With united forces for a safer summer in the mountains

With the Day of Slovenian Mountain Experiences, which on June 17 invites adults, young people and the youngest hikers as well as touring cyclists to the Dom pod Storžičem with all-day mountaineering activities, the summer mountaineering season officially begins, lasting until mid-September and attracting the most hikers to the mountains. For safer visits to the mountains, the Alpine Association of Slovenia (PZS), the Mountain Rescue Association of Slovenia (GRZS), the Police and the Slovenian Army have joined forces, presenting the current conditions in the mountains and tips for mountain visits, information on the opening of mountain huts and helicopter rescue in the mountains, a comic about mountain medicine and an innovative project in search-and-rescue operations at today's press conference in Ljubljana.



The Alpine Association of Slovenia has been celebrating the Day of Slovenian Mountaineers for 35 years, and for the sixth year, under the umbrella of the Day of Slovenian Mountain Experiences, the program will be enriched with free all-day activities for visitors of all generations. The Day of Slovenian Mountain Experiences 2017 on Saturday, June 17, 2017, at Dom pod Storžičem is being prepared by PZS, Planinsko društvo Tržič and Občina Tržič together with partners, with Val 202 as the media partner. "Hikers will be able to choose from several guided hiking and touring cycling trips to Dom pod Storžičem, while experiences for young and adult hikers include climbing on a climbing wall with former national champion Jure Bečan, creative workshops, geocaching for treasure, various fun sports challenges and getting to know protected mountain plants, including on a natural history hike. Mountain rescuers will present their work, and it's worth stopping in Tržič to see it," announced PZS General Secretary Matej Planko.



On Saturday, mountain rescuers also celebrate their day. The annual traditional gathering of mountain rescuers will be on June 17 at the GRZS training center on Virnikova planina. "The event will be enlivened by a first aid competition among teams of mountain rescuers and simulations of various accidents that can happen in the mountains. This will be followed by the presentation of diplomas to newly qualified mountain rescuers who completed the long and demanding training for mountain rescuers in 2017. The gathering will continue in a relaxed atmosphere with exchange of opinions and various stories from the world of mountain rescue," said GRZS President Igor Potočnik.



Mid-June marks the start of the summer mountaineering season, when higher mountain huts also welcome mountain visitors with open doors. "Of 181 mountain huts, shelters and bivouacs, 161 are already open today, most of the remaining 20 huts will open this coming weekend, June 17 and 18, or by the end of June," informed journalists about the current opening status of mountain huts by Janko Rabič, head of the PZS Economic Commission. Dom Petra Skalarja on Kanin remains closed and will be ready for the next season. Hikers can check up-to-date information on the opening of mountain huts on the PZS website at www.pzs.si/koce.php. Rabič recommended that hikers make a reservation for accommodation in advance for sleeping in a mountain hut, and warned that hikers with a reservation who do not come to spend the night should inform the staff in time. The Alpine Association recommends that visitors use bedding they bring with them for overnight stays in mountain huts. Rabič also mentioned that PZS, in cooperation with the Bled Higher School of Hospitality and Tourism, held a seminar for hut keepers and other hut staff for the second time this year, aiming to increase the quality of offerings in the huts and visitor satisfaction. In 2017, PZS is implementing the project Energy and Environmentally Efficient Buildings from Mountains to Valleys, co-financed by Ekosklad, the Slovenian Environmental Fund. One of the activities will be open door days on July 15 and September 16, 2017, at Dom na Menini planini, Domžalski dom on Mali planini and Koča na Planini pri Jezeru, where visitors can closely view and learn about environmental investments. The traditional summer campaign Naj planinska koča 2017 also starts this weekend, for the third year in cooperation between PZS and Siol.net.



The mountaineering season is in full swing. There are more and more visitors in the mountains day by day, and this year's mountain rescue statistics record 154 interventions, which is 54 more than on June 10 last year. Among them, 7 fatalities (on June 10, 2016, there were 12). Slip is still the leading cause of accidents, in as many as 42 cases, lack of terrain knowledge caused 22 accidents, physical and mental unpreparedness 25, and alcohol contributed to two accidents.



"On certain sections of hiking trails, there is still compacted and frozen snow, and crossing such a spot requires experience and appropriate equipment (ice axe and crampons); otherwise, it is better to turn back and not try to cross the spot at all costs, even if it's just a few meters, especially on steep and exposed terrain. We also recommend using a helmet, especially where hiking trails run under walls with a higher chance of falling rocks or on descents over scree and exposed hiking trails, where minor slips or falls can occur quickly and the head is exposed to impacts on hard and rocky ground," warned PZS expert collaborator and GRZS instructor Matjaž Šerkezi, who urges mountain visitors not to forget mandatory equipment. In the backpack of every mountain visitor, regardless of the type of tour, there should be aluminum foil or a large black bag or bivouac bag, a personal first aid kit, a headlamp and spare batteries, a mobile phone with a full battery, a notebook and a regular pencil, a candle and matches in a waterproof bag, and an iron reserve (food with high energy value and long shelf life, light and small volume). Hikers should also bring warm clothing, a hat and gloves; in the mountain world, the weather changes very quickly, very low temperatures and snow in summer mountains are not unusual, and most cases of hypothermia occur in the summer months.



