In 70 years of the Slovenian Mountain Trail, more than 40...

In 70 years of the Slovenian Mountain Trail, more than 40 thousand copies of the guide to it have been sold.

What do the Slovenian Mountain Trail, the first ascent of Everest, the president of the Slovenian Mountaineering Association, Little Red Riding Hood, Vlado Kreslin, and Cockta have in common? The legendary year 1953. The Slovenian Mountain Trail (SPP) at the end of celebrating this year's 70th anniversary has received an updated honorary badge and a new mountain guide from the established pens of Gorazda Goriška, Mojce Stritar Kučuk, and Andraža Poljanca, again in one book and with a new connection to the web application maPZS. At the Mountaineering Publishing House, this is already the 14th edition of the guide to SPP, and so far more than 40,000 copies of the guide to the most popular connecting path in Slovenia have been sold. The entire path has been walked by eleven thousand mountaineers, and its popularity is also evidenced by the fact that more than 200 thousand SPP Diaries have been sold.

The Slovenian Mountain Trail (SPP) is the most popular connecting path in Slovenia and one of the oldest in Europe and the world. It was the impetus for the creation of many European connecting paths. It was opened in 1953 to honor the 60th anniversary of organized mountaineering in Slovenia. It was created on the initiative of Ivan Šumljak, a geography professor, chronicler, versatile mountaineer, and active trail marker from PD Maribor Matica. Initially, he called it the magistrate, but already at the opening in 1953, it received the name Slovenian Mountain Transversal, which was then renamed to Slovenian Mountain Trail in 1991. It leads from the northeast to the southwest of Slovenia through most of the mountain world - from Maribor to Debeli rtič on the Adriatic Sea. It is marked with the number 1 next to the red-white Knafelč mark.

In 1958, the first guide Through Slovenian Mountains - Guide to the Mountain Transversal was published by the Mountaineering Publishing House, edited by Vilko Mazi, France Planina, and Cene Malovrh; it was reprinted in 1964 and 1969. In addition to path descriptions, the guide also included 22 field sketches and five schematic views. In 1974, the Guide to the Slovenian Mountain Trail was published, with supplemented reprints in 1979, 1984, and 1988. Following previous editions, it was edited by an editorial board that included Tomaž Banovec, president of PZS from 1979-1987, who as a geodesist and cartographer took over the cartographic part. "The Slovenian Mountain Trail was already very popular at that time, as it was the first, rare, and as such a great attraction," he recalls and adds that the idea took hold in all Alpine countries, although it was initially attacked in Switzerland, claiming it did not suit mountaineering, but today a series of similar paths are laid out in the Alps and elsewhere.

After changes to the Slovenian Mountain Transversal No. 1 and renaming to the Slovenian Mountain Trail, a new guide by author Jože Dobnik was published in 1994 (with a reprint in 1998) and since then also bears the title Slovenian Mountain Trail. From the pen and step of Andraž Poljanec and Milenko Arnejšek - Prlet, the guide underwent a new renovation in 2012, a thorough upgrade again in 2018, when under the editorial baton of Jože Drab and authorship of Gorazda Goriška, Mojce Stritar Kučuk, and Andraža Poljanca, it was first published in three books, divided into sections or stages, the next year it saw a reprint and an English edition Slovenian Mountain Trail, and this year's 70th anniversary saw another print in one book. Fourteen editions of the guide in 65 years, a total of 42 thousand copies issued - isn't that the most beautiful recognition of the idea of the Slovenian Mountain Trail!

In the latest guide Slovenian Mountain Trail, which has again been published in one book, mountaineers can follow stage by stage along the entire path or arbitrarily choose, divide, or combine stages according to desires, time, and weather conditions. The upgrade of this edition is the connection with modern information systems, as each stage has a QR code with a link to the path drawing in the web application maPZS. Initially, Gorazd Gorišek leads us from Maribor across Pohorje, Kamniško-Savinjske Alpe, and Karavanke to Mojstrana. There he hands us over to the author of the second part Mojca Stritar Kučuk, who takes us across the Julian Alps, where we visit some of the highest Slovenian peaks with Triglav and Jalovec at the forefront. Finally, Andraž Poljanec leads us across Cerkljansko hribovje, karst plateaus, and Primorski kras all the way to the Slovenian sea.

