Even mountain path markers in the high mountains need good conditions

Even mountain path markers in the high mountains need good conditions, just like mountaineers.

The summer mountaineering season is at its peak, and on the mountain trails, in addition to numerous mountaineers, there are also volunteer path markers of the Alpine Association of Slovenia (PZS). The path markers, who ensure a safer step for mountain enthusiasts on more than ten thousand kilometres of mountain trails, perform more than 40 thousand volunteer hours annually. The Technical Group of the PZS Commission for Mountain Trails, which in summer maintains the most demanding mountain trails in the high mountains, also needs stable weather and good conditions for its work in order to safely repair damaged and exposed trails, on which extreme weather conditions and climate change also leave major consequences. For the second year, the path markers have been installing new directional signs with more visible markings for the technical difficulty of mountain trails, and at the beginning of July a record 255 volunteers from all over Slovenia gathered on the Day of Slovenian Path Markers in Vrhnika, in the vicinity of which they maintained 220 kilometres of mountain trails.

The network of more than 10 thousand kilometres of mountain trails and around two thousand kilometres of mountain biking trails in Slovenia is maintained by 989 volunteer path markers of the Alpine Association of Slovenia, who last year dedicated more than 41 thousand volunteer hours to trail maintenance. Of these, more than 2500 were performed by the PZS technical group of path markers, which organises and carries out actions on the most demanding mountain trails equipped with pitons, foot pegs, steel cables, staples, carved steps, built-up ledges and other demanding elements.

The Technical Group of the PZS Commission for Mountain Trails annually carries out between 12 and 20 work actions to repair demanding and very demanding mountain trails, depending on the weather, the availability of path markers and a helicopter for transporting cargo and equipment. In 2025 they carried out 14 work actions, and this year already six. On the Shepherd's Trail from Suhadolnik to Kokrsko sedlo, new steps and erosion protection were installed and the trail was equipped with steel safety features. The Posočje section of the technical group took care of reinforcing pitons on the trail on Svinjak and with new steel safety features for a safer summit ascent to Rombon, while the path markers of the Koroška section of the technical group installed pitons, carved steps and cleaned the trail on Olševa between Obel kamen and Govca on demanding terrain. The PZS technical group of path markers also took care of steel cables and pitons on the trail to Bovški Gamsovec and on the section between Kredarica and Mali Triglav, where high visitor numbers and frequent lightning strikes cause damage to the safety features every year. A total of 48 path markers participated in these actions, dedicating 515 volunteer hours to work on the most demanding terrain; in a total of 12 working days they repaired or restored 8.5 kilometres of trails in the high mountains. At four of these actions, the police assisted with transport using a helicopter.



In July, the PZS technical group of path markers, led by Boštjan Gortnar, repaired the trail from Kredarica to Mali Triglav in the Julian Alps – in three days they replaced 150 metres of worn, torn or damaged steel cables and added some new pitons to extend the existing steel cables. They still have one stretch left to Mali Triglav, which they plan to arrange in August, and the replacement of 250 metres of steel cable to the summit of Triglav, which awaits them next summer. Due to high exposure to lightning strikes, some of the steel cables replaced this year will certainly already be damaged by the end of this season. "Our work looks like climbing Triglav, except that you have tools in your hands, you drill holes, tension steel cables, tighten clamps. All this has to be brought to the worksite; the police aviation unit brought it by helicopter to Kredarica, and we ourselves carry an average of 20 kilograms of heavy loads to the worksite. During work we are constantly in place, secured with climbing equipment and attached to an anchor point. We must take care of our own safety and the safety of everyone around us, as during our work rocks can be dislodged, so we occasionally close the mountain trail so that we and the mountaineers are safe," emphasises a long-standing member of the PZS technical group of path markers.

Mountaineers sometimes – especially on social networks – express dissatisfaction that path markers work right at the peak of the summer mountaineering season, but Gortnar explains: "Actions in the high mountains are usually multi-day, so we need accommodation in a mountain hut, which are open only from the end of June to the end of September, as returning to the valley would be a waste of time. The second factor is the weather. We are out in the field all day, so we need as stable weather as possible; if the hut is close, we can take shelter during a thunderstorm, but if it is further away, we cannot count on that. In addition, outside the season there can still be snow at least in the high mountains, and we also fear thunderstorms, especially on the Triglav ridge we are very exposed, so we look for stable weather, ideal conditions – like every mountaineer – as we are even more exposed to adverse weather. Since the police provide us with transport of cargo and crew by helicopter, we are tied to their schedules, of course also to the availability of path markers or our leave dedicated to maintaining mountain trails."



During larger work actions by path markers, the mountain trail is usually closed and mountaineers are directed to one of the other approaches, but as Gortnar says, they cannot imagine closing the Triglav ridge in summer, so they carried out occasional closures of the mountain trail and let mountaineers pass when the trail was again safely passable. Almost everyone thanked the path markers for their work, and they did not complain too much if they had to wait. As the leader of numerous technical actions on Triglav, he also observes that more and more mountaineers, including foreigners, want to climb the highest Slovenian mountain, but not all are properly equipped and experienced, so path markers also seek compromises on how to ensure a safer ascent of Triglav.

