Alpine Association of Slovenia Celebrates 130th Anniversary

The Alpine Association of Slovenia (PZS), one of the most mass-based non-governmental and volunteer organizations in Slovenia, celebrated its 130th anniversary on Monday, February 27, 2023. The event honoring this venerable anniversary took place at Kino Bežigrad. The keynote speakers were Minister for the Economy, Tourism and Sport Matjaž Han and PZS President Jože Rovan.

The Alpine Association of Slovenia is the successor to the Slovenian Alpine Association, which was founded on February 27, 1893, in the garden salon at Malič in Knafljev prehod in Ljubljana, where the Nama department store now stands. The first president of the association was Fran Orožen. The mission of the Alpine Association of Slovenia, 130 years later, is similar to what it was at its inception: to cultivate Slovenian alpine heritage, carry out volunteer work, and promote mountaineering as a way of life.

"Mountaineers proudly remember the path our organization has taken. It sprang from love for the mountains and at the same time as an expression of resistance against their Germanization. With great enthusiasm, still in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, mountaineers marked trails, the first huts grew, and Planinski vestnik began to be published. Until the First World War, which took many lives and left numerous scars in the mountains and unfairly cut off a large part of Slovenian national territory. After the war, the Slovenian Alpine Association invested enormous energy in rebuilding huts and building trails, membership grew, and the young Skalaši focused mainly on alpinism, even filming the first Slovenian films. And then another war, with numerous victims. After the war, based on the legacy of SPD and Skala, a new alpine organization, the Alpine Association of Slovenia, was established. Mountaineering became one of the most mass-based sports activities, with its sporting peak in alpinism and sport climbing, with world-class successes," emphasized PZS President Jože Rovan in his speech.

Minister for the Economy, Tourism and Sport Matjaž Han also highlighted in his speech the exceptional contribution of mountaineering to shaping the foundations of the Slovenian nation. "The foundations for having our own state today were laid in the 19th century also by the first mountaineers and alpinists. Personalities such as Jakob Aljaž, Dr. Julius Kugy, Dr. Henrik Tuma, and Franc Kocbek and their collaborators were visionaries; they too deserve credit for the fact that Triglav proudly stands in the coat of arms on the flag of our state, Slovenia. A symbol of the love of freedom, uprightness, and indomitability of our nation. Sincere thanks to the Alpine Association of Slovenia and its predecessors for this important and indelible contribution to the history of the Slovenian nation and the Republic of Slovenia. Our historical duty is to continue supporting the development of mountaineering, alpine associations, huts, and alpine trails." He added that the ministry will establish systematic funding for the maintenance of alpine trails in addition to support for the renovation of alpine huts and high-altitude centers. "This year and next year, we will allocate 800 thousand euros to the Alpine Association of Slovenia and its associations together with path markers for the maintenance and marking of alpine trails and for the training of path markers."

According to 2022 data, the Alpine Association of Slovenia brings together 297 associations with 60,744 members, which, relative to the population of the Republic of Slovenia, represents 2.8 percent of the total population. However, at least 350,000 of our citizens go to the mountains, and more and more foreigners, for whom there is a network of over 2,000 alpine trails totaling more than 10,000 kilometers throughout Slovenia. The alpine trails throughout Slovenia are maintained by trained path markers; in 2022, there were 907 registered PZS path markers.

PZS is the carrier and implementer of numerous professional training programs through which it trains group leaders, nature guardians, PZS guides for leading in dry and snowy conditions, touring cycling guides, alpinists, path markers, sport climbers, trainers and instructors of sport climbing, and instructors of all kinds. The association includes world-recognized alpinism activities and competitive sports such as sport climbing, competitive ice climbing, competitive ski touring, and orienteering.


70 Years of the Slovenian Mountain Trail


In 2023, the oldest connecting alpine trail in Slovenia and one of the oldest such trails in the world, the Slovenian Mountain Trail, also celebrates its 70th anniversary. In 1953, PZS opened the "Slovenian Alpine Transversal No. 1" on the initiative of enthusiastic Maribor mountain lover Ivan Šumljak, in honor of the 60th anniversary of organized mountaineering in our country. The trail's popularity is evidenced by the sale of over 200,000 alpine logbooks and the fact that nearly 11,000 mountaineers have completed the 617.4-kilometer trail in its entirety.

Alpine associations manage 179 alpine huts, shelters, bivouacs, and educational centers with nearly 7,400 beds and over 10,000 seats. Rest stops for tired mountaineers are scattered throughout the mountains and hills of the entire Slovenia.


Mountains have always been an inspiration to individuals as well as to the alpine organization, so President Rovan highlighted the necessity of respecting nature in his speech. "Unbridled economic development has driven society to the brink, so we recognize the necessity of sustainable development and are increasingly aware of environmental limitations. Mountaineers have proven ourselves in the past as guardians of the natural environment and we wish to continue this commitment; with appropriate self-limitation in alpine activities, exemplary trail maintenance, energy and environmental modernization of huts. For the latter, we expect help from the state, because in the mountains, despite the significant contribution of volunteer work, the pure economic calculation simply does not work out."

The concept and direction of the event for the 130th anniversary of the Alpine Association of Slovenia, which, along with excerpts from the first Slovenian feature film In the Kingdom of Zlatorog, offers a modern, fresh, and vivid look back, were signed by Nuša Komplet Peperko and Ajda Tomazin. Just as President Rovan emphasized the necessity of protecting the mountain world, the closing of the event featured words from the Honorary Code of Slovenian Mountaineers. "Natural riches and beauties are the source from which mountaineering draws its strength and mission, therefore with respectful love for everything connected with it."


Respectful and safe steps in the mountains!