This spring I got the idea to try to cover 5000 vertical meters in 1 day. So far I've reached 3000 m in 1 day several times and once a few years ago 4000 m within 24 hours (from 8:00 am to 8:00 the next day).
Since I'm far from any fast mountain runners, I had to find some good terrain for such a feat. The total distance shouldn't be too long, nor did I want to repeat the same ascent multiple times. First I thought where something suitable might be in the Julian Alps. Maybe some combination of Vrata and Trenta with intermediate ascents, but in the end I didn't find anything suitable. In the end I realized that the best would be to combine 3 ascents in the Kamnik Alps.
So this Wednesday early morning I drove to Kamniška Bistrica, filled water and continued by car to the lower station of the cable car for Kokrško sedlo. There was the start. At 2:10 I headed towards Grintavec. The full moon was shining and as soon as I came out of the forest, I could turn off the light. Wonderful. Short stop at the saddle, then on to the summit, which I reached in 3 hours. Short view of the surrounding mountains before sunrise, then slowly back to the car. There change of bottle, some refreshment, the second ascent could begin.
At 7:30 I set off towards Koroška Rinka. I was already a bit tired, but it went ok. It was still early enough not to be hot. As usual, no crowd over Žmavčarje. Who's crazy enough to go into that steepness? In 2 hours I pushed to the bivouac, then another 1 hour to Rinka. So the second ascent was done, from the top I could see Grintavec on one side, which I left a few hours earlier, and my last goal on the other. Followed descent to the car. There again snack and bottle change.
At 13:25 I continued descent towards the source of Kamniška Bistrica, which ended at the parking lot a bit above the hut at the source. At 13:50 the descending was over, the ascent towards Kamniško sedlo began. In the hottest part of the day I was in the forest, otherwise it would have been quite hard. Well, it was anyway, especially that ascent a bit below Pastirci. I stopped at the bench, nibbled a bit, drank something and it went easier onwards. The heat was slowly easing, a bit of wind blew and I was already sitting on the bench at the saddle (16:30). I asked myself if I really feel like going to Brana after all this. But no. If I've come this far, I'll manage that too. Slowly, step by step, I approached the top. I was there at 17:30.
Then again descent along the ascent path. When I reached the parking lot, the sun had set, again you could see just as much as at the start of the tour. In front of me was still half an hour walk to the car. When I reached Žagana peč, the 5000 vertical meters barrier was broken. I believed I could do such a feat, but until you do something, you can't be completely sure. Here the goal was fulfilled. Tiring and wonderful day that will stay in my memory for some time, although I won't lack such and other challenges in the future either.