"You should head to the mountains early enough when it's not too hot yet, but you should know that afternoon thunderstorms with lightning are quite common in summer, and we are safe from them only in a mountain hut or bivouac - these are intended for emergency exits and not for mass high-altitude tourism, which is served by mountain huts," emphasized Šerkezi, also warning that when visiting mountains with children, the tour should be adapted to them and their age, and in summer ensure proper hydration by drinking sufficient non-alcoholic fluids. It is also important to go to the mountains healthy, as there were quite a few accidents last year involving individuals with chronic diseases: "The most common is heart attack, followed by problems due to diabetes or violent body reactions to exertion after chemotherapy and certain medical conditions where the individual has not fully recovered or the disease symptoms were masked. Such a medical condition in the mountain world can quickly lead to serious problems and end in death." Proper insurance is also important: "At the beginning of this year, we received calls from some individuals who were rescued in foreign mountains and did not have rescue insurance for foreign mountains. Rescue costs were between four and seven thousand euros, which they had to cover themselves. Once again, we ask mountain visitors to arrange appropriate rescue insurance for foreign mountains and mountaineering activity insurance in time. In Slovenia, high mountain rescue costs are covered by ZZZS and the state, in case of negligence by the individual, while abroad everyone must arrange it themselves. Membership in a mountaineering organization already includes insurance for covering rescue costs abroad; only the appropriate type of membership fee needs to be arranged."



A step towards safety is also the recently published comic on mountain medicine. "At the initiative of mountain doctor and helicopter mountain rescuer Jurij Gorjanc, under the auspices of the PZS Training and Prevention Committee, the free comic Gorska medicina za vsakogar was published, which with the help of mountain doctor Janez vividly presents understanding of mountain- and cold-related diseases, knowledge of risks, preparations and training so that the mountains remain a place of enjoyment, encounter and personal growth, not a place of accidents and injuries," emphasized PZS General Secretary Matej Planko. The comic of the European mountain medicine network, available at the PZS headquarters, was created as part of the Résamont 2 project, which ran from 2011 to 2013 in collaboration between alpine regions of Italy and France in the Alcotra program.



The mountain environment is special, and every accident that happens to an individual poses a great risk both to them and to the rescuers, who will now be assisted by sarOS (Search and Rescue operating System), a unique program in Europe, the product of development by Slovenian experts in search-and-rescue operations. "SarOS is an application with complete cartographic, communication and logistical support, allowing mountain rescuers, without internet use and with just a few clicks on their devices, to have a complete overview of the area where the casualty is supposed to be. Until now, we used all this with multiple individual programs; now everything is combined and simple to use," presented the innovative project of the Mountain Rescue Association of Slovenia by leader Matjaž Šerkezi, adding: "In GRZS, we prepared a new special training program for search-and-rescue operations, which in May was attended by 24 mountain rescuers and 8 police officers. With the development and implementation of sarOS in the mountain rescue system, we will achieve more effective location of the casualty and thus faster arrival to them and the possibility of transport to professional medical care."



Robert Kralj, assistant commander of PPE for the mountain unit of the Police and assistant head of LPE, spoke about the 2017 on-duty helicopter mountain rescue service. "The duty started on June 2 and will end on October 1, lasting a total of 91 days. In June and September it runs from Friday to Sunday, while in the most burdened months of July and August every day of the week. With the duty, we achieve very fast response times, as in severe cases minutes decide, and at the same time the mode of operation, without the need to pick up rescuers and doctors from the terrain, is also cheaper," said Kralj and further emphasized: "During the duty period, teams perform around 140 rescues every year, which is more than a third of all interventions in the year, most on Saturdays and Sundays. Every year there are more interventions due to medical conditions and rescuing uninjured people who stray a bit off marked paths on their own and cannot find a safe way out of trouble. Their rescues incur costs, and teams are not available for interventions where someone may be truly life-threatening due to injury or illness." In case of an accident in the mountains, visitors should call the emergency number 112 and report the type of injury, number of injured, as accurate location as possible and weather conditions.



Statistics on helicopter rescues for 2016 and 2017 were presented by Captain Aljoša Kirbiš, Bell 412 helicopter pilot: "The on-duty crew of the Slovenian Army helicopter, which with the Bell-412 at the military part of Jožeta Pučnika Airport at Brnik is on standby every day, participated 3 times in mountain rescues in the first days of June and provided 11 urgent helicopter transports of injured or ill persons. In total, it transported 14 injured or ill and logged over 14 hours. The on-duty crews of the 151st Helicopter Squadron SV have intervened 136 times this year in rescue operations, 36 of them in mountains; for comparison, the helicopter intervened 138 times in rescue operations in the same period last year, 19 of them in mountains."



So that memories from the mountains are alive and fun all year round, in the mountains and valleys, summer and winter, the board game Spomin s planin now shortens time for mountain lovers.