10.06.2014
Ahead of the summer mountaineering season, how to go to the mountains more safely, Day of Slovenian
Mountaineering Experiences and youth mountaineering camps 2014, assessment of damage on mountaineering trails after glaze ice and snow break
At today's press conference, we presented the current conditions in the mountains, how to go to the mountains more safely, youth
mountaineering camps this summer, Day of Slovenian Mountaineering Experiences 2014, as well as the remediation and approximate assessment of damage
on mountaineering trails after the glaze ice and snow break this winter.
START OF THE SUMMER MOUNTAINEERING SEASON
This year's winter and spring were particularly rich in snow. In the high mountains, snow conditions still persist, which
means that visiting these mountains requires full winter equipment, knowledge of how to use it, and all necessary
knowledge for visiting the high mountains in winter. It is also necessary to know the snow, conditions, and interpret data
(public notices, web, snow profile on site) to understand what is happening with the snowpack. This means that in
such times, only very experienced and trained mountaineers can head to the highest peaks. PZS expert associate and
mountain rescuer Matjaž Šerkezi presented what is still needed for visiting such areas - ice axe, crampons, and gloves are required (when holding the ice axe, gloves must be worn). He also warned that
mountain visitors should use a helmet, there will also be more falling rocks this year, use a helmet
on exposed sections (under walls and in them ...) and when crossing scree. If you encounter a snowfield in the mountains,
use ice axe (and gloves), crampons, helmet, or turn back if you do not have the appropriate equipment, the mountain will
wait for you. On difficult and very difficult mountaineering trails, use a self-belay setup with a climbing harness and
helmet. In the summer season, it is particularly important to protect your skin with sunscreen of appropriate protection
factor, as well as your eyes with sunglasses with appropriate protection factor. Mountain visitors should also use
headwear and ensure sufficient fluid intake on hikes. Alcohol does not belong in the mountains, and we also advise against tobacco use. Before the trip, ask yourself how well prepared you are (mentally and physically). Is the chosen
route suitable for you? What is the weather forecast? Bad weather and visibility can extend walking time up to
ten times. Do you have clothing that will protect you from strong wind, cold, and precipitation? Is there a hut,
bivouac, shelter on the route where you can take refuge? .. (more in the document How to Go to the Mountains More Safely on the
PZS website). Always carry mandatory equipment with you ->
Mandatory equipment that must be in every mountaineer's backpack regardless of the type of tour:
• alu-foil or large black bag and bivouac bag,
• personal first aid kit,
• headlamp and spare batteries,
• mobile phone with full battery,
• notebook and regular pencil,
• candle and matches in a waterproof bag,
• iron reserve (food with high energy value and long shelf life, lightweight and small
volume).
It is not superfluous to remind that we should also carry warm clothing, hat, and gloves, as the weather in the mountains changes very
quickly, very low temperatures and snow in summer in the mountains are not unusual.
The Alpine Association of Slovenia and the Mountain Rescue Association of Slovenia and their joint committee Mountains and Safety have prepared
an informative - preventive - leaflet How to Act in Case of an Accident in the Mountains or Rescue Intervention
(the leaflet is published among materials on the PZS website, the full content is also published on the PZS
website >>>) with basic instructions on how to act in such a case and how to act to prevent an accident. In
case of an accident, always call 112 (and nowhere else/ not home, friends ...; as this shortens the response
time of mountain rescuers).
PZS expert associate Klemen Petek informed journalists about the current opening status of mountaineering huts, even in
the high mountains, the huts will open soon. For example: Dom Planika pod Triglavom, Triglavski dom
na Kredarici, Pogačnikov dom na Kriških podih, Koča pri Triglavskih jezerih, Koča na Doliču, Dom Valentina
Staniča on June 21, Vodnikov dom na Velem polju and Zavetišče pod Špičkom on June 25. In the Kamnik and
Savinja Alps, Kocbekov dom na Korošici, Kamniška koča na Kamniškem sedlu and Cojzova koča na
Kokrskem sedlu will open this weekend. He also said that snow and avalanches have not spared mountaineering
huts this year either, we know for sure about three: Koča na Doliču, Zavetišče pod Špičkom and Vodnikov dom na Velem polju.
