Laughter, hills, fairy tales and guidebooks are...

Laughter, hills, fairy tales and guidebooks are this year's book harvest.



The PZS Mountaineering Publishing House has presented diverse book novelties. The common thread of this year's novelties is literary works by authors Dušan Škodič, Rafael Terpin, and Anka Rudolf. Roman Tratar's guide Julian Alps: central part invites to the Triglav area. For safe hiking, the publishing house has also issued new and updated mountaineering maps.







Every year, the PZS Mountaineering Publishing House prepares a diverse and varied program, necessary both for the offer and for better sales opportunities. This means various genres, from fiction, youth literature, to guides to our and foreign mountains, climbing guides, guides in English. "The common thread of this year's novelties is literary works. The reason is simple; these editions are less demanding in terms of preparation for print than guides, and we start preparing them a year before publication. So far this year, we have published three novelties, all literary, while the rest unfortunately stalled. The Alpine Association has decided to halt publications until sales return to pre-crisis levels. Both authors of the literary works, Dušan Škodič and Rafael Terpin, are experienced writers, and their books are a selection of articles from Planinski vestnik. Of course, all texts have been editorially reworked, and both have new forewords. Anka Rudolf's booklet is her debut, although some chapters here are a summary of already known texts, also newly editorially processed. I am convinced that these editions will significantly enliven this type of book offer in the absence of mountaineering literary editions in the last decade," said editor of the PZS Mountaineering Publishing House Vladimir Habjan in his introduction. Due to limitations, the publishing house will issue perhaps half of the ten planned publications. In autumn, the climbing guide Vertikale Slovenije by authors Andrej Grmovšek and Viktor Rej will be published. It is a guide to sport and modern routes in the Slovenian Alps – more than 230 routes in 60 different walls. In autumn, the Guide to the Main Milestones of the Rapallo Border by Dušan Škodič and Vladimir Habjan's literary book Tipanje v neznanem, which includes 16 mountain stories from Slovenian mountains as well as from the Carnic Alps to alpine four-thousanders and distant Japan, are also expected. "The Guide to the Bohinj Mountain Trail is postponed to 2021, as is the revised edition of Slovenian Mountaineering. If conditions are favorable, the guide Highest Peaks of European Countries by Jože Drab and Andreja Tomšič Drab could also be published this year," Habjan concluded.







In spring, mountain enthusiasts were delighted by the collection of mountaineering humoresques Smeh z gora from the masterful pen of Dušan Škodič. The book contains seventeen funny stories, none of which are alike. He collected them for thirty years and wanted to share the funny events with others. As he said, no one goes to the mountain world just because they like the gray color of the rocks. "For experiencing aesthetics perhaps, but for laughter and joy, that's certainly not enough. What will remain for us when we once look at the mountains from the valley. Stories are serious or funny - and these are a collection of those at which we once held our stomachs. Since the previous book Ljudje v gorah was serious and touched more on tragedy, Smeh z gora was a logical consequence. Nevertheless, the reader will feel from the first story that it's humor not equal to the valley one." Dušan Škodič thrilled years ago with the collection of historical stories Ljudje v gorah. The funny mountain stories are complemented by illustrations by Milan Plužar.







The collection of eighteen fairy tales, short stories, and stories gathered in the book Čez drn in strn has special historical and ethnological value. Anka Rudolf uses the stories to present the broader Idrija area, its inhabitants, and their way of life from the earliest times to the present day. The very diverse stories are full of imagination and descriptions of varied human natures. "I encounter stories in everyday life and on my wandering paths. Events, things, narratives, mentions of trifles arouse my research enthusiasm. I wonder how it really was, try to enter that world, and my great desire is to paint these constructs for the reader with the wonderful words of the Slovenian language," the author described how the world of stories captivated her. "Stories have been collecting in me all my life. A friend once relieved me of great worry by saying that a good story doesn't need a big event." Her youth was still a time when parents told old stories, legends, superstitions, beliefs, unexplained events, and of course fairy tales that arose precisely for child upbringing and control. In her diversity, the author first touches on imagination that guides her, then on the periods of mercury ore discovery, the art of lace-making across Europe, development of Idrija cuisine, life of a miner's family, and fateful earthquakes and avalanches that affected many village community members. She is aware of human ability that people, finding themselves in almost ridiculous circumstances in the middle of war, can cooperate despite all kinds of differences. The book is enriched by illustrations by Idrija native, academic painter Jurij Pfeifer.







