International Mountain Day: Mountains are important for young people

The United Nations General Assembly declared December 11, 2003, as International Mountain Day, and since then we have been observing it worldwide. The Alpine Association of Slovenia prepares a message every year for this day, which this year takes place under the slogan Mountains are important for young people, and its author is the Vice-President of PZS Roman Ponebšek.







This year's International Mountain Day is dedicated to young people, taking place under the slogan Mountains are important for young people - and I would venture to add the reverse: young people are important for the sustainable development of mountain areas. Mountains are home to twelve percent of the world's population. Sustainable development of mountain areas is crucial for improving the survival of these often poor and isolated people. It is very important to pay special attention to involving young people in global sustainable development in general, and especially in mountain areas, as they will be the future actors.







It often seems that much has been written about sustainable development and that on a principled level we all identify with the stated goals and are aware that mass tourism exceeds the capacity of the mountain environment to bear that burden. When it comes to implementing what has been written, which involves renunciation, we too often forget the principles of sustainable tourism and seek excuses for our actions that follow the principles of mass tourism of "supply and demand" without limits.







Mass tourism brings profits and opportunities, but if we want to preserve the mountain world, also as an option and opportunity for young people to stay or decide to live in the mountain world, we must find harmony between nature and humans. Nature has limited capacity to accept mass tourism, and therefore the countries of the Alpine arc have approached the signing of the Alpine Convention, which aims for sustainable development throughout the entire Alpine area.







The Mountain Villages project represents a shining example of implementing the Alpine Convention and an opportunity for young people to start a family and live a quality life in an authentic mountain environment. The project, led in Slovenia by the Alpine Association of Slovenia, practically implements sustainable development and the goals and protocols of the Alpine Convention, including tourism based on experiencing and observing nature, with an emphasis on hiking and activities that do not require large tourist infrastructure, mountain farming and forestry with local products, nature and landscape protection, sustainable mobility, preserved and living character of mountain villages. It is very important that young people who grew up in an environment not yet affected by tourism get the opportunity to live decently in their local environment and continue the tradition by preserving both heritage and environmentally friendly product development.







Numerous mountaineering camps organized by mountaineering societies are an opportunity for young people to authentically experience the mountain world. Participation of young people in a mountaineering camp is a unique opportunity for authentic experience of the mountain world, for learning, socializing, and making friends. A week of living in a tent, saving water, eating in an improvised dining room, cooking in an emergency kitchen, doing duty shifts, and every day a mountaineering hike - this is the pulse of a mountaineering camp that creates and preserves an imprint in young people. Participation in a mountaineering camp is etched in the memory of young people. Life at the camp is completely different from life at home. One must adapt to nature and friends. In the morning, you have to get up early and set out on a mountaineering tour. Although it is often difficult, the effort is rewarded countless times when we conquer the summit and are rewarded with magnificent views, a colorful blanket of alpine flowers, and a handshake in respect for the conquered peak. All this is priceless - and therefore mountains are important for young people. Of course, it is difficult to enthuse young people for mountaineering. In an era when everything is very easily accessible, when the virtual world blurs the real one and everything can be bought, the slogan Less is more, implemented in the Mountain Villages project, seems old-fashioned and even unnecessary. Parents often enthuse young people for the mountains. Mountaineering is a way of life, and many parents who experienced mountains in their youth want to pass on this wealth of experience to their children in the family - and that is priceless wealth.







So we can affirm that mountains are important for young people from many perspectives. What about the aspect of organization, which in many ways facilitates the experience of mountains? Without mountain trails and huts, experiencing the mountain world would be much more demanding. Without guides, it would be impossible to safely venture into the mountain world. How, in the age of digitalization and virtual reality, which is part of everyday life for young people, to encourage young people to join a traditional organization based on the values written in the code of honor, to embrace them and put them into practice? The mountaineering organization offers young people many opportunities for experience. Sport climbing, which is part of mountaineering, is very popular among young people, also due to the successes of our sport climbers. We must not overlook our successes in the Himalayas; this year marks four decades since we can proudly say that we Slovenians conquered the world's highest mountain. Davo Karničar added the finishing touch twenty years ago and was the first and to date the only Earthling to ski down from the roof of the world. Organized mountaineering began with the Triglav Friends in 1872, when Ivan Žan sent the rules of the Triglav Friends mountaineering society to the commission of the Carniolan provincial presidency. They felt the need for organization. Jakob Aljaž showed his love for mountains with his actions and with loyalty to the Slovenian nation ensured that we "preserved the Slovenian face of Slovenian mountains" when he bought the summit of Triglav and built a tower there, which is now in the Slovenian coat of arms and, in my opinion, the most living symbol of Slovenians. We must not forget the founders of the Slovenian Alpine Association either. All these successes and beacons should enthuse young people for mountaineering, for seeking identity, a healthy lifestyle; all this is an opportunity for young people offered by mountains in the broadest sense of the word. But is that enough? Our organization is based on volunteer work. We manage mountaineering infrastructure. Managing mountaineering huts requires great commitment and qualifications of volunteers. Marking mountain trails requires will, time, and qualifications. Are young people ready to engage and manage heritage in the way we do now? In a way that became established during the time of social ownership, when it was almost blasphemous if you were not socially engaged in at least one area. In a time when companies were receptive to investing in the renovation and construction of mountaineering huts and volunteers who were socially engaged received paid leave for such work. To avoid misunderstanding, this is not nostalgia, but a comparison. The changes are incredible and very rapid. Young people today experience mountaineering (probably) differently, perhaps even solely as a sports arena in which you satisfy your needs for experience or adrenaline release.







The mountain world is changing; willingly or unwillingly, a large part is already permeated with mass tourism. If we focus on Slovenian mountains, we can conclude that they still offer young people many opportunities both for living and for sports activities in the mountain world, of course with the awareness that we must constantly seek harmony between nature and humans. To be clear, humans must seek harmony through self-limitation so that our descendants can also conclude in a hundred years that mountains are important for young people.







Roman Ponebšek, Vice-President of the Alpine Association of Slovenia