While the state marked 35 years of independence with a caravan through 11 towns and a stadium concert, two hikers held their own commemoration high on Šar Mountain, where there was nobody around to be an audience. In four days Blagica Vladimirovska and Ema Lazareska climbed 35 summits on Šar Mountain - one for each year.

The numbers behind the feat: 110 kilometres walked, 8,400 metres of total ascent, and packs weighing around 20 kilos on their backs. They carried all the equipment, the food and everything else themselves, without any logistical support along the route.

The pace was hardest at the start - in the first two days they climbed 11 summits a day. The adventure began on Ljuboten and ended on Rudoka. Both are members of the I Love Hiking mountaineering club.

"All the pain and hardship fades when you see the beauty of our Šara in front of you, the sunrises and the sunsets, and all the beauty of our Macedonia," says Vladimirovska.

"There was exhaustion and there were hard stretches, but every next summit gave us new strength. With a clear goal and with someone beside you that you trust, you can go much further than you imagine," adds Lazareska.

That second sentence is what makes this bigger than a sporting result. Four days of constant movement at altitude, with the terrain and the weather changing, is not endured on fitness alone. It is endured on trust in the person next to you - and that is something no training course produces.

Šar Mountain is one of the largest ranges in the Balkans and its peaks are not a tourist trail. That two women crossed them alone, unsupported, in four days is a result worth more than a single day's attention - and more than symbolism assembled around the number 35.