Summer mountaineering season begins

The summer mountaineering season is beginning, PZS and GRZS together for safer visits to the mountains.

With the Day of Slovenian Mountaineering Experiences, which on Saturday, June 13, invites adults, young people and the youngest mountaineers as well as touring cyclists to Krvavec with a full-day mountaineering event, the summer mountaineering season officially begins, lasting until September 15 and attracting the most mountaineers to the mountains. The Alpine Association of Slovenia (PZS) and the Mountain Rescue Association of Slovenia (GRZS) presented the current conditions in the mountains and tips for safer visits to the mountains, information on the opening of mountain huts and helicopter rescue in the mountains, and events for the 120th anniversary of the Aljaž Tower in August at a joint press conference today in Kranj.

The Alpine Association of Slovenia has been celebrating the day of Slovenian mountaineers for more than 30 years, and for the fourth year, under the umbrella of the Day of Slovenian Mountaineering Experiences, the program will be enriched with a free full-day event for visitors of all generations. The Day of Slovenian Mountaineering Experiences 2015 on Saturday, June 13, 2015, on Krvavec is being prepared jointly by PZS, the Mountaineering Association Kranj and RTC Krvavec with partners. Experiences for young mountaineers include an orienteering hike for the youngest, social and creative workshops and climbing on a climbing wall, mountain rescuers will demonstrate rescue from a chairlift, and adults will be able to choose from several guided tours of varying difficulty: mountaineering tours through Tiha Valley, to Vrh Korena and around Krvavec accompanied by biologists, and cycling tours: ascent to Krvavec, circular tour around Krvavec and descent to the valley by road or demanding cycling path. A solemn procession of flag bearers will be the introduction to the festive event, an exhibition for the 120th anniversary of Planinski vestnik, the oldest still-publishing mountaineering magazine, will be on display, and in the evening, an open-air cinema with projections of Slovenian films Sfinga and Aljažev stolp – Ta pleh ima dušo! will come to life. "In addition to the regular program, this year's novelty and added value of the event on Krvavec are stands where, in addition to the PZS Mountaineering Publishing House, Planinski vestnik and local mountaineering associations with mountaineering equipment and advice on its use, our partners Alpina, Intersport and Marmot will also present themselves, so that visitors can get first-hand information. Radio Val 202 will broadcast the event live from Krvavec between 10 and 13 o'clock and inform listeners about various mountaineering contents," emphasized PZS General Secretary Matej Planko. The full program of the event on Krvavec is published in a leaflet on the PZS website.

"There is still snow in the high mountains in certain areas, which poses a danger if a mountaineering path leads over it. Winter equipment is needed for safe crossing of a snowfield, i.e. ice axe and crampons, along with gloves and helmet," said PZS expert associate and GRZS instructor Matjaž Šerkezi about the current conditions in the mountain world. He presented what equipment is needed to visit such areas and warned about the most common mistakes and dangers to be aware of when heading to the mountains: "In our mountains, there are still the most accidents and injuries resulting from slips due to inappropriate footwear and overestimation of one's abilities. People increasingly head to the mountains on a sudden impulse and blindly, without prior comprehensive preparation that includes appropriate equipment and knowledge of its use, psychophysical preparation, monitoring of weather conditions, and data on the opening of mountain huts and the condition of mountaineering paths."

Among the mandatory equipment that belongs in the backpack of every mountain visitor regardless of the type of tour are alu-foil or a large black bag and bivouac bag, personal first aid kit, headlamp and spare batteries, mobile phone with full battery, notebook and ordinary pencil, candle and matches in a waterproof bag, and iron reserve (food with high energy value and long shelf life, light and small volume). Mountaineers should also take warm clothing, hat and gloves; in the mountain world, the weather changes very quickly, very low temperatures and snow in the mountains in summer are not unusual, and most cases of hypothermia occur in the summer months. On difficult and very difficult mountaineering paths, they should use a self-belaying system with a climbing harness and helmet; it is important that they know how to use the equipment. Sun protection with sunscreen and sunglasses is particularly important in the summer mountaineering season. Mountain visitors should also use headwear and ensure sufficient amount of non-alcoholic liquid on hikes. Mountaineers should set off early enough to avoid summer heat and afternoon thunderstorms. Before the tour, every mountain visitor should ask about their psychophysical readiness and the suitability of the chosen path, provide appropriate clothing that will protect them from possible wind, cold and precipitation, and check the weather forecast and opening of mountain huts. It is also important to arrange insurance for mountaineering activities. In Slovenia, the high costs of mountain rescue are covered by ZZZS and the state, but in case of negligence, by the individual. This does not apply abroad, and everyone must take care of it themselves. Rescue costs usually amount to between three and nine thousand euros. Membership in a mountaineering organization already includes insurance to cover rescue costs abroad; only the appropriate type of membership fee needs to be arranged. It is always necessary to keep in mind that we are only halfway when we reach the top – our goal is to get home safely. More in the additional material How to go to the mountains more safely – tips for safer visiting of the mountain world.