The book Griči is the work of Rafael Terpin, academic painter, collector of Idrija anecdotes and stories, and contributor to Planinski vestnik for four decades. The author sipped stories from the last inhabitants among hidden corners of Vipava, Tolmin, and Škofja Loka hills, watched the collapse of old homesteads, and gathered everything into stories that are a tribute to the world, life, and landscape that are disappearing and remain only on his paper. The book is not only a collection of his reflections but also of his paintings. "As a high school student, I painted my first pictures, of course it was landscape. At the same time, I explored the world around my home. The gift of painting took me to the art academy, where the program had no special emphasis on landscape, but I knew I was dedicated to it with my heart. Writing was always close to me, I had no problems with it during all years of education. The first serious record was about Gačnik. It completely captivated us - research friends. My very first article was about it, published in Planinski vestnik." First, the landscape from Porezen to Javornik captivated him, which he walked with his parents and later as an independent hiker devoted himself to it more closely. "I drank its picturesqueness, admired its relief shaped by waters that carve gullies and create valleys. I sought and enjoyed viewpoints that offer wide views of all this picturesqueness and diversity. Getting to know the landscape always went hand in hand with getting to know the rural world. I respect the ingenuity with which our ancestors once created it, and its abandonment and disappearance always moved me. I met and talked with its last inhabitants. Because of them I wrote, it seemed right to me that at least for some of them a written word remains," added the word artist Rafael Terpin, as Dr. Igor Dakskobler called him. "He modestly presents himself as an academic painter, Rovte landscape painter, but he is much more than that."







The Julian Alps with the central mountain Triglav and rich natural features attract the most massive visits among us. Here our mountaineering history was written. Triglav has special energy and it's no coincidence that it became a magnet for Slovenes and almost a synonym for mountain visits. The new guide Julian Alps: central part is the work of Roman Tratar, who may be a newcomer among guide writers, but certainly not in the mountains. He has walked almost everything that can be walked in the Julians. The mountaineering guide Julian Alps: central part presents to the reader the part of the Julian Alps between Vršič pass to the west and Komna with Krn Lakes to the south, Sava Dolinka to the north, and Sava Bohinjka with Lake Bohinj to the south. "The guide is intended practically for everyone who likes to venture into the mountain world. Both for beginners who are just getting to know hiking, and for experienced ones who want to peek into some less explored corner. It's actually an encyclopedic guide that describes practically everything 'mountaineering' in the area of the central Julian Alps (from easy marked paths to high mountain pathless terrain), so everyone can find something suitable for themselves," explained the author about the guide's content.



Roman Tratar has been active as a guide in mountaineering associations for all years, the challenge for him was exploring new, unknown peaks for him, he also visited mountains abroad. He enthused many acquaintances and friends for mountain visits and passed on his knowledge to them, meanwhile thoroughly getting to know the extensive network of paths and also numerous pathless areas of our mountains. Why is a guide's accompaniment sometimes necessary for mountain visits? "On paths or ascents to peaks that exceed our mountaineering knowledge and familiarity, it is necessary to ensure primarily safe participation. The help of a sufficiently trained guide will be useful for orientation, use of equipment and protection, and at the same time we will get quite useful tips during the trip. So, if our mountaineering ambitions are higher than acquired knowledge and experiences, just get a guide's accompaniment for such a trip."



The Julian Alps mountaineering guide is thus composed of four volumes, encyclopedically dedicated to the central and southern parts of the Julian Alps, Mangart and Jalovec groups, and Western Julian Alps.







For a safe step in the mountain world, it's good to read recommendations for safer and more enjoyable mountain visits before choosing a trip. On this topic, we at PZS have prepared numerous publications. One of the recommendations is to get a mountaineering map and guide and plan the route with their help. The PZS publishing house has set a long-term goal to cover all our mountain ranges with quality maps. "Every map needs frequent updates because the world changes. The Triglav map is reprinted, in May we issued the Ljubljana and surroundings map. Just before publication are also Slovenian Istria, Karst and surroundings, and Semič and surroundings," concluded PZS cartography editor Andrej Stritar.