer.

Splendid isolation
The tree hotel and indoor sports facilities area are interlinked. The facilities are impressive: sports arena, wrestling hall, weightlifting, indoor swimming pool, rowing centre, boxing ring, and multipurpose sports complex equipped with basketball, volleyball, handball, athletics track, handball as well as a grass playground for football, large gym, sauna. The surrounding area offers excellent conditions for mountain hiking and biking. Ordinary tourists are welcome but walk around the cavernous interior and you know that you’re in training territory. The restaurant is full of conspicuous health food; even a party of smokers in the communal lobby were given a dressing down by some of the athletes. The bar closes at 10pm; one suspects that athletes drag their aching limbs into bed shortly afterwards. Rooms are comfortable but spartan. Nothing distracts from the rigours of the strict routine. Entertainment, other than satellite television, is limited. If it’s sex, drink, drugs and rock ’n’ roll you’re after, then Belmeken is not for you. If, on the other hand, you believe your body to be your temple, then you’re in good hands. Photos of sporting heroes decorate the long hallways. Find a successful Bulgarian athlete and you’ll find that s/he has spent time at Belmeken. If not, perhaps success was not in hand.

Stroll through the hotel in the late winter and you may find yourself eerily alone. This again had me thinking of The Shining and little Danny on his tricycle weaving his way around the endless corridors of the Laketop Hotel. The vast training areas, when empty, still throng with an indefinable pulping energy. You can feel the vibe, the energy of athletes, past and present. Just like an empty courtroom still has a certain frisson after the trials and tribulations of the day are exhausted.

In the late winter a seemingly sunny day can turn quickly. This was the case on the day I visited when a sudden snowfall compelled us to return to Sofia at 2.30pm. Rado Atanassov (who kindly drove me to Belmeken) and I were happily consuming our shopska salad when I noticed the first snowfall. Then we started eating with greater urgency, otherwise we would have been trapped in the five-metre high drifts, waiting for the ploughs to clear their path. And perhaps we would have stumbled upon mad Jack buried in the snow...

Illustrious visitors
Bulgaria is not a country you associate with tennis, unlike its neighbour Romania, which is forever linked to original bad boy Ilie “Nasty” Nastase, who was the world’s number one player in 1973 and rivalled John McEnroe for his on-court tantrums. Bulgaria’s current number one is ranked 380 in the world. Only one Bulgarian player has made the top 50 rankings – Orlin Stanoytchev, who reached the dizzy height of 31 in the world rankings. Orlin even defeated Roger Federer in an ATP tournament after the Swiss player had won Wimbledon. A professional between 1994 and 2002, he appeared at Wimbledon three times, most memorably losing to Todd Woodbridge in a fierce first round five-setter in 1999. Then he became a David Cup coach, his greatest achievement being Bulgaria’s victory over Finland two years ago.

Like so many successful tennis players, Orlin was a precocious talent, picking up his racquet at seven (although this may be deemed a late start by some ambitious parents) on the instigation of Lyuben Genov, a famous Bulgarian player and friend of his father. When we were there, Orlin was at Belmeken training 18-year-old Constantin Sturdza, the son of Prince Sturdza of Moldova, a player he describes as having “huge potential”. Together they worked out extremely hard – up to six hours a day.

Now based in Geneva, Orlin attended the famous training school of the legendary Nick Bollettieri, an American coach whose tennis academy, founded in 1978, reads like a roll-call of some of the most famous names of the last 30 years: McEnroe, Jim Courier, Monica Seles, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras and the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena. Bollettieri himself, now 76, is still active in the game, rising at 4.20am every day to get to the gym early and then begin a rigorous 12-hour day training youngsters. You don’t have to look very far to see the role model for Orlin’s dedication and attitude to fitness.

People referred to the early 1980s as the period “when tennis ruled the world”, yet Orlin believes that the greatest players of all time were Federer or Sampras. Connors, Bjorn Borg, McEnroe and Nastase may have been more charismatic but Orlin, who has played against the likes of Sampras, Agassi and Goran Ivanisevic, thinks that yesteryear’s champions would have been no match for Agassi, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg or Michael Stich.

‘These were all player of the absolute highest calibre,’ Orlin tells me.

His young protege, Constantin, cites Orlin’s “mental strength” as his strongest asset. Their coach, 39-year-old Valentin Grozdev, has been Orlin’s trainer from the beginning. Valentin told me it would take six months to get me into fighting shape, which I took as a kind of compliment. We joined them for lunch together with John Hazlewood, an American expatriate, fitness fanatic and long-time Sofia resident who touched base with fellow Texan president George Bush on his visit to Bulgaria in June. For many of us, intimidated even by the sight of a gym, there is an obvious question. Why? Perhaps it’s out of a desire to improve the male “body beautiful” and so attract an array of adoring females? If it really works, I predict a stampede to the gym...