Mountain Camp - A Space for Experiences, Connections, and...

Mountain camp - a space for experiences, connections and passing mountaineering to new generations.

Mountain camps, which emerged in Slovenia already 100 years ago, have an important role in educating young people in the spirit of respect for nature, responsibility and cooperation, in transferring knowledge about mountaineering, mountain skills and safety in the mountains, and this year they were also entered in the register of intangible cultural heritage. Multi-day stays of young people in the mountain world, which are possible only because of a network of dedicated volunteers, every summer represent holidays for more than 1100 young mountaineers from all over Slovenia. According to collected data, more than 22 thousand children have participated in mountain camps in the last 20 years. Mountain camps are a space for experiences, connections and passing the mountain idea to new generations, and young professional staff is also forged in the camps, where more experienced leadership transfers its valuable knowledge to the younger ones.

Mountain camps are multi-day stays of young people in the mountain world, organized by youth sections of mountaineering clubs under the auspices of the Alpine Association of Slovenia (PZS). They take place mainly during summer holidays, as hiking camps or winter camps also in other seasons. Participants, from preschool children to students, stay in tents or mountain huts, where they participate in various activities such as mountain hikes, orientation, climbing, nature conservation, first aid, cultural and social activities. Programs are adapted to the age and experience of participants and are led by qualified mentors, PZS guides, youth leaders, instructors of mountaineering education and other professional staff. Camps promote independence, responsibility, teamwork and respectful attitude towards nature.

"The camps gave me much more than just hikes and sleeping in tents - there I first truly encountered community, responsibility and the feeling that every contribution counts. Eventually, I took on the role of leader myself. In my opinion, mountain camps remain one of the most important forms of youth mountaineering activities. They not only connect young people with nature, but show them what it means to collaborate, co-create and be part of the club's pulse. In the Youth Commission, we are very aware of this - that's why we include camps in our educational programs. Training for PZS youth leaders is actually a camp in miniature: it opens a view to the breadth of mountaineering activities for young people and encourages them to actively join the youth sections of their clubs. In addition to knowledge, they also develop leadership skills and experiences, which they later bring back - to camps, groups, excursions," explains Ana Skledar, head of the Youth Commission PZS. Her path into mountaineering began precisely with mountain camps - she attended the first one in kindergarten, as in the Poljčane Mountaineering Club they led even the youngest to camps, later she returned to them every summer, first as an elementary school student, then as a high school student: "I would especially like to emphasize that camps are possible only because of a network of dedicated volunteers - youth leaders, mentors of mountaineering groups, guides and many others, who with their knowledge, example and energy enable camps to be safe, diverse and rich in content. In the Youth Commission, we strive to connect clubs and encourage the exchange of experiences. I believe that in this way we together preserve the camp as a space for experiences, connections and passing the mountain idea to new generations."

Mountain camps, which in the recent period are co-financed by the Foundation for Sport and the Office for Youth, are key in the education, training and socialization of young people and represent one of the most recognizable and long-lived forms of work in nature in Slovenia. "Mountain camps have an important role in educating young people in the spirit of respect and preservation of nature, responsibility and cooperation, in transferring knowledge about mountaineering, mountain skills and safety in the mountains, important aspects are also socializing and strengthening community, as children learn coexistence in a group. A mountain camp is an outdoor classroom, in which we pleasantly and excitingly learn behavior and acquire habits that we transfer to everyday life. If we get under the skin of a teenager at camp with mountaineering education, this is the best way for mountaineering to become his way of life. How do we do that? The prerequisite is that the camp is led by guides or leadership to whom mountaineering is a way of life, who respect the honor code of Slovenian mountaineers, who go to the mountains with open eyes and respect them. Such leadership will spontaneously and at every step radiate the idea of mountaineering and believe me - examples pull," emphasizes the vice-president of the Alpine Association of Slovenia Roman Ponebšek, formerly the head of the Youth Commission PZS. As a long-time guide of the Litija Mountaineering Club, he has just returned from the youth mountain camp on Pokljuka, already the 45th in a row. The club is organizing the 22nd family and seventh student camp this year. In 45 years, over 3000 participants have attended youth, family and student camps organized by PD Litija.

