60 years of the Slovenian Mountain Trail

On August 1, 2013, the Slovenian Mountain Trail celebrates its 60th birthday, the longest and most popular long-distance trail in Slovenia. It is also the oldest long-distance trail in Slovenia, Europe, and the world in its category. It was created on the initiative of Ivan Šumljak and runs from Maribor across Pohorje, through the Kamnik and Savinja Alps, Karawanks, Julian Alps, Karst to Ankaran on the Adriatic Sea. It is marked with the general marking of hiking trails in Slovenia, the Knafelc mark (red circle with a white dot) and the number 1.



The Slovenian Mountain Trail is the world's first long-distance hiking trail and has been called that since 1991 (previously transversal). The idea has taken hold in all Alpine countries and elsewhere in the world, although it was initially attacked as not fitting mountaineering. Individual mountaineering societies that are part of the Alpine Association of Slovenia take care of it. Ivan Šumljak, its conceptual and operational creator, called it the mainline, but already at its opening in 1953 it received the name Slovenian Mountain Transversal. In the same year, it was extended from Postojna to Ankaran, and the first guidebook for it was published (the latest, updated guidebook was published by the PZS Alpine Publishing House in 2012).



WHO WAS IVAN ŠUMLJAK, the conceptual father of the Slovenian Mountain Trail?

Ivan Šumljak (1899–1984) was a teacher, versatile mountaineer, writer, chronicler, painter, photographer, lecturer, guide, organizer, marker, association board member... About the creation of the transversal he said: "With my comrades, I got to work. We remarked all of Pohorje... We marked this ridge trail with the Knafelc mark and the number one. Once while resting on Črni vrh, satisfied with the work done, the thought came to me: What if we extended the trail with number one further? To Uršlja gora, Smrekovec, Raduha, Savinja Alps, Karawanks, Julijce, Karst, to the sea and across Notranjska, Dolenjska back to Štajerska, back to Maribor. Thus, the traveler would get to know the entire beautiful mountain world. I reported the idea to PZS on June 28, 1951..."



SLOVENIAN MOUNTAIN TRAIL IN NUMBERS:

Opened on August 1, 1953, it had 80 points.

Initiator and conceptual creator: Ivan Šumljak.

Number of points: today 75 control points since 2011 (2003-2011: 71 control points, 1993-2003: 69 points (in 2001 one point was changed), before 1993 there were 80 control points).

Trail length: length by relief (the one we give for the length of SPP): 599 km, total ascent: 45.2 km, total descent: 45.5 km.

When hikers today walk the Slovenian Mountain Trail from Maribor to Ankaran:

- they visit 75 control points,

- they refresh in 58 mountain huts,

- they climb 23 wonderful peaks,

- they visit 5 Slovenian towns and

- 2 museums -> Slovenian Mountaineering Museum in Mojstrana and Franja Partisan Hospital.

- One of the points on the trail, Škocjan Caves, is part of UNESCO cultural heritage.

- the red-white Knafelc mark with number 1 accompanies them throughout the SPP.

The Slovenian Mountain Trail is complemented by the Extended Slovenian Mountain Trail (35 points), which takes us through interesting parts of Slovenia.



So far, around 9500 hikers have successfully completed the Slovenian Mountain Trail, and exactly as many badges have been awarded to them. In the PZS records, the first recipients of the honorary badge for the completed trail are listed as: Pregrad Pašič, Beograd (1958), Dušan Starčevič, Beograd (1958), Lojze Hafner, Ljubljana (1958), Marjan Ribarič, Ljubljana (1958), Ema Trbovšek, Ljubljana (1960), Franc Bračko, Hoče (1965), Stanka and Tome Demšič, Hoče (1965).

Number of participants/hikers in recent years who have walked the SPP: 2000: 251 hikers, 2001: 247, 2002: 255, 2003: 255, 2004: 194, 2005: 185, 2006: 200, 2007: 179, 2008: 206, 2009: 178, 2010: 116, 2011: 167 participants.



In PZS Alpine Publishing House about SPP: Diary from the Slovenian Mountain Trail and Guide Slovenian Mountain Trail.



Since mid-May this year, hikers can stamp the last stamp of the Slovenian Mountain Trail also at Debeli rtič, where the Youth Health Resort and Holiday Center of the Red Cross of Slovenia is located. The SPP stamp is located at the reception of Hotel Arija in MZL Debeli rtič, but it is still also in Ankaran as mentioned. more: http://www.pzs.si/novice.php?pid=8255.



IN ONE GO, THE FASTEST... FRIEND, WALK SLOWLY!

Estimates of how long it takes to walk the Slovenian Mountain Trail vary. If walking moderately, it could be done in one go in 28 days.

The fastest it has ever been completed or run in history was in 2012 by Klemen Triler, more: http://www.pzs.si/novice.php?pid=7247. Last year, Pia Peršič also completed the SPP in one go (in 30 days), http://www.pzs.si/novice.php?pid=7281.

