100 years of marking on the 129th anniversary of PZS

The Slovenian Mountaineering Association (SPD), predecessor of the Alpine Association of Slovenia (PZS), was established on February 27, 1893, and 129 years later, the umbrella mountaineering organization unites nearly 52,000 members in 293 associations and clubs. The Alpine Association of Slovenia, one of the most mass non-governmental and volunteer organizations in Slovenia and the largest sports organization, is an association of societies committed to the noble mountaineering tradition, volunteering, humanitarianism, and the preservation of mountain nature. Mountaineering brings together numerous activities related to mountains. Sports activities, mostly carried out in natural environments, are complemented and enriched by various forms of cultural and other activities. An important basis for many activities are mountaineering trails and huts, the fruit of the work of numerous generations of trail markers, hut keepers, hut managers, and other association workers. The PZS pays special attention to the training of members, aimed primarily at the safe performance of sports activities, as well as the preservation of the natural environment.

The monograph Slovenian Mountaineering Through Time, published by Planinska založba on the occasion of the jubilee, offers a review of the history of mountaineering in Slovenia through the eyes of historians Peter Mikša and Kornelija Ajlec. In chronological order, it follows the development of mountaineering from the first recorded ascents to Slovenian mountains through numerous alpinistic successes in the world's mountain ranges, the opening of the Slovenian Mountaineering Museum, and up to today's activities. It is equipped with short biographies of prominent mountaineers and alpinists, descriptions of terms, and explanations of individual events, above all with rich pictorial material - and thus offers a rich presentation of mountaineering history and the people who shaped it.

With the establishment of the Slovenian Mountaineering Association, the main activity of marking mountaineering trails began to protect Slovenian trails from foreign interference, and after World War I, the SPD began thinking about a different uniform way of marking mountaineering trails. Alojz Knafelc is considered the father of Slovenian trail marking, who was elected to the central committee as the head of the marking committee at the SPD general assembly on March 4, 1922. Based on numerous trials and proposals, Knafelc designed uniform signs for marking trails: the marking, a white dot with a red circle, now called the Knafelc mark, and he also invented the directional sign in red with white inscription. The Knafelc mark is a visually refined and perfect sign that is at the same time original, familiar, functional, simple, noticeable, and recognizable. Over the decades, it has become an indispensable companion on mountaineering trails and a symbol of Slovenian mountaineering. Since 2007, it has been protected by the Trails Act, which has made mountaineering trails part of public infrastructure, and since 2016, it is also a protected trademark.

"Mountaineering marking must be as clearly visible and simple as it is uniform across the entire national territory. Alojz Knafelc charted this 100 years ago, and since then, the sight of our marking inspires confidence in mountain visitors, as they know they are setting out on a well-maintained and properly equipped mountaineering trail. Knafelc's mission is today carried out by around a thousand volunteer trail markers who maintain a dense network of about 10,000 kilometers of mountaineering trails and about 2,000 kilometers of touring cycling trails. The financial burden of maintaining the trails, used by everyone, both locals and foreigners, has so far mostly rested on the shoulders of the Alpine Association of Slovenia and mountaineering associations. The new Trails Act promises significant state assistance, but unfortunately, its implementation has again been postponed to the future," emphasizes PZS President Jože Rovan on the double jubilee, also a long-time trail marker, initiator of mechanical trail refurbishment, and head of the PZS trail markers' technical team.

Marking mountaineering trails thus dates back to 1893, when at the founding general assembly of the SPD, in addition to the main committee, a marking committee of seven members was also established. In the first year of operation, the Slovenian mountaineering organization marked 97 trails - the main purpose was to prevent Germans from continuing to put up German inscriptions and signposts on our mountaineering trails. For initial marking, they used straight lines (streaks) in red, green, yellow, blue, and sometimes black colors, and indicated the course of the trail with crosses, larger squares, and circles. This method of marking persisted until the end of World War I. To unify the markings, in 1895, in issue four of Planinski vestnik, they published the Rules for Marking Trails of the Slovenian Mountaineering Association.