Mountain camps have a very rich tradition, their emergence is connected with the beginnings of organized mountaineering in Slovenia and the beginnings of work with young people. After the First World War, special political circumstances in Primorska forced young people to find a safe place for relaxation in the mountains - and right there the first camps emerged a century ago. In the 1920s, mountaineers met at national camps on Nanos, where the entire Primorska from Trst to Bovec gathered. They were organized by the Vipava branch of the Slovenian Mountaineering Society (predecessor of PZS) with the help of Ajdovščina and Postojna mountaineers. According to data from Planinski vestnik, in 1925 they organized the first youth camp on Vogrsko, the next one a year later on Beka near Kozina, both as meetings of young people where they could engage in sports and socialize, and not entirely in the sense of today's understanding of camps as stays of mountaineers in tents. After the establishment of the Youth Commission PZS in 1956, camps spread throughout the country and became an important part of the education of mountaineering youth, today they are recognized as an important form of non-formal education and socialization of young people.

The Postojna Mountaineering Club was founded in 1946, two years later they started working with the youngest, pioneers, led by the now deceased Ivan Rozman - Očka, also the initiator of summer mountain camps: "The pillar of mountaineering should be formed by young people. If you instill love for the mountains in a young person's soul, it will burn in him forever. A young person experiences his world in the mountains. This world enriches him, this world ennobles him. Usually he remains like that for the rest of his life." The club organizes camps almost continuously from the 1950s, which means one of the longest traditions among Slovenian mountaineering clubs. Numerous generations of Postojna mountaineers are tied to them with the most beautiful memories. Summer camping represents the climax and conclusion of the whole year's work, when young and a little less young mountaineers (around 90 in recent years) together with guides and mentors move to nature for a week and live with it. As they say, pristine nature encourages their creativity and offers them countless opportunities for exploration, at camp they meet new people, socialize with them, learn to adapt and help fellow humans, discover a piece of Slovenia still unknown to them, and return home satisfied, richer with new knowledge and useful experiences. Mountaineers not only climb nearby peaks, but explore the camp surroundings, compete in sports and social games, learn orientation in nature, get to know mountain flora and fauna, socialize, sing, create in various workshops, and at the end of the camp by the campfire also baptize new members.

The Nova Gorica Mountaineering Club organized the jubilee 50th youth mountain camp this year - on Soriška planina, the first one in 1975 in Log pod Mangrtom. The initiators were Milena and Karel Bizjak, soon joined by Milena and Franc Modrijan, according to whom a mountain camp is a real school for life, which gives children a lot - among other things self-confidence, the opportunity to overcome fear, for example when they go through a dark forest, they learn various skills, take care of themselves, have to adapt to the group, both in terms of living and food. "The purpose of the camp is survival in nature. I like to say that anyone can whistle with happiness in the sun, but you have to survive also when the weather is bad. The biggest celebration for me on the 50th anniversary of mountain camps is that with nearly 3000 children in all these years we managed to have no major accident," emphasizes the now 77-year-old Modrijan. The long-time leader of mountain camps and former head of the Youth Section of PD Nova Gorica is also satisfied that he got enthusiastic successors, including his daughter Urška, who last weekend, July 12 and 13, for the end of the 50th youth mountain camp on Soriška planina invited all who were active in the youth section of the Nova Gorica club. In PD Nova Gorica, a nature conservation camp was also born years ago, they also camped across the border, on Bleščeča planina with young mountaineers from Austrian Carinthia.