However... A beginner systematically acquires mountaineering knowledge, skills and experience on it. When he walks the entire trail, he is already an experienced, knowledgeable mountaineer, with strengthened spiritual values that such a trail gives, shapes and preserves. Therefore, the Slovenian Mountain Trail is not just for collecting stamps. Ivan Šumljak gives us advice: "Friend, walk slowly! You can really do the transversal in one month, but walk rather five years. Then you will get more from it, much, much more. The honorary badge will wait for you!"



Exhibition about the Slovenian Mountain Trail

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Slovenian Mountain Trail, so the Alpine Association of Slovenia has prepared an exhibition that has so far been shown in the Regional Archives Maribor, Celje, Central Library in Koper, Cultural Center in Miklavž na Dravskem polju, Hoče Library. At the end of summer, it will be hosted at the Maribor Hut on Pohorje.



Briefly along the Slovenian Mountain Trail

(adapted from Janez Černilc's record by Borut Peršolja)



The Slovenian Mountain Trail starts in Radvnja near Maribor (270 m), from where it climbs to Pohorje, a 60-kilometer long mountain range with the highest point at Črni vrh (1543 m) and numerous mountain huts and ski lifts. To the west, it descends to Slovenj Gradec (410 m), from where it climbs to the Carinthian solitary Uršlja gora (1699 m). From there, the trail continues via Smrekovec (1577 m) and Komna (1684 m) to Raduha (2062 m) and past Bukovnik (1327 m), the highest lying farm in Slovenia, descends to Solčava (642 m) in the Upper Savinja Valley.



Through the picturesque landscape park Robanov kot, it first reaches the foothills of the high mountains. Via Molička planina (1780 m) with the renovated second oldest Slovenian mountain hut, named after Fran Kocbek, via Korošica (1808 m) it climbs to Ojstrica (2350 m), our second most beautiful mountain. Then we continue to Planjava (2394 m) and via Kamniško sedlo (1864 m) to Brana (2252 m), Turska gora (2251 m), Skuta (2532 m) and past Kokrško sedlo (1793 m) to Grintovec (2558 m), the highest peak of the Kamnik-Savinja Alps. Via Kočna (2540 m) and Češka koča at Spodnje Ravne (1542 m) we descend to Zgornje Jezersko (880 m), which was once considered a healing resort.



Storžič (2132 m) with views awaits us, via Tolsti vrh (1715 m) and Kriška gora (1471 m) we descend to Tržič (515 m), which was once an important industrial town. Then the trail climbs again to Dobrča (1634 m) and past Roblekov dom (1657 m) to Begunjščica (2060 m). On Stol (2236 m), the highest peak of the Karawanks, there is an inscription in Slovenian and German: Mountains of Friendship. The trail continues under the ridge through high mountain pastures to Golica (1835 m), below which there are extensive meadows with the famous narcissus.



When we descend to the valley, we come to Dovje (704 m), where the parish priest Jakob Aljaž worked for many years, the author of the mountaineering anthem Oj, Triglav, moj dom. From Mojstrana (641 m), where the Slovenian Mountaineering Museum is located, the trail goes through the Vrata valley past the Peričnik waterfall to Aljažev dom (1015 m). To Kredarica (2515 m) with the highest lying mountain hut in our country leads a steep path across the famous North Triglav Wall and further to Triglav (2864 m), which with the Aljaž Tower is our highest peak and national symbol. Via Kriški podi (2050 m) with high mountain lakes, Razor (2601 m) and Prisank (2547 m) we reach Vršič (1611 m), a mountain pass between Gorenjska and Trenta with five mountain huts. The trail to Jalovec (2645 m), our - in the opinion of many - most beautiful mountain, whose image is also in the coat of arms of the Alpine Association of Slovenia, is initially easy, but extremely difficult in the last part.



From there we descend to Trenta with the source of the Soča, our most beautiful river. Then through Zadnjica we climb again to Prehodavci (2071 m) and to the Valley of the Triglav Lakes or the Valley of the Seven Lakes (1685 m). Here the beginnings of the present Triglav National Park were born. Via Komna (1520 m) and along the Krn Lakes (1385 m) we climb to the panoramic Krn (2244 m). From there the trail leads along the northern slope of the Lower Bohinj Mountains across Vogel (1922 m) to Črna prst (1844 m), below which a mountain hut was recently rebuilt on the site of the former oldest Slovenian Orožnova mountain hut. Then we cross the Cerkno and Idrija hills to Idrija (325 m) with once the world's second largest mercury mine.



Via Trnovski gozd and Javornik (1240 m) we reach Nanos (1313 m) and via Vremščica (1027 m) to Slavnik (1028 m), the last thousand on this trail. From there it is not far to the Adriatic Sea, where the Slovenian Mountain Trail ends in Ankaran (8 m).