"In the 2012 edition with Prlet, I was also at home on Storžič, in Karavanke, on Triglav and Jalovec, but in the last editions, I have settled in the section from Petrovo Brdo to the sea. It is marked by the love of rural people for the land, the silence of the forests, the warmth of Kras, and the vastness of the sea. The mountaineer who experiences nature openly, with heart, partakes in this wealth," emphasizes Andraž Poljanec, an indispensable co-author of the SPP guide since 2012, who would recommend the concluding part of SPP to mountain lovers in winter time: "In winter time, the section from the Julian Alps to the sea is suitable. Of course, we must equip ourselves appropriately according to the conditions, especially in higher elevations and on steeper slopes, such as Porezen and the descent from Nanos, otherwise a winter visit to nature is exceptionally valuable and unforgettable, especially if we are lovers of solitude and silence."

In 1958, Predrag Pašić (PD Železničar Beograd) was the first to receive the honorary badge for walking the path, and to date, eleven thousand mountaineers have successfully walked the SPP. Of course, most are Slovenians, followed by citizens of the republics of the former Yugoslavia and German-speaking countries. A beginner systematically acquires mountaineering and alpine knowledge, skills, and experiences on the Slovenian Mountain Trail. When he walks the entire path, he is already an experienced, knowledgeable mountaineer, with strengthened spiritual goods that such a path gives, shapes, and preserves. The Slovenian Mountain Trail is thus not intended only for collecting stamps, as its ideological father Šumljak already pointed out: "Friend, walk slowly! You can really complete the transversal in one month, but rather walk for five years. Then you will have more from it, much, much more. The honorary badge will wait for you!" This year's novelty is also the updated SPP honorary badge, which mountaineers who walk the entire path receive.

"The Slovenian Mountain Trail has ensured the dispersion of visits, encouraged mountaineers to climb numerous Slovenian mountains and not just Triglav and the central ridge of Kamniško-Savinjske Alpe. Mountaineers have recognized through this path that it is worth going also to Pohorje, to Koroške and Primorske peaks. For many, it was motivation to walk it in its entirety. However, this is not a path that offers only physical activity and experiencing nature, as it also enriches us content-wise when it brings us to historical, ethnological, cultural, and natural attractions. We must not forget its economic significance either, as it has brought important revenue to mountain huts," the multifaceted significance of SPP is outlined by the president of the Slovenian Mountaineering Association Jože Rovan, also a long-time trail marker, initiator of machine improvement of mountain paths, and former head of the technical group of PZS trail markers.


A good 617 kilometers of mountain paths from Maribor to Debeli rtič is also a fair challenge for volunteer trail markers. "Maintaining SPP presents a great challenge because it is necessary to organizationally connect a large number of clubs on the route that maintain individual sections of the path. Some sections are particularly demanding for maintenance, especially very demanding mountain paths that are secured with steel cables and pegs," explains Rovan, who participated in the machine improvement of secured sections of SPP: "Paths on the Slovenian Mountain Trail arose in the past in different periods, and their modernization with machine technology began in 1978 on the Triglav ridge. The Tominšek path is particularly dear to me, which we thoroughly equipped in 1981, and only this year it experienced its first major renovation." The first man of PZS had SPP laid in the cradle, as they share the birth year, and the year 1953 was also mountaineering important due to the establishment of numerous mountaineering clubs, the erection of Savinšek's monument to Julius Kugy in Trenta, and the conquest of Everest, outside mountaineering ranks we remember it for the release of Grimm's fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood in the Čebelica collection, the birth of Vlado Kreslin, and Cockta - the drink of your and our youth.

In the spring months of 2020, SPP received a new comprehensive graphic image, and in this jubilee year, the Slovenian Mountaineering Museum in Mojstrana, in cooperation with the Slovenian Mountaineering Association, opened an exhibition dedicated to presenting the path, life, and attractions on and along it. In addition to Mojstrana, the traveling exhibition was on display this year at Jezersko, in Austrian Pliberk, at Kal above Hrastnik, in Maribor, Velenje, Bohinj, Koper, Ankaran, on Pohorje, in Slovenj Gradec, and Kamnik, where it is on display until January 15, and in February it moves to Rijeka in Croatia.

Slovenian Mountain Trail in numbers
70 years of the Slovenian Mountain Trail
617.4 km from Maribor to Debeli rtič
37,300 m ascent and 37,600 m descent
43 stages
79 control points along SPP
at least 35 visited peaks
55 mountain huts on the path
252 hours or 37 days of walking from start to end of SPP
6 days, 12 hours and 52 minutes - record from 2020
11,000 mountaineers have walked SPP in its entirety
14 editions of the guide to SPP in 65 years
40,000 sold copies of the guide to SPP
200,000 sold Diaries of the Slovenian Mountain Trail