The Vrhnika Mountaineering Club is probably the only club that has had mountain camps continuously for 60 years, also in the year of Slovenia's independence and during the coronavirus pandemic. They had the first camp in 1965 in Tamar, the jubilee 60th last year in Kamniška Bistrica. Most often, eight times, they camped in Krnica and in six decades more than 4000 participants have passed through their camps. "We experience a mountain camp differently. For some children who are more athletic, it is important to collect as many altitude meters as possible at camp, for others altitude meters mean nothing. Important to them is the beautiful nature that surrounds them every day. For others still, the best is collecting firewood for the fire, sleeping in a tent or singing by the campfire. As guides, heads, camp leaders and others who contribute to the implementation of the camp, we must realize that we are not here for ourselves, but for others. It is in our hands to educate youth who will gladly go to the hills, and pass that on to their children. Personally, I think it is important to preserve the tradition of implementing mountain camps and consequently going to the mountains. It is important that the camp leadership composes a program that will attract children to return to the camp," reflects Martin Jeraj, head of MO PD Vrhnika and camp leader, who illuminates the importance of youth leaders at camp. According to his words, educating the next generation of mountaineers is not just completed excursions and walked paths, but also socializing and implementing games that encourage this. In his eyes, the key work of a youth leader is to direct the child towards socializing and getting to know new friends. He also highlights the important role of volunteering: "The knowledge we have acquired in various courses and trainings must be transferred to the next generations, as this ensures that our activity is preserved. Not only knowledge of knots, knowledge of equipment, maneuvers and mountain flowers, the most important is to enthuse children for voluntary work and educate the next generation of heads, camp leaders, guides and youth leaders. In my eyes, mountaineering and voluntary activity in Slovenia are in good hands if we start with this already in childhood. People who act as volunteers in youth organizations need to be given the feeling that they are doing something very noble, and realize that they are striving for something that many do not understand."

In 1973, the first mountain camp - in Trenta - was organized by the Bohor Senovo Mountaineering Club, attended also by the then 15-year-old Hinko Uršič, who remembers that they had a military kitchen at camp, modest mountaineering equipment, in tents some had fodder on the ground, covered with blankets, as most did not have sleeping bags and sleeping pads. From the camp they walked to all tours - to Kriške pode and Razor, to Koča na Doliču and to Triglav and to Jalovec or Zavetišče pod Špičko. At camp they had lectures on mountain nature, first aid and orientation, orientation hike, in the evenings also campfire, they raised and lowered the flag. Uršič a year later already did a course for youth guide, at 18 also winter course, regularly participated in organizing camps, leader of which he was from 1985 to 1992. "At a mountain camp, children experience effort and thus better realize that they are equal, regardless of where they come from, help each other and build interpersonal relationships. In the past, we also educated them in relation to elders, more experienced and taught them to greet the one returning from the hill. They gained important life experiences, camp was a turning point for many. From a mountaineering perspective, they learned how to go to the hills, how important communication in the group is, children respected authority more, gained experiences, trust in the guide and numerous mountaineering skills," remembers the long-time PZS guide and also former president of PD Bohor Senovo, where they connected for organizing camps also with PD Brežice and PD Lisca Sevnica.

