22nd National Competition Youth and Mountains

On Saturday, January 15, 2011, the 22nd National Competition Youth and Mountains took place at OŠ Slivnica pri Celju in Gorica pri Slivnici. The Slivniški svizci (OŠ Slivnica pri Celju, PD Slivnica pri Celju) once again demonstrated the most knowledge and convincingly won.



In Gorica pri Slivnici, 26 of the best groups of young hikers from all over Slovenia, who performed best at the regional competitions on November 6, 2010, competed in this National Competition Youth and Mountains. The Youth and Mountains competition is always organized under the auspices of the PZS Youth Commission, and the co-organizers of the final, i.e., national competition are the mountaineering association and primary school from which the previous year's winners come; this time for the first time PD Slivnica pri Celju and OŠ Slivnica pri Celju. Additional co-organizers were Zavod za šport RS Planica and the Ministry of Education and Sport of the Republic of Slovenia.



During the cultural program, in which members of the local mountaineering association, the Youth Choir of OŠ Slivnica pri Celju, and the vocal group Kresnice participated, the young enthusiasts were greeted on behalf of the organizers by the president of PD Slivnica pri Celju Matej Planko, the president of the PZS Youth Commission Rok Kovšca, and the principal of OŠ Slivnica pri Celju Marjeta Košak; successful competition, relaxed socializing, and safe steps in the future were also wished to them by the author of the supplementary material on music in the mountains Uroš Kuzman, the competition coordinator Brigita Čeh, and the representative of the Municipality of Šentjur Judita Šarlah Methans.



But the young people, full of knowledge and eager for challenges, could hardly wait to start writing the long-awaited tests, for which they had not prepared only in the last weeks, but had acquired their knowledge on hiking trips and through year-round work in mountaineering clubs. This year's National Competition Youth and Mountains was themed around music, as the young hikers had to demonstrate, in addition to knowledge from Mountaineering School, their ingenuity and knowledge about music in the mountains and the lyrics of songs from the PZS Youth Commission's CD »Greva pod objem gora«. While the judges evaluated their answers, the organizer ensured sociability with games, bans, and a lecture on trekking in Nepal. So much laughter and playful children, pure joy! The most laughter was elicited by the hosts' interesting game about the events and atmosphere in a mountaineering camp, which nicely connected the entire competition.



The top seven groups advanced to the final part of the competition. Competing for the title of national champions were the teams Zabavno je biti zelen (OŠ Trzin, PD Onger Trzin), Slivniški svizci (OŠ Slivnica pri Celju, PD Slivnica pri Celju), Houški jejži (OŠ D. F. Hoče, PD Fram), Bergmandlci (OŠ Idrija, MO PD Idrija), Božje štenge (OŠ Ruše, PD Ruše), Čvapčiči (OŠ Beltinci, PD Matica Murska Sobota), and Žlikrofi (OŠ Idrija, MO PD Idrija). The final was truly tense; the young hikers (from 6th to 9th grade) had to demonstrate a lot of mountaineering knowledge, including practical, which did not pose problems for them. Especially not for the local Slivniški svizci, who earned their second consecutive victory.



The winners received participation in a mountaineering camp in Bavšica organized by the PZS Youth Commission for first place, all top teams received trophies and medals, and the rest practical prizes.



Joy was visible on the winners' faces; about the competition and the atmosphere in Gorica pri Slivnici, they said: »The feelings are phenomenal, as we didn't expect the second victory already. It's great that we won, as we prepared a lot, and all preparations paid off. We learned the most at home and also met with our mentor, visited the Slovenian Mountaineering Museum in Mojstrana, and reviewed the latest issues of Planinski vestnik.«



During the breaks in the final, they also announced the best in the music competition »Greva pod objem gora« and the winner of the prize question on knowledge of the competition venue area. In the music competition, the Idrija hikers (combined Bergmandlci and Žlikrofi) received the award with the song Z roko v roki.



As a farewell upon returning home, PZS president Bojan Rotovnik wished everyone that »the learned knowledge would serve them as well as possible for safer and experience-filled visits to the mountains, and that in the future the thought from the title of this year's supplementary material would come true as often as possible: »Greva skupaj pod objem gora!«



The hosts, OŠ and PD Slivnica pri Celju, together with numerous volunteers, performed excellently. They prepared a truly pleasant and highly sociable day for the youth and their mentors, not just an excellently organized national competition. You don't forget such a day easily, the competitors agreed.