"Out of 178 mountain huts, shelters and bivouacs, 159 are already open today, the remaining huts will open by the end of June. This coming weekend, June 13 and 14, Dom dr. Klementa Juga in Lepena, Gomiščkovo zavetišče na Krnu, Koča na planini Kuhinja, Koča pri Triglavskih jezerih and Planinska koča Merjasec na Voglu in the Julian Alps, and Kocbekov dom na Korošici in the Kamnik-Savinja Alps will open, where some huts have been open only on weekends so far, but from June 13 they are open permanently," PZS expert associate Dušan Prašnikar informed journalists about the current opening of mountain huts. Then the following mountain huts open their doors: on June 17 Koča pod Bogatinom, on June 19 Poštarski dom na Vršiču, on June 20 Pogačnikov dom na Kriških podih and Zasavska koča na Prehodavcih, on June 24 Dom Planika pod Triglavom, Dom Valentina Staniča pod Triglavom, Koča na Doliču and Zavetišče pod Špičkom, and on June 25 Koča na Mangrtskem sedlu. Among the more visited huts already open are Triglavski dom na Kredarici, Vodnikov dom na Velem polju, Tičarjev dom and Erjavčeva koča na Vršiču, Planinski dom pri Krnskih jezerih and Dom na Komni. Due to the non-operation of the gondola on Kanin, Dom Petra Skalarja na Kaninu remains closed. Mountaineers can check up-to-date data on the opening of mountain huts on the PZS website at www.pzs.si/koce.php. Prašnikar also recommended booking accommodation in mountain huts and warned that mountaineers who will not come to sleep in the hut should inform the hut staff in time. The Alpine Association recommends that visitors use their own bedding for overnight stays in mountain huts, which they bring with them.

Robert Kralj, head of the mountain unit of the Police and deputy head of the air police unit, presented the informative preventive leaflet How to act in case of an accident in the mountains or rescue intervention, which is the result of cooperation between the Alpine Association of Slovenia and the Mountain Rescue Association of Slovenia and their joint committee Mountains and Safety, and includes basic instructions on how to act in case of an accident and how to act to prevent an accident. "The main mountaineering season is approaching and with it the regular helicopter duty of mountain rescuers, doctors and police officers at Brnik, which in June and September will take place from Friday to Sunday, and in July and August every day of the week," said Kralj and described the appropriate behavior of mountaineers in case of the arrival of a helicopter for rescue intervention, where the most important thing is never to leave the injured alone, to secure oneself and the injured from the helicopter's downwash and falling rocks, and to follow the rescuers' instructions. "In case of an accident, always call 112 and nowhere else – not home, friends or anyone else, as this shortens the response time of mountain rescuers," he also warned. More about helicopter rescue can be read at this link.

Already in the first weekend of duty at Brnik, June 6 and 7, the on-duty team intervened five times, said President of the Mountain Rescue Association of Slovenia Igor Potočnik and presented the statistics of this year's interventions: "The Mountain Rescue Association intervenes in the mountains more than 350 times a year, of which more than 170 are helicopter rescues. So far there have been 94 interventions, of which 17 searches and 77 rescue operations, in which 920 mountain rescuers participated, performing more than 4000 hours, and the season is just beginning."

This summer, the Aljaž Tower celebrates 120 years, a cultural monument of national importance and an irreplaceable symbol of Slovenianhood and Slovenia, about whose opening Planinski vestnik, the oldest still-publishing Slovenian magazine, wrote in 1895, which has also been accompanying mountaineers for 120 years. "We are aware that the Aljaž Tower represents one of the most important symbols that connects us Slovenes the most," highlighted PZS Vice-President Miro Eržen and presented the activities of the Alpine Association of Slovenia for this year's jubilee. On the day of the 120th anniversary of the erection of the Aljaž Tower on top of Triglav, August 7, 2015, there will be a symbolic ceremony at the Aljaž Tower in the morning and the main celebration in the late afternoon at the Slovenian Mountaineering Museum in Mojstrana, where the exhibitions Aljažev stolp – Ta pleh ima dušo! and part of the participants of the painting colony Vrata 2015 will also open, and beforehand there will be a mass in Dovje.