If summer hill climbers are in flip-flops, winter excursionists are with fur.
Shorter day, lower temperatures, harder access to starting points, more difficult movement and orientation. These are all challenges that winter brings for hikers. The Slovenian Mountaineering Association therefore wants to encourage mountain lovers to tackle lower-lying destinations in the mountains in winter, preferably those we already know from summer. A winter mountain destination can already be one of the mountain huts, of which more than a hundred are open in winter throughout Slovenia. But even to get there, one must go safely and cautiously, as the conditions are different from summer, which many take too carelessly.
"It would be hard to say that we have a stereotype that is typical for summer and typical for winter, nor would I divide it by nationalities anymore, although we used to really call it that. Today it's a mixture of everything," the vice-president of the Slovenian Mountaineering Association (PZS) Martin Šolar rejects the cliché about Czech tourists in sandals, who were accused of causing work for mountain rescuers. "Those who go unprepared into the mountains don't even differ between summer and winter. In summer they have shorts and (too) small backpacks, in winter a jacket with a cat, because it's trendy. It's warm, but still not enough for mountain conditions," he begins to tell for 24ur.com.
"Not long ago I was on Slemen above Vršič, where I saw all sorts of things – local real mountaineers, Sunday nature visitors from Slovenia, foreigners. And in this wide population, you still find people who have a fine jacket with fur trim, because they were strolling around Kranjska Gora or by Lake Bled and then said they would go to the snow. They have sneakers on, white ones, because that's trendy now, and they say, well, this is a good shoe, and they go further. Because they see their car relatively close, people don't imagine that in nature, in the mountains, things change very quickly," he shakes his head.
He also grabs his head when he remembers a certain October afternoon. "It was late afternoon, the day was shortening. We were on a guided excursion, returning from the Seven Triglav Lakes, when we meet a group marching up the path. I stop and ask where they are going. One answers me in English that to the lakes, another didn't even know and pointed to the guide. In front was some young man in shorts, on October 20, with a cap and a small backpack. Like, there's a hut there. My dears, do you even know when the hut is open!? The hut is closed from then and then," the boy's irresponsibility surprised him. "Of course, this wasn't a qualified mountain guide, he was just some kind of group leader. People went very thoughtlessly and unprepared into things that are not so very simple," Šolar is clear.
Uniform signs are coming so people will be more aware of what awaits them
At PZS, they point out that many people, especially foreigners who go to our mountains, actually don't know what awaits them on the way. "They use various applications and maps, where only some line is drawn, which doesn't tell the average tourist much. On real maps, paths are marked in three levels – easy, demanding and very demanding path, so solid, dashed and dotted line, but this is not on many applications that people use," emphasizes Šolar.
Therefore, at PZS they decided, following the example of abroad, to also place uniformly designed signs in Slovenian and English under very demanding secured paths in Slovenia. They propose 30 of them, six have already been placed this year, for example under Mala Mojstrovka, Prisojnik, Komarča, Storžič.
On the map also a path that erosion may have already carried away in the meantime
At the same time, the mountains themselves are changing, in the light of climate changes on the international day of mountains, which was celebrated this week, they warn at the Slovenian Mountaineering Association.
"The fact that in mid-December we stand on a meadow 1000 meters high, which is bare, we look around and notice only patches of snow, lets us know that something is happening, changes are undoubtedly here. Extreme precipitation, droughts, different water capacities also affect us who go to the mountains. Falling rocks, debris flows, paths and huts are under attack, consequently safety. On the map there may be an easy mountain path that crosses some gullies, but a few days ago there could have been a storm and erosion carried away the path," illustrates the vice-president of the association, as we walk from the direction of Grahovš towards the Dom pod Storžičem, and above us rises the mighty peak, which is a demanding destination already in summer, in winter it is a real alpine tour.
PZS therefore wants to encourage mountain lovers to tackle lower-lying destinations in the mountains in winter. Šolar suggests destinations for winter that we already know from summer. "The day is shorter, weather conditions change quickly, equipment is different, it's cold, and orientationally things are very different. You won't see the path if there's 20 centimeters of snow, you won't see markings on rocks, on spruces they will be blurred," illustrates Šolar, who at the same time calls on hikers to rather choose tours in winter that have a mountain hut as their destination.
