Jože Rovan new president of the Alpine Association of Slovenia

At the regular annual and election assembly of the Alpine Association of Slovenia, held on April 21 in Šoštanj, Jože Rovan succeeded the previous president Bojan Rotovnik at the head of Slovenian mountaineers. As a mountain warden, mountain guide, path marker, and cycle touring guide, deeply involved in the mountaineering organization's work for decades, the former vice-president of PD Ljubljana-Matica assumed the responsible leadership role of the PZS, one of Slovenia's largest volunteer organizations with over 57,000 members, with strong support from delegates of mountaineering societies. The vice-presidents for the 2018-2022 term will be Miro Eržen, Roman Ponebšek, Irena Mrak, and Martin Šolar.



At the PZS election assembly in Šoštanj, 145 delegates from mountaineering societies gathered (quorum was 50%), who practically unanimously supported the sole candidate for PZS president for the 2018-2022 term. University graduate economist Jože Rovan, PhD in information-management sciences, is employed as a professor at the Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana. A member of PD Ljubljana-Matica for decades, he has been actively involved in the mountaineering organization—his first professional title was mountain warden, upgraded to mountain guide, path marker, path marker instructor, and cycle touring guide. He was vice-president of PD Ljubljana-Matica, previously head of the youth and path marking sections, where he initiated mechanical maintenance of mountain trails. For three decades, he led the PZS path markers' technical group, edited the mountain trails cadastre, and served as deputy head of the PZS Commission for Mountain Trails. Since its founding, he has been head of the PZS Commission for Cycle Touring and is the conceptual father of the Slovenian Cycle Touring Trail, modeled after the Slovenian Mountain Trail.



The assembly also held elections for the new presidium as well as the management and supervisory boards of the PZS. On the proposal of the new president Jože Rovan, the presidium members confirmed were the previous vice-president Miro Eržen (PD Dovje-Mojstrana), former director of the Slovenian Mountaineering Museum and president of PD Dovje-Mojstrana, active in international mountaineering organizations, and Roman Ponebšek (PD Litija), formerly head of the PZS Youth Commission and president of PD Litija, along with top alpinist Irena Mrak (PD Križe), until recently head of the PZS Commission for Mountain Nature Conservation, also involved internationally in nature conservation, and former Triglav National Park director Martin Šolar (PD Bohinjska Bistrica), active in the PZS Youth, Guiding, and Economic Commissions. PZS General Secretary Matej Planko (PD Slivnica pri Celju) remains in office.



Among eleven candidates for seven management board members, elected were Bojan Rotovnik (PD Šoštanj), Uroš Kuzman (PD Velenje), Brigita Čeh (PD Ljutomer), Jožef Bobovnik (PD Fram), Aldo Zubin (OPD Koper), Danilo Kete (PD Mislinja), and Anton Progar (PD Krka Novo mesto). Franc Ekar (PD Preddvor, former PZS president) was elected president of the PZS Supervisory Board, with members Milan Kirbiš (PD Miklavž), Nataša Kocjančič (PD Postojna), Ana Žehelj (PD Ljubno ob Savinji), and Valerija Vidmar (PD Krka Novo mesto).



"The Alpine Association of Slovenia has made important steps in recent years toward modern e-business with business partners and mountaineering societies, as well as effective marketing at Planinska Zalozba, and with new business premises, the working community has gained significantly better conditions. In the new leadership, with the shown support from mountaineering society presidents, we will strive for further coordinated steps to achieve set tasks. There is a lot of work ahead, and given that most of us are employed and work in PZS bodies is voluntary, it will by no means be easy. I hope we will justify the trust shown," said Jože Rovan upon election.



New PZS President Jože Rovan also presented programmatic guidelines for the 2018-2022 term: "This year we celebrate the 125th anniversary of the mountaineering organization, with roots of mountaineering extending even further back. On the foundations of the noble tradition of volunteering, solidarity, humanism, and care for the natural environment, a forward-looking Alpine Association of Slovenia is developing. We unite sports activities mostly carried out in the natural environment, complemented and enriched by numerous cultural activities. Visits to the mountains and thus the burden on the natural environment are increasing, new sports branches are emerging, so a sober assessment of what nature can still endure is crucial for us. We will continue to pay special attention to member training, as only this way can we achieve relatively safe execution of mountaineering sports activities. The increasingly mass visits to the mountains also mean increased burden on marked mountain trails, Slovenia's largest sports facility. Path markers, volunteers, maintain the network of over 10,000 kilometers of trails, while material maintenance costs are mostly borne by mountaineering societies. In the future, it will therefore be essential to secure permanent external funding sources; we expect funds from the state, local communities, and the tourism sector."



After eight years of successful presidency of Slovenia's largest sports organization, during which he always emphasized that the president is first among equals and made decisions by consensus, Bojan Rotovnik, who led the mountaineering association since 2010, thanked the attendees for the trust in this role, with special mentions to those who supported him most, from the mountaineering society and family to the professional staff and presidium. Rotovnik remains in the PZS as a management board member.



The election assembly proceeded in a good working and constructive atmosphere; all submitted reports were approved, including PZS bodies' reports for 2017 and the report on relocating PZS premises to Ob železnici 30a in Ljubljana, as well as the outline content and financial work program for PZS in 2019. The project for building a new mountain hut on Korošica was presented, and the assembly supported the proposal to increase the 2019 PZS membership fee by one euro targeted contribution for all adult membership categories, with funds allocated for constructing the new Kocbek Hut on Korošica.



The choice of assembly venue was not coincidental, as the previous president hails from the host PD Šoštanj, which will celebrate 115 years next year and presented its activities with a photo exhibition. The opening cultural program, wittily hosted by Uroš Kuzman, was enriched by songs from Oktet TEŠ and the Kindergarten Šoštanj mountaineering group; Slovenian mountaineers were proudly greeted by PD Šoštanj President Jure Grudnik and Šoštanj Municipality Mayor Darko Menih, both hoping visitors return to the area under Smrekovec with its rich cultural heritage. Attendees were also addressed by presidents of the Mountaineering Association of Macedonia Živko Temelkovski, Olympic Committee of Slovenia - Association of Sports Federations Bogdan Gabrovec, Fishing Association of Slovenia Miroslav Žaberl, and Mountain Rescue Association of Slovenia Janez Rozman.



Before the assembly, a workshop on funding sources for society activities sparked interest among society workers; at the end, PZS Vice-President Roman Ponebšek presented association activities for the 125th anniversary of organized mountaineering and invited attendees to the Day of Slovenian Mountaineering Experiences 2018, which with a diverse program for mountaineers of all generations, cycle tourers, and other nature lovers invites to Rogla on June 16; PZS Vice-President Martin Šolar highlighted the 240th anniversary of the first ascent of Triglav. After the assembly, mountaineers went on a guided tour of the Šoštanj leather museum and other local sights.