Mountain lovers can vote for the Best Hiking Trail of 2024 on the Everything Will Be OK website. This time round they will have the chance to vote for one of six mountain trails that are in need of repair after the catastrophic floods and storms that hit Slovenia last year. The trail that receives the most votes will be restored and repaired with the help of trailblazers and of funds donated by Zavarovalnica Triglav. With the help of the Alpine Association of Slovenia (PZS), this campaign is also aiming to raise awareness of the important work that trailblazers do.
The Best Hiking Trail competition is part of Zavarovalnica Triglav’s longstanding Let’s Clean Up Our Mountains campaign, which is focused on encouraging everyone to use their time in the hills and mountains of Slovenia in a safer and more responsible way.
The following trails are on this year’s shortlist:
- from Ljubenske Rastke to the Travnik mountain hut;
- from Topla cave to Mala Peca
- the Koželj trail along the Kamniška Bistrica stream;
- from Logarski Kot to Okrešelj;
- from the Tamar valley to Visoka Ponca;
- the Zasavje mountain trail.
Mountain enthusiasts have until 14 June to vote for the trail they believe is in greatest need of restoration and repair. They can cast their vote here.
“This year’s shortlist features trails that are in need of major restoration or marking work. We have therefore focused in particular on those that were most badly damaged in last August’s flooding and therefore require major work in order to be restored to an orderly and walkable state. In addition to increasing numbers of visitors, more frequent and intense weather events and their consequences (high winds, landslides, rockfalls, heavy rainfall, etc.) are presenting ever greater challenges to trailblazers, who are constantly involved in ensuring that our mountain trails are well-maintained,” says PZS general-secretary Damjan Omerzu.
Maintaining mountain trails is the responsibility of all of us
Another reason behind the organisation of the Best Mountain Trail competition in collaboration with the PZS is to raise general public awareness of the work of the more than 800 trailblazers responsible for over 10,000 km of mountain trails in Slovenia. It also aims to get nature and mountain lovers involved in their work. However, we should not forget that every visitor to the hills and mountains is responsible for ensuring that the trails remain safe and in top condition.
The floods and heavy storms that caused record amounts of damage in Slovenia last summer are an indication of how vulnerable we are. “These extreme weather events not only affected private property, but also had major adverse impacts on people’s lives and on nature. Landslides, high winds and heavy rainfall also damaged and destroyed a number of mountain and hill trails, which are now difficult to access or even impassable. As part of our ongoing efforts to maintain safe hiking trails, here at Zavarovalnica Triglav we identified the need this year to get one of the storm-damaged trails back into use. At the same time, this enables us to once again highlight the hard work that trailblazers put in,” explained Sašo Sever, head of PR at Zavarovalnica Triglav.
The trail that receives the most votes in this year’s campaign will be restored by trailblazers with the help of a PZS technical team.
Six mountain trails restored up to now
Since 2017, which is when they started the Best Hiking Trail campaign, Zavarovalnica Triglav and the Alpine Association of Slovenia have helped to restore six trails of varying degrees of difficulty. To tackle any mountain trail, you require the right equipment and good psychological and physical fitness, while less experienced hikers should only embark on the more difficult trails if accompanied by a guide.
The trails that have been restored by the Best Mountain Trail campaign so far are:
- the circular trail that starts on the Blato mountain pasture and passes through the Pri Jezeru and Dedno Polje mountain pastures, Vrata (below Zelnarica), Prehodavci, Dvojno Jezero Lake, Štapce, Ovčarija and Pri Jezeru mountain pasture again, before ending back on Blato mountain pasture;
- the Rečica circular trail;
- the Bamberg Trail from Luknja pass via the Plemenice plateau and on to Triglav (very difficult trail);
- the trail leading from the Kranj mountain hut on the Ledine plateau to Koroška Rinka mountain (very difficult trail);
- the Hanza Trail, which runs from the Koča na Gozdu mountain hut to Prisojnik (very difficult trail).
Last year’s winner, the trail from Kamniško Sedlo (“Kamnik Saddle”) to the peaks of Brana and Planjava, is still awaiting the finishing touches, as the restoration work had to be postponed to this year because of poor weather. It is hoped that the trailblazers of Kamnik Alpine Association will be able to complete their work by the summer.
