The Honor Code of Slovenian mountaineers states:
1. Mountain huts (homes, huts, shelters and bivouacs) are intended for shelter, rest, eating and mountaineering training. The desires and needs of mountaineers are quite varied and huts—even the most modern ones—are not equipped and stocked in such a way as to meet all their demands. When using the services of a mountain hut, we behave so as to use as little energy and water as possible and cause as little noise as possible. In the hut, we are considerate to the staff and visitors and respect the house rules. We rightfully expect homeliness, MODEST SHELTER AND SERVICE, information on path conditions and weather forecasts, and forwarding of messages in case of an accident. We eat in the mountain hut and limit brought food to the smallest possible amount. This reduces backpack weight, and the generated income enables the maintenance of the mountain hut.
3. In the mountain hut, an atmosphere of genuine mountaineering homeliness and warmth should prevail.
And what of this really holds true? (in my humble opinion)
Almost nothing. Mountain huts (homes, shelters, bivouacs) are turning into inns at higher and high altitudes and into objects for "ultimate experiences", mostly rented out, some succeed in finding caretakers with whom there are then full of problems and dissatisfaction, there are exceptions, of course, but increasingly planinska društva cannot find either renters or caretakers and are forced to solve hut care on a voluntary basis of association members (surely 90% are retirees). In huts heading towards hospitality, neither the caretakers nor, even less, the visitors (2/3 of whom are not mountaineers) can act in accordance with point 2 of the Honor Code of Slovenian mountaineers. And hut visitors who not only expect but demand à la carte offerings are not rare. Regarding uniform treatment of mountain huts, neither the umbrella organization of Slovenian mountaineers—PZS, nor its economic commission plays its role, not to mention the tenders of the Ministry for
the economy or the awarding of various certificates for all sorts of "top huts".
Visitors would also like to dictate the house rules (and somewhere they probably already succeed). I won't go into bizarre details. And something could also be said about brought food, especially for the winter time, when, in my opinion, visitors who order food in the hut should have priority at the tables.
Now about the hut on Porezen
Huts that operate with the self-sacrifice of volunteers and offer the so-called modest shelter and service quickly end up on various "mountain forums". So does this aforementioned hut. As I have been informed and as Lamps and Miri have already mentioned, volunteers of PD Cerkno take care of this hut, as they have been unsuccessfully trying for years to find a permanent caretaker, and I fully agree with their posts. Teams that rotate weekly offer a more varied offering during the period of continuous opening of the hut in the summer season than outside the season. All teams strive to their best abilities to offer all care to both mountaineers and other visitors, although there is not a single professional in the hospitality trade among them. There are certainly differences between individual teams. For the association, they are all precious as dry gold, because without even one, the operation of the hut to the extent it has been so far would be in question. When that happens, the doors of the Porezen hut, into which the association invests all the remainder of its hard-earned funds, will remain closed. Then it will be in vain to seek in winter the much-desired heated stove, warm tea or coffee, "simple one-pot dish" and everything else that falls under the heading of MODEST SHELTER AND SERVICE.
Only a memory will remain......
Many beautiful memories, stories will remain....
Convinced that both criticism and praise are best expressed on the spot, and not with posts on social networks and forums, I conclude this post and hope that the doors of the Porezen hut will remain open for a long time, even if only for modest shelter and service.
AND ESPECIALLY FOR THAT LARGE MAJORITY OF MOUNTAINEERS AND VISITORS WHO KNOW HOW TO APPRECIATE THE EFFORT OF VOLUNTEERS AND REWARD IT WITH PRAISE OR AT LEAST REFRAIN FROM COMPLAINING IF SOMETHING IS NOT TO THEIR LIKING AND SAY IT IN A RESPECTFUL WAY THAT CONTRIBUTES TO THE IMPROVEMENT OF SERVICES.