In the Kamnik-Savinja Alps in June, a three-day action of the PZS technical group of path markers was led by Jurij Videc. On the Shepherd's Trail from Suhadolnik to Kokrsko sedlo, which had been closed for a long time due to a landslide, new steps and erosion protection were installed and the trail was equipped with steel safety features. During a weather disaster two years ago, when Kokra was cut off from the world, a torrent also carried away several metres of soil and rocks on the mountain trails from the Suhadolnik farm towards Kokrsko sedlo: "The flood wave in the gully inlet also carried away the Shepherd's Trail up to five metres deep. In the lower part we therefore slightly relocated the route, and higher up we restored and appropriately secured the trail, as the disaster left major consequences. Our priority task was to ensure at least one safe access to Cojzova koča from the Kranj side before the start of the summer mountaineering season, so we arranged the Shepherd's Trail. The trail over Taška remains closed for the time being due to complete destruction, the dilapidation of wooden safety features and more demanding restoration that will require more material and more demanding logistics," says the experienced path marker.



Climate change, such as increasingly warmer winters, and extreme weather events leave major consequences on mountain trails, which is why the Alpine Association of Slovenia, together with the organisation CIPRA Slovenia, is implementing the project Sustainable to the Mountains for their climate resilience, co-financed by the Eco Fund, the Slovenian Environmental Public Fund and the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning with funds from the climate fund. "Extreme amounts of precipitation in a short time cause a violent torrential runoff, which carries away large quantities of soil, stones and other material. Problems are further increased by clear-cuts and logging near the forest line, and shortcuts also contribute their share, as they accelerate erosion and damage to mountain trails. Mountaineers can contribute a lot simply by walking on marked trails, staying on the upper edge of the trodden route and not creating shortcuts. This prevents the removal of soil and turf, which is clearly visible for example on the trail towards Studorski preval or Begunjščica, where erosion is already very pronounced due to numerous parallel paths. In addition to responsible behaviour by visitors, regular trail maintenance – from arranging drainage to cleaning – is also crucial, as weather disasters are becoming more frequent and intense. We must also take into account that our limestone is considerably more susceptible to crumbling," explains Jurij Videc.

If the weather permits and volunteers, members of the PZS technical group of path markers, are available, the following technical actions are still planned this year: the second part on the most demanding mountain trail 2025 Logarska dolina–Okrešelj–Kamniško sedlo, maintenance of the most demanding mountain trail 2026 Zadnja Trenta–Bavški Grintavec, where path markers were driven away by bad weather with thunderstorms in July, the second part of the action on Begunjščica, in the Kamnik-Savinja Alps the section Škarje–Ojstrica and the trail to Dolško škrbina; in autumn also from Logarska dolina to Klemenča jama and further to Krofička, and in Posočje the maintenance of the trail from Loška Koritnica to the Čez Brežice pass. Mountaineers can also help path markers! If they notice that a mountain trail is damaged or impassable, they can, via the maPZS application – which they can also reach via the QR code on posters installed in mountain huts – photograph the damaged part and describe the problems. The mountaineering club responsible for the trail will receive a notification and thus path markers will be able to plan their activities more easily.

July is also the month when dedicated path markers traditionally celebrate with brushes and scissors in their hands. Since 2013, every first Saturday in July they gather in another part of Slovenia and with joint forces maintain mountain trails. This year, a record 255 volunteers gathered on the Day of Slovenian Path Markers on 4 July in Vrhnika. Organised into work groups, they set off to more than 50 different worksites in the near and far vicinity of Cankar's birthplace – from Polhograjska Grmada via Dragomer hills, Koreno, Planina, Sveti trije kralji and Medvedji Brdo, past the sources of the Ljubljanica via Menišija to the Krim forests and Jezero. They marked and cleaned as many as 168 sections of registered mountain trails with a total length of approximately 220 kilometres. The volunteer PZS path markers invested around two thousand working hours in their work.

Last year, the Alpine Association of Slovenia introduced new directional signs, which are gradually replacing the current ones – path markers have already installed around three thousand of them. The directional signs provide information about destinations on the mountain trail, walking time to them, the mountaineering club that maintains that section of the trail, and the technical difficulty of the mountain trail, which is more visible on the new signs in a combination of black and yellow. All new signs have added logos of long-distance trails along which they run, as well as a location plate with altitude, the number 112 for emergency calls and a QR code that connects us to the maPZS application. Similar location plates with an added stamp have also been installed by the mountaineering organisation at all mountain huts or other checkpoints of the Slovenian Mountain Trail and the Slovenian Mountain Biking Trail, so that mountaineers can stamp their logbooks even if the hut is closed.