In 1983, the idea of joint camps for all youth sections appeared in the Savinja Interclub Committee of Mountaineering Clubs (SMDO PD), which proved to be very good, as they still organize them today. It started with small tents, while today large military tents for well-equipped kitchen, dining room and sleeping on the selected camp site stand for two months, participants pass through the camp in one-week shifts. This year on Dovje above Mojstrana is the jubilee 40th camp of young mountaineers (there was no camp in the years of the independence war and coronavirus), in which as many as 25 Savinja and associated mountaineering clubs participate, namely Atomske toplice Podčetrtek, Boč Kostrivnica, Celje Matica, Dobrovlje Braslovče, Sloga Rogatec, Dramlje, Galicija, Gornja Radgona, Ljubno ob Savinji, Luče, Poljčane, Polzela, Prebold, Rečica ob Savinji, Slivnica pri Celju, Solčava, Šoštanj, Tabor, Velenje, Vitanje, Vransko, Zabukovica, Zagorje, Zreče and Žalec. The first such camp was in Logarska dolina, where 197 children and 50 companions passed through seven shifts, last year on Soriška planina 400 participants and 170 leadership members alternated over the summer, in four decades about 15 thousand young mountaineers camped under the Savinja canvas roof. "I am proud that in all 40 years we had a good time, stepped together and in harmony organized the camp of young mountaineers, this year as many as 25 mountaineering clubs - may it last further! Not once was there a bigger argument, although they say that 'in a herd even a dog dies'. We always agreed together and went to view the space, together we set up the camp at the beginning of holidays and dismantle it at the end of summer. In this project, all clubs are active and I think this is one of the largest mountain campings in Slovenia. Each shift has its own program, but we step together at the beginning and at the end, in between 500 young mountaineers pass - I am most proud of that," are the eloquent words of the driving force of SMDO PD camps from the very beginning Milan Polavder from PD Zabukovica.

Most mountain camps take place in Gorenjska, Mojstrana is the Slovenian cradle of the three-country mountain camp, which was already the 36th last week, this year in the Austrian mountaineering village Malta. Mountain rescuers from Kötschach-Mauthen (Austria), Forni Avoltri (Italy) and Mojstrana (Slovenia) have been socializing at Alpe Adria ski competitions since 1971, since 1988 children from these places also meet at summer camps Alpe-Adria-Alpin, joined over the years by young mountaineers from Gmünd, Gurka, Spittal, Tolmezzo, Val Comelico, Udine, Trst, Sappada, Resia and Tolmin. Annual camps, which alternately take place in Austria, Italy or Slovenia, are attended on average by up to 60 children and adults. In addition to mountain hikes, participants also socialize in various sports and cultural activities and tours of local sights. "The camp is a unique meeting of children and young people from Austria, Italy and Slovenia, which for more than three decades connects a common love for mountains. At the beginning, it represented a valuable window to the world - it enabled young people first contacts with peers from abroad. Today, it remains an exceptional space for international connection, where through mountaineering three languages, cultures and life stories naturally intertwine," explains Tim Peternel, head of the Youth Section PD Dovje Mojstrana, and adds: "Compared to classic Slovenian mountain camps, its greatest added value is precisely in the multicultural contact: children get to know different views of the world, broaden horizons and weave friendships across borders. The camp atmosphere is something special - relaxed, open and imbued with one single common thread: love for mountains."

Many mountain camps have already taken place since the beginning of holidays, in the coming days and weeks you can also meet young mountaineers at one of the following camps:

6-26 July Pokljuka (PD Litija)
12-19 July Dovje (PD Dobrovlje Braslovče, PD Vransko, PD Poljčane)
13-19 July Bohinj (PD Kobarid)
18-27 July Bavšica (Youth Commission PZS - seminar for youth leaders)
19-26 July Dovje (PD Celje Matica)
26 July-2 August Dovje (PD Gornja Radgona)
27 July-1 August Mlačca (PD Podnanos)
4-10 August Trenta (PD Idrija)
9-16 August Dovje (PD Sloga Rogatec, PD Boč Kostrivnica, PD Zagorje)
16-23 August Dovje (PD Rečica ob Savinji, PD Ljubno ob Savinji, PD Solčava, PD Luče, PD Velenje, PD Šoštanj, PD Tabor)
1-10 August Lepena (PD Vrhnika)
3-9 August Zgornje Jezersko (PD Ljubljana Matica - family camp)
4-6 August Dom pod Storžičem (PD Domžale)
10-17 August Slatna nad Ratečami (Hiking Club Novo mesto)
10-24 August Zgornje Jezersko (PD Ljubljana Matica)
23-30 August Dovje (Youth Commission PZS - high school camp)
20-27 September Bavšica (Youth Commission PZS - student camp)