After World War I, the SPD began thinking about a different uniform way of marking mountaineering trails. To create a uniform marking system in marking activities, the Tourist Club Skala organized a marking course at the end of 1921. It was led by cartographer and mountaineer Alojz Knafelc, who was elected to the central committee as head of the marking committee at the SPD general assembly on March 4, 1922. Knafelc has the main credit for establishing the marking, based on proposals and trials he designed the uniform sign - a white dot with a red circle around it -, so today it is named after him the Knafelc mark, and he also introduced the uniform directional board in red with white inscription. He published the Instructions for Marking Trails in the July issue of Planinski vestnik in 1922 and in 1924 in a standalone publication - on the first page of each booklet there was a hand-drawn mark.

"The marking gives the tourist confidence that he will reach the certain destination along the chosen path. Each sign strengthens in his consciousness that he is on the right path. Therefore, every marking must be easily and clearly visible, sometimes denser, sometimes sparser. On a well-trodden path, e.g. road, cart track, the signs can be sparser; here the markings are only reassuring. It is necessary to mark extensively at every junction; there, at least three signs must be painted on the right path, so that they are undoubtedly visible from the junction," began Knafelc the Instructions for Marking Trails 100 years ago, when the term tourism denoted mountaineering, hiking, and the tourist was a person who set out on a trip to the mountains. The marking is still drawn according to his instructions, so that it is visible in the direction of travel and thus guides us along the right path. It is usually drawn at eye level on the right side on trees, rocks, sometimes also on other objects. Immediately after the junction, the next marking is usually visible, confirming that we are on the right path.

Already in the spring of 1922, the campaign to mark all our mountaineering trails with the new marking and directional signs began, specifically before the Sokol rally in Ljubljana. "Markings should be round; first with white color in the center and red around. The white inner circle should be larger in valleys, especially in forests, and smaller in limestone mountains. The same path should be marked separately there and separately back," defined Knafelc, under whose leadership the Skala members took on the task of marking trails with new signs, assisted by numerous dedicated SPD members. In just over two months, all main trails were equipped with the new marking and signs. Since thefts and damages of signs were already occurring then, the Knafelc mark was protected in 1933 by a decree of the Drava Banovina. After World War II, the Alpine Association of Slovenia, established on June 6, 1948 as the successor to the Slovenian Mountaineering Association, continued with this uniform marking. In the same year, at the PZS assembly and then at the assembly of the Mountaineering Association of Yugoslavia, they adopted the Rules and Instructions for Marking, whereby the Knafelc mark spread to the area of the entire former Yugoslavia.

Numerous fragments of Slovenian mountaineering history have been brought by the magazine Planinski vestnik since 1895, the oldest still publishing Slovenian magazine. Ten years after the first edition of Slovenian Mountaineering, the PZS decided to publish a second, revised and supplemented edition of the monograph, this time only in Slovenian - titled Slovenian Mountaineering Through Time. This was also entrusted to historians dr. Peter Mikša and dr. Kornelija Ajlec, who are actively engaged in contemporary Slovenian history, history of the mountain world, and history of associations. "Although the vista of the Alps offers a sense of serenity, Slovenia's highest peaks were in the past the backdrop for political and cultural, and today primarily environmental struggles. These reflected and co-shaped the development of Slovenian national identity, for which mountains were appropriated, reshaped, and formed according to the needs of individuals and groups, over time becoming a national symbol. To this day, hiking remains the most mass national sport, and mountains the place of relaxation and socializing. Never out of fashion, never forgotten," emphasize the authors of the monograph and add: "The book Slovenian Mountaineering Through Time is almost encyclopedic and with an abundance of pictorial material provides insight into the development of mountaineering among us through the presentation of the first explorers of the Slovenian highlands, the development of mountain tourism, mountaineering, and alpinism. Presented are individuals, groups, associations, and events that crucially influenced mountaineering in its current form and scope. A book that every mountain lover must have not only on the shelf but in their hands as often as possible."