Before departure, check what and when is open
On the PZS website, they regularly update the list of currently open posts, of which there are more than 200 in Slovenia, and a great many are also open in winter. They listed some winter destinations, such as Krim, Nanos, Slavnik, Vremščica, Kum, Blegoš, Pohorje, Mrzlica, Lisca, Boč, Snežnik, Slivnica, Trdinov vrh, Čaven, Kofce, Lubnik. With visits to huts, we also support their operation, they add.
The goal of the PZS press conference at the beginning of the winter season in the mountains was also a hut, Dom pod Storžičem, which is open in winter on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. "Tržič is a destination where paths to all surrounding hills practically start in the center of the town, for which on one hand there are natural givens, on the other hand the development of paths and construction of mountain huts are connected with the railway, with which mountaineers once arrived. From Tržič to Dom pod Storžičem it's a good two hours walk, from Grahovš, where there is an arranged parking lot, a good hour. Depending on conditions, parking lots are also higher along the road, whereby the path shortens, but I recommend at least the approach over Senožeti, where in less than half an hour we climb to the house," explained the president of the Tržič Mountaineering Society, local Uroš Ahačič.
In winter, mistakes add up even more
At the same time, PZS professional associate and mountain guide Miha Habjan emphasizes that one must be aware that in winter starting points to mountain huts can be disabled due to snow, so sometimes the tour must be started earlier, and prepare well already at home. We must think things through at home already, how they will proceed, so that it will be easier in the field, he encourages. "But even an ordinary hiking tour is different in winter conditions than in summer," he adds.
"Footwear is already the one that is extremely important, hiking boots over the ankles with appropriate soles. Although the terrain is bare, we can still come to areas where there is snow, icing. Therefore, it is recommended to have with you the so-called chains or 'ketnce', a device that we put on our feet and enables our step on some not too exposed terrain to be so solid that we won't fall or slip. But with these we must not go to high mountains at all, these are not the real crampons," he warns about the difference with the real high-mountain device.
He also shows other things that he pulls from the backpack: "Clothes should be suitable for winter conditions, in the backpack there should be additional ones. Hat, gloves. We must be aware that the day is shorter. Headlamp. Spare battery for the phone, which I keep warm," he grabs his chest pocket. "We must be aware that if something goes wrong in winter, things can add up and from a small problem over time a bigger one can arise. In winter we must be even more thoughtful and really choose destinations that we are up to, this is one of the key things," he lays on the heart.
"The peak, saddle or hut, that is the point we reached the highest and where we then turn around, is only half the way, we still need to go to the valley. Walking downhill can already be harder in summer conditions, as there is a greater possibility of slipping, in winter this is even more pronounced. In addition, at the top we can already be very tired and have used most of that daily conditioning potential, but we may not have thought that the descent still awaits us. Therefore, already at home, in preparations for the tour, we must calculate that the descent is just as important as the ascent itself," he emphasized in the conversation for 24ur.com.
You risk and you lose
Although in recent days temperatures in the mountains are quite high, in high mountains there are real winter conditions – above 2500 meters there can already be more than a meter of snow. "Especially on sunny slopes the snow melts during the day, freezes at night, so there are more possibilities for icy ground there. Otherwise, the snow is transforming in these conditions, but on higher shady slopes it can still be untransformed. Currently there is no increased avalanche danger, but locally conditions can also be unfavorable from the standpoint of the firmness of the snow cover. Most mountain paths together with markings are snow-covered in high mountains, which makes orientation difficult. In short, in high mountains it's real winter and if we head there, we must be appropriately fully prepared for the tour," Habjan is clear.
Unfortunately, sometimes even that is not enough. "The preparation for the tour can be right, experiences appropriate, equipment suitable, but simply bad luck happens. But it's not bad luck if one day after snowfall, in wonderful weather, with prime equipment, an avalanche buries you. That was a planned mistake, thoughtlessness, you risked and lost," Šolar is realistic.
A sunny weekend after abundant snowfall almost always brings news of rescue from the mountains. "When new snow falls and the weather is nice, it just pulls," he admits.
But often extreme athletes also pull, he says. "We have people who ski from the top of Triglav, with snowboard through Jalovčev kuloar," he lists. "But they have a much higher level of knowledge, they engage for example in alpinism, in extreme sports, where the risk is much greater. Laymen don't distinguish this and think, ah, he went too. Of course, all these also published that they were already on snow, that they already went. And this is problematic, that they don't realize how serious the story is behind," he concludes.
Source:
https://www.24ur.com/novice/slovenija/ce-so-poletni-hribolazci-v-japonkah-so-zimski-izletniki-s-krznom.html