MOUNTAIN TRAILS AND THE LARGEST FAMILY

In Slovenia, you can choose from as many as 78 mountain circular trails (long-distance trails/ including the Slovenian Mountain Trail) and also the European long-distance paths E6, E7 (marked with a red circle with a yellow dot), on which we get to know Slovenia from north to south (E6) and from east to west (E7). On the International Year of Mountains (2002), eight mountaineering organizations of Alpine countries prepared a long Alpine circular trail - the Via Alpina trail, which runs from Italy through Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, France, Switzerland to Monaco. Otherwise, there are a total of 1661 mountain trails in Slovenia with a total length of 9000 km, which is half more kilometers than all Slovenian state roads (motorways, expressways, main and regional roads). An incredible fact that is even more astonishing because all mountain trails in Slovenia are maintained by mountaineering societies and the PZS Mountain Trails Commission markers voluntarily. In Slovenia this year we have 598 registered markers and trainees (the number will be slightly higher by the end of the year, as some markers will meet the registration conditions during the year). So far, more than 1200 people have completed the marker course. Also because of respect for markers, maintained mountain trails and huts, voluntary work - and not just because of insurance, discounts in mountain huts and sports stores and belonging to the mountains, visitors join the largest family - the mountaineering organization - the Alpine Association of Slovenia with even greater joy, which in 2013 united 278 mountaineering societies and clubs in Slovenia, http://www.pzs.si/drustva.php, with a total of 57,520 members - mountaineers, climbers, hikers, alpinists, mountain bikers and skiers, lovers of mountain nature, with young and youngest enthusiastic mountaineers, markers, PZS guides... The Alpine Association of Slovenia, one of the largest and oldest volunteer organizations in Slovenia, celebrates the 120th anniversary of the establishment of the Slovenian Mountaineering Association this year, of which PZS is the successor. You can join the mountaineering organization already in some mountain huts (there will be more next year), visitors to the mountains can also join via the website of the Alpine Association of Slovenia (http://www.pzs.si/vclanitev1.php).



RENOVATED MOUNTAIN TRAILS IN 2013

Markers of the Alpine Association of Slovenia regularly maintain and renovate mountain trails, during the snow-free season, that is, in the summer months, also the most demanding ones. In the all-Slovenian action supported by the Olympic Committee of Slovenia and Helios with its colors, the markers renovated the markings on the following sections of the Slovenian Mountain Trails in the Julijci: Koča pri izviru Soče - Zavetišče pod Špičkom, Koča pri izviru Soče – 50th hairpin Vršiška cesta, 50th hairpin Vršiška cesta – Zadnjica – Luknja, Vrata - Luknja – Bovški Gamsovec, Vršič – Zavetišče pod Špičkom, Vršič – ridge trail to Prisojnik, Prisojnik (Slovenian trail) and Vršič – Mlinarica (southern trail). Carinthian markers renovated mountain trails: Dom na Smrekovcu – Bela peč, Grmovškov dom – Koča pod Kremžarjevim vrhom and Koča v Grohotu pod Raduho - Durce - Raduha.

This year they plan to renovate among others: mountain trail on the Kočna ridge, trail to Velika Baba, trail from Plesnikova planina to Klemenča cave, trail from Raduha to Rogovilec, trails to Begunjščica and Rož, Ruše – Šumnik, from Lepena to Krn Lakes, to Čret, Šavnice, from Krnica to Špik, trail to Jeterbenk and Tošč, trail to Planjava, Kamniško sedlo and Votel.

Currently, due to a rockfall from Razor, the mountain trail (also Slovenian Mountain Trail) in Julijci running from Mlinarica (direction from Vršič) across Planja saddle to Kriške pode is still closed. The mountain trail to Razor is also closed.

Follow: Notices on the condition of mountain trails.

Within the Alpine Association of Slovenia, there is also the campaign A Small Contribution for a Distinct Impression, in which with a contribution of 1 EUR you help renovate mountain trails (send SMS with keyword "POT" to 1919).



SLOVENIAN MOUNTAINS ARE VISITED ANNUALLY BY ALMOST A MILLION AND A HALF VISITORS

Mountaineering societies manage 176 mountain huts, shelters and bivouacs with about 6,000 beds. All mountain huts together with shelters are open, only Dom Petra Skalarja on Kanin (2260 m) is closed.

Slovenian mountains are visited annually by over 1.4 million visitors, regularly more than 315,000 Slovenians go to the hills. Certainly, mountain visits in recent years, especially in recent days, show that we Slovenians are still a mountaineering, hiking nation, where mountaineering is the most popular form of recreation and sports activity, when 2.8 percent of Slovenia's population is a member of the Alpine Association of Slovenia. We also notice that more and more Slovenians spend part of their annual vacation in the embrace of Slovenian mountains and mountain huts, although this season started a little later due to the long winter, but mountain trails and huts are now very visited.



We wish all mountaineers, mountain visitors a safe journey and safe step on all their trails and ascents. But we warn everyone to go to the mountains and on their mountain trails properly equipped, choose the trails suitable for their psychophysical abilities, check the weather forecast, trail conditions and hut openings before departure, set off early enough and inform loved ones about your trails and plans. Sign in the summit books at peaks and in mountain huts and always keep in mind that you are only halfway when you reach the top - our goal is to get home safely.