Encyclopedia of the Carnic Alps, which even the Italians don't have

The diverse Carnic Alps, an extensive mountain group between the Julian Alps and the Dolomites, despite their geographical proximity to Slovenia, remain mysterious and less visited than the famous neighboring mountains, but are becoming increasingly interesting for Slovenian mountain lovers. With the selective guide by Vladimir Habjan and Irena Mušič Habjan, published this summer by Planinska založba, Slovenes are getting virtually an encyclopedia of the Carnic Alps, since even the Italians do not have such a comprehensive guide to this mountain range, which stretches far to the south from the Austrian-Italian border to the Friulian plain.

"What is the charm of the Carnics? When you climb one peak, a palette of others opens up that simply invite you. And there are plenty of mountains, always something new, some new inviting peak, new valleys, new paths... The other charm is the immense wilderness of the highlands, some areas are completely remote and there you feel as if centuries ago, alone with nature," Vladimir Habjan and Irena Mušič Habjan sent off the guide Carnic Alps - Between the Julians and the Dolomites on its way to readers and mountain visitors. The selective guide, which editor Andrej Stritar called an "encyclopedia of the Carnic Alps," was published in summer by Planinska založba, and in autumn it visited its home together with the authors and a handful of journalists. The authors will present it to a wider audience, among other things, in November at the Slovenian Book Fair and at the Oto Župančič Library in Ljubljana and at the France Balantič Library in Kamnik.

The lifelong, mountaineering and journalistic companions first tasted the delight of the Carnic Alps two decades ago, when on New Year's Eve 2004 they ski-toured up to Lepi Vršič, on the easternmost foothills of the Carnic Alps, and gazed at the multitude of mountains to the west - at that time they could not have imagined in their wildest dreams that in the next 15 years they would circle all the highest peaks of this wonderful range. Three years later they crossed the rocky pyramid of Monte Sernio, a demanding mountain goal above the Val Aupa valley, that time without snow. The year 2007 thus marks the beginning of their long journey across the peaks of the Carnic range, to which they returned more than 150 times, and crowned it in 2023 with the publication of the guide.

"The Carnic Alps are so vast that we, squeezed into our small piece of three Slovenian high mountain groups, the Julian Alps, Kamnik-Savinja Alps and Karavanke, can hardly imagine that one single range covers such a large area, so it is understandable that not all parts of these mountains are known to us. While we still know the nearby goals across the border, this certainly decreases with distance and sooner or later we reach almost unknown mountain groups. We took this into account in the selection of proposed tours. There are more proposals for day tours and hikes, fewer for longer ones, but the goals are evenly distributed across all areas, so no essentially important peak is missing, and above all every mountain group is represented," explains Vladimir Habjan, also the editor of Planinska založba and Planinski vestnik.

The Habjan couple's selective guide to the Carnic Alps covers 356 pages presenting the extensive area between the Julian Alps and the Dolomites from the extreme eastern edge of the range with the grassy Ojstrnik to Piancavallo above the Friulian plain. An indispensable part of mountaineering literature, it describes a hundred excursions and mountain tours of various difficulties, from easy to very demanding - it covers 110 peaks, two gorges, 55 marked paths, eight climbing routes, 51 unmarked paths and four alpinistic ascents, and in addition describes the Carnic connecting trail and a circular tour between huts above the Cimoliana valley.

Even the Italians do not have such a comprehensive guide to the Carnic Alps, so a possible publication in Italian would be great recognition for both the authors and Planinska založba of the Alpine Association of Slovenia. "Although this is a selective guide, with this book Slovenes are getting virtually an encyclopedia of the Carnic Alps. I can hardly imagine presenting this range to our hikers any better. I am convinced that for many years and decades it will be a joy and help to generations of lovers of the useless but so beautiful world!" says established mountaineering publicist and Carnic expert Andrej Stritar.

The clear introductory part provides useful information about the Carnic Alps, their mountain groups, peaks, valleys, passes and starting points, presents the characteristics of the range, paths, huts and bivouacs, suggests literature and maps for visiting these mountains and gives practical tips for carrying out tours. The core of the guide, richly equipped with color photographs, consists of precise descriptions of ascents, from the easiest to tours with a mountain guide. All tours are described in the same way, each also includes a difficulty rating, and for easier planning, a table of ascents by difficulty and tour length will be helpful. The Carnic Alps guide is the first Planinska založba guide to contain QR codes and is linked to the maPZS system.

"The difficulty of the selected ascents is well distributed, so the Carnic Alps guide is really intended for all mountain lovers, people just need to open up outward to visit them and discover the beauty of these mountains too. Some selected goals are suitable for family visits, as they include valley and gorge excursions and to grassy peaks, many ascents are for lovers of marked secured paths, including some increasingly popular sports via ferratas, and experienced mountaineers who are already eyeing alpinism will also get their money's worth," emphasizes Irena Mušič Habjan. With her husband, they are a well-tuned team in creating guides, as the Carnic Alps are their fourth joint guide, and in all of them the natural scientist and social scientist divide the work so that she takes care of the technical descriptions of the tours, and he of the more vivid introductions.

The Habjan couple, also alpinists and mountain rescuers, vividly presented the selective guide to a group of journalists on October 9, 2023, where it was created - in the Carnic Alps. For the goal, they chose the panoramic two-thousander Monte Zermula, located south of the central ridge of the Carnics above the Lonice pass, to which a characteristic narrow and winding road leads. During the shady ascent along the secured Via Ferrata Monte Zermula (Friends of the Mountains ferrata), which crosses the north face, and the sunny descent along the mule track leading across the southern steep grassy slopes, they could experience two faces of the wild, mysterious and vast Carnics on the same tour. Below the 2143 m high summit, they peeked into a cavern from World War I, and from the panoramic two-thousander they admired the extent of the range and the extensive view of the nearby mountains above the Mokrine pass and south to the more distant Creto Grauzario and Monte Sernio and to the central ridge in the west with the chief Monte Coglians.