He warned that all those who book accommodation in mountaineering huts but unfortunately will not come to sleep in the hut should
inform the hut in time. Check up-to-date data on the opening of mountaineering huts on the PZS website, http://www.pzs.si/koce.php, and on RTV SLO Teletext. The Alpine Association recommends using your own brought bedding for overnight stays
in mountaineering huts.
TIP:
Mountain visitors, before the trip (not just one or two days before, but several days before) follow the weather forecast for
the mountains you are heading to, take into account the data and all warnings about conditions in the mountains. Choose routes suitable
for your psychophysical abilities, on the tour adapt to the weakest participant. Carry appropriate
mountaineering equipment and learn to use it beforehand. Check the opening of mountaineering huts (data on
PZS website >>> and RTV SLO Teletext) and do not use mountaineering trails that have been closed for use by
the mountaineering association, trail maintainer. Start early enough and inform your family about your routes and plans.
Good luck and safe steps.
We urge users of mountaineering trails to check the status of individual
mountaineering trail at http://stanje-poti.pzs.si/ before heading out - to the mountains, hills - and to report data on any observed damage on mountaineering trails
to e-mail: poskodbe.poti@pzs.si, which is open for this purpose.
Remember - at the top we are only halfway, our goal is a safe descent and return home.
DAY OF SLOVENIAN MOUNTAINEERING EXPERIENCES 2014, Bohinjska Bistrica and surroundings, this Saturday, June 14.
The Alpine Association of Slovenia has been organizing the Day of Slovenian Mountaineers for over 30 years. In the last three years, however, it has
enriched and modified the program with diverse events throughout the day (from hikes, excursions, tours to
creative workshops and hikes for the youngest mountaineers, GRS workshops, mountain bike excursions ...) for all
age groups - from the youngest to adult mountaineers. This year's Day of Slovenian Mountaineering Experiences or
Day of Slovenian Mountaineers were presented by PZS General Secretary Matej Planko and President of PD Bohinjska
Bistrica Damjan Gašperin. In addition to the main organizer Alpine Association of Slovenia, co-organizers are PD Bohinjska
Bistrica and PD Srednja vas v Bohinju as well as Turizem Bohinj. This year's all-Slovenian mountaineering event is also dedicated to
the 120th anniversary of Orožnova koča – the first hut of the Slovenian Alpine Association (whose successor is PZS). Gašperin
briefly presented the history of Orožnova koča and invited everyone to the varied events of this Saturday, as well
as to the opening of the exhibition Orožnova koča through time, which will be on the eve of the day of Slovenian mountaineers, i.e. on
Friday, June 13, at 7 p.m. in the Cultural Center Joža Ažmana in Bohinjska Bistrica. Planko also presented this year's
novelty, namely that visitors can arrive in Bohinjska Bistrica by train: from Ljubljana at 6:55 (change at
Jesenice) and from the direction of Nova Gorica at 7:37, both trains arrive in Bohinjska Bistrica at 9 a.m. Return home by train is also possible.
YOUTH MOUNTAINEERING CAMPS in summer 2014. Youth mountaineering camps, quality spending
of vacation days was presented by the head of the PZS Youth Commission Matej Ogorevc. Every year mountaineering associations and
their youth sections PD organize around 70 mountaineering camps and winter camps. At the camps every year
a large number of young volunteers participate – mentors of mountaineering groups, youth leaders and PZS guides
and other educational workers who create a wonderful week in the embrace of the mountains for the young and also take care of them.
Youth mountaineering camps are an excellent opportunity for children and youth to spend quality time in nature (of course under
the watchful eye of professional staff). And this year too mountaineering associations are organizing numerous mountaineering camps,
intended for the youngest mountaineers, primary school children, youth and students as well as families. According to the latest data, there will be
59 summer camps, in various locations in Slovenia and also abroad. We presented where all
the camps will take place this summer and how you can visit them and immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the mountaineering camp
for at least 1 day. If you would like to visit any of the listed camps, contact PZS PR representative Zdenka Mihelič (041 222 358, zdenka.mihelic@pzs.si) and she will arrange contact and agree with
the camp leader. The list is available on the PZS website.
