Slovenians double Balkan champions in mountain orientation

Slovenian teams at the Balkan championship in mountain orientation, hosted by the Serbian Rajac from 8 to 10 November, achieved two first places, two second places and two third places, as well as the team trophy for overall second place. In four age categories, mountaineers from Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia competed. The titles of Balkan champions among pioneers and seniors were celebrated by the Mountaineering Society (PD) Polzela, from which the runners-up in the juniors category also come, while the veteran runners-up come from PD Velenje.

After the International Mountain Orienteering Competition on Pokljuka was hosted by the Alpine Association of Slovenia two years ago and the mountaineers competed in Serbia last year, North Macedonia was supposed to organize the championship this year, but it was cancelled due to fires, so the best Balkan orienteers gathered again in Serbia. On the Rajac plateau, at the end of the second weekend in November, 25 teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia competed in mountain orientation, from which eleven teams qualified for the Balkan championship, the most successful at the Slovenian Mountain Orienteering Competition held in May on Boča and its surroundings.

The competition, which represents a combination of knowledge, experience and the use of technical devices for movement in nature, especially in the mountains, took place in the form of team competition in four age groups: pioneers (up to 15 years), juniors (up to 18 years), seniors (18 to 45 years) and veterans (over 45 years). Competitors with maps and compasses in hand competed on the Rajac plateau in night and day challenges, and in older categories they had to add theoretical knowledge of mountaineering content and knowledge of mountains in the Balkans to terrain reconnaissance and mountaineering knots. Slovenian colours were represented by 57 competitors in eleven teams in all age categories.

The Mountaineering Society Polzela, in recent years among the most successful in mountain orientation in Slovenia, also showed good preparation in Serbia and celebrated two titles of Balkan champions in mountain orientation. In the seniors category, Julija Trobina, Lev Podbregar, Bor Kunstelj, Martin Rafael Gulin and Jaka Kovše celebrated, this year's Slovenian national champions and absolute winners of the championship in Serbia. "We prepared for the championship by recently participating in the regional competition, where we refreshed our knowledge a bit and got our pace going. On the orienteering course in Serbia, we all had a great time and experienced many things, including helping a local woman catch her escaped dog. Nothing threw us off track and in the end we finished as absolute first," the young Polzelans summed up their impressions.

From PD Polzela also come the winners in the pioneers category: Manca Jazbec, Nace Jazbec, Jure Lešnik, Teodor Tominšek and Jakob Pepevnik. "We were already at the Balkan orienteering competition two years ago on Pokljuka, where we finished third. This time, our advantage was speed and quick finding of control points, as there was much greater emphasis on speed in our category at this competition compared to the Slovenian championship. A big difference was also that all five got a map, so we could all participate on the course as a team. For the first time at the competition, we had to use electronic chips. Their advantage is that you don't waste time punching and at the finish you immediately get a printout of how much time you spent on a certain point. On the day race, we managed to get from the last point to the finish in less than a minute. The course was a bit slippery due to wet grass and it was very cold. We were lucky to reach the finish on both races before the fog came down," said primary school student Manca Jazbec, adding that they really liked the location of the Balkan championship, as half of the route went through scenic meadows. They connected well with the other teams and one morning went together to wait for the sunrise on the top of Rajac.

In the remaining two age categories, Serbs celebrated, while Slovenians became runners-up - second place among juniors was also won by the PD Polzela team, while the Balkan veteran runners-up became mountaineers from PD Velenje. Slovenian teams also achieved two third places, namely PD Žalec among pioneers and PD Celje Matica among juniors. PD Gornja Radgona contributed to the overall success with fourth place among pioneers, PD Poljčane with fourth place among seniors and veterans and fifth among juniors. The PD Polzela team was also eighth among veterans. In the overall standings, Serbia won ahead of Slovenia and North Macedonia - the team trophy for overall second place is a pleasing achievement for all Slovenian competitors and the Youth Commission of the Alpine Association of Slovenia.