MOUNTAINEERING TRAILS AFTER GLAZE ICE AND SNOW BREAK, REMEDIATION AND DAMAGE ASSESSMENT ON MOUNTAINEERING TRAILS. In
early February 2014, a large part of Slovenia was hit by a natural disaster in the form of extensive glaze ice and also
snow break. In this natural disaster, according to the assessments collected at the time, about 40% of all mountaineering trails were damaged
outside the high mountains, which is the greatest damage to mountaineering trails recorded in the mountaineering organization in our over
120-year history. The approximate damage assessment and the course of remediation of damage on mountaineering trails after glaze ice and
snow break were presented by PZS President Bojan Rotovnik and PZS expert associate Klemen Petek. In Slovenia
there are 1661 mountaineering trails with a total length of 9616 kilometers (the data is constantly changing, as in the mountaineering
organization we are concluding the project of establishing a digital cadastre of mountaineering trails, on the basis of which
we will be able to accurately determine the total length of mountaineering trails in Slovenia). Mountaineering trails are maintained, groomed and
marked by 661 registered PZS path markers (about 14.55 km of mountaineering trails per PZS marker) within 195
trail maintainers, i.e. mountaineering associations (out of 280 in Slovenia). In February, associations, trail maintainers
closed as many as 376 mountaineering trails for users due to the consequences of glaze ice and snow break. The status
of mountaineering trails was promptly published on the PZS website, which we opened for this purpose, http://stanjepoti.
pzs.si/ and it is kept up-to-date according to the work done on mountaineering trails. In the last week of May and
first week of June 2014, the Alpine Association of Slovenia conducted a survey among associations, mountaineering trail maintainers, with
the aim of obtaining an approximate damage assessment on mountaineering trails due to glaze ice and snow break. An impressive
60.5% or 118 associations, trail maintainers responded, and of these, as many as 78% of associations reported damage on mountaineering
trails. To date, associations have carried out 562 work actions and 15,395 volunteer hours. The most damaged
areas (glaze ice) were: Notranjska, central Slovenia, Kamniška Bistrica and the Šoštanj, Velenje area.
The consequences of glaze ice were on trails up to 1000 meters above sea level, while in the high mountains, where
the damage was caused by snow break, there is still a lot of snow and trail maintainers and PZS markers cannot yet assess the damage.
In the Alpine Association of Slovenia, we have collected data on damage to
mountaineering trails due to the consequences of glaze ice and snow break from 60% of associations, trail maintainers, which associations estimate at 380,071 € (22% material
costs, 78% estimated value of performed volunteer work, calculated in accordance with the Volunteer
Act).
The Alpine Association of Slovenia will publish the final assessment of damage on mountaineering trails due to glaze ice and snow break
presumably in January 2015, based on submitted annual reports of associations, mountaineering trail maintainers.
Based on the data collected so far and the current inability to check the status of mountaineering trails
especially in the Julian Alps (snow break), we estimate that the damage on mountaineering trails due to the natural disaster that
hit Slovenia in February 2014 will exceed 500,000 €, of which direct material costs alone around
100,000 €. (More in the full report among materials on the PZS website.)
288 mountaineering trails are open again, but 88 are still closed. The list of open and closed mountaineering trails is
published on the special PZS website: http://stanje-poti.pzs.si, where from today there is also a graphical display
of closed trails on the map.
Given the voluntariness of the mountaineering organization's operations and the fact that the state does not allocate budgetary funds for maintenance of mountaineering
trails, most of the damage will be remedied by volunteer work and with own
funds of mountaineering associations. At this point, we already thank those companies and local government organizations that co-finance the maintenance of mountaineering trails, and also thank the Foundation for Financing
Sports Organizations in RS for recognizing every year the great importance of mountaineering trails for sports recreation and financially
supporting various maintenance projects of mountaineering trails. We also thank all individuals who by sending SMS to number 1919 with keyword POT donate funds for maintenance of mountaineering trails and all
those who participated in the action of the association Ekologi brez meja in the project of collecting old paper Old paper for new
hope for the purpose of remedying the consequences of the natural disaster on mountaineering trails in Slovenia.
Klemen Petek also presented the 2nd all-Slovenian Tončkov dan, dedicated to the memory of the long-time head
of the Mountaineering Trails Commission and PZS deputy president Tone Tomšeta, who left us prematurely in June 2012.
This time it will take place on Saturday, July 5, in the Postojna area, where we will clean and groom trails and remedy the consequences
of glaze ice. Volunteers - PZS path markers (currently registered ) and professional
PZS staff (PZS guides, alpinists ...) will participate in the event. All good-willed people can also help remedy the glaze ice damage, by
contacting the nearest mountaineering association and asking how they can help.