Jezersko Nature at its most beautiful 1 Table of contents The Mountaineering Villages (Bergsteigerdörfer®) project 2 Forewords 5 Jezersko – Nature at its most beautiful 8 Jezersko in the past 10 Characteristics 12 Recommended itineraries – summer 15 Recommended itineraries – winter 33 Bad weather alternatives 42 Access 43 Getting around 44 Associated restaurants, accommodation, and mountain huts 45 Important addresses 46 Maps and guidebooks 47 Impressum, photo credits, and literature 48 How to stay safe in the mountains 49 REPUBLIKA SLOVENIJA MINISTRSTVO ZA GOSPODARSKI RAZVOJ IN TEHNOLOGIJO Občina Jezersko Second edition, Jezersko 2019 2 3 The Mountaineering Villages event which is something special in the sig- have quite a few things in common: similar (Bergsteigerdörfer®) project – a contribution natory states. The Alpine Association of Slo- geographic location surrounded by peaceful venia is one of the key partners at this event, mountains, small size, living mountaineering to the aims of the Alpine Convention. as our goals are essentially identical to those and cultural traditions, plenty of available of the Alpine Convention. But all the modern activities (climbing, hiking, bouldering, ski ! Legend Augsburg Linz ! ! ! problems popping up throughout the Alpine touring, snowshoeing, mountain biking, etc.) Wien National border !München Perimeter Alpine Convention world are present in Slovenia as well, and are that rely on nothing more but your muscles Freiburg ! G E R M A N Y ! City ! becoming increasingly serious. The growth and require no technical assistance. Partners River Salzburg !Kempten Lake Basel ! of tourism and pressure to allow the building who offer food, accommodation, and other Bregenz Leoben Glaciated area (> 3000 m) ! ! Zürich ! of tourism infrastructure in protected areas; services in the towns, work together with the Innsbruck! Graz A U S T R I A ! S W I T Z E R L A N D ! Vaduz Luzern ! unfavorable demographic trends, which are local alpine clubs in providing interesting in- Bern ! L I E C H T E N S T E I N Thun particularly strong in mountainous areas; sight into the local history and culture, while, ! Klagenfurt ! Maribor! !Villach Lausanne ! Bolzano Jesenice climate change, which often has the strong- at the same time allowing guests to enjoy ! ! Kranj Genève ! est impact on regions close to mountains; traditional home-made food and drinks. This ! Ljubljana Trento ! ! Nova Gorica Annecy ! Zagreb unsustainable traffic and new sports that go way, the project also helps the development ! ! !Lyon S L O V E N I A Trieste against environmental protection policies – of the local economy and allows the young ! Bérgamo ! !Chambéry !Bréscia Milano Venézia all of the above have a strong negative im- to plan a future in their hometown. !Novara ! Verona Pádova ! ! ! !Rijeka ! Grenoble pact on mountainous areas and the culture The Alpine Association of Slovenia, which is Torino ! and traditions of the local people. the national project coordinator in Slovenia, Parma I T A L Y ! The Alpine Association of Slovenia is thus helped by the Ministry of the Environment F R A N C E Bologna ! happy to be part of the Bergsteigerdörfer® and Spatial Planning, which is in charge of !Génova – Mountaineering Villages project, where it the Alpine Convention in Slovenia, and the La Spézia ! can exercise the protocols and declarations Ministry of Economic Development and Firenze Nice ! ! of the Alpine Convention, as well as its own Technology, congratulate the municipality M O N A C O Marseille Scale: 1 : 3,300,000 vision and mission pertaining to the devel- of Jezersko for taking the decision to focus ! 0 25 50 100 150 200 O km opment of mountaineering and mountain on sustainable tourism in one of the most Area covered by the Alpine Convention. sports in accordance with the principles of beautiful parts of Slovenia and become the environmental protection and respect for first Slovenian municipality to be part of the Slovenians have been aware of the need to Union signed a contract, which came into local people, mountaineering tradition, and Bergsteigerdörfer® – Mountaineering Vil- preserve the Alps since the beginning of the force in 1995. Next up was the long and ardu- culture. By joining this international project, lages project. We wish them all the best on 20th century when the first ideas to protect ous process before the agreement was finally which is headed by the Austrian Alpine Club their journey. the Triglav Lakes Valley started to emerge, put into force in 2002. With the protocols and (ÖAV) with partners from South Tyrol (AVS), eventually coming to life in 1924 with the es- declarations of the Alpine Convention, the Germany (DAV), and Italy (CAI), along with Ljubljana, April 2018, Alpine Association of tablishment of the Alpine Conservation Park. countries of the Alpine Arc now have an im- the cooperation of the Permanent Secretar- Slovenia Just two years later, the name Triglav National portant tool for protecting the environment, iat and national contact points of the Alpine Park was first used. This meant that Slovenia as well as the activities, traditions, and culture Convention, we were given a chance to have Vice President was one of the first Alpine countries to get of the local people. Slovenians were lucky to Slovenian municipalities and/or towns join Miro Eržen a national park, which was officially named have been able to protect such a large part the family of similar villages from mountain- Triglav National Park in 1961 and expanded of our Alps with Triglav National Park, plus ous areas of Austria, Italy (South Tyrol), and to most of its current area in 1981. These ef- we never interfered with the mountains and Germany. The people and governing bodies forts ran alongside the work of the Commis- nature as much as the other Alpine countries of these municipalities are devoted to the sion for the Protection of the Alps (CIPRA), did due to our relatively limited resources. As development of sustainable practices, which which was making a strong push for the es- a result, the general public is not really aware aren’t focused on mass tourism and gigan- tablishment of the Alpine Convention. All the of the efforts of the Alpine Convention, a tic infrastructure projects. The towns which hard work paid off in 1991 when the eight problem we’re trying to address by organ- are part of the Mountaineering Villages countries of the Alpine Arc and the European izing the Alpine Convention Day, an annual 4 5 Welcome to Jezersko, where nature is at its most beautiful! This is the slogan that has been greeting the egy for Jezersko, which is based on tradi- visitors to Jezersko for the past few decades. tions and local resources and encourages We are immensely proud of the nature that the growth of tourism, farming, and for- surrounds us: the forests, meadows, waters, estry, while maintaining the high quality of and especially our mountains. The mighty the region and its nature. All these goals are rock faces soaring above the glacial valley also the key values of the Alpine Conven- are the most distinguishing feature of our tion and the main focus of Mountaineering town, one that has captivated the imagina- Villages. That’s why we’re extremely happy tion of locals and visitors for centuries. The and proud to welcome you, lovers of moun- desire to explore and conquer the steep tains and guardians of unspoiled nature, to walls, exposed ridges, and scenic summits come and visit us and the rest of the villages has been part of our ancestors’ psyche, and which are part of this project and located it was them who made mountaineering and throughout the Alpine Arc. alpinism an integral part of our identity. We wish you a pleasant stay and plenty of The first pieces of information and words safe adventures with us here in Jezersko! of encouragement on our path to becom- ing part of the Mountaineering Villages network came from the representatives of Sincerely, Mayor Andrej Karničar the village of Zell in the Austrian state of Carinthia as far back as 2012. We felt that the criteria to join the project and its long- term commitments suited us perfectly, and after the first visit of the representatives of the project, who shared our view, we start- ed working on joining the network. In the fall of 2017, we had the official presentation and committee hearing in Salzburg, where the organization was eager to make us the first Slovenian member of the international network of Mountaineering Villages. The main welcoming ceremony took place on May 26th, 2018 in Jezersko as part of the Al- pine Convention Day. In 2015, we adopted a development strat- 6 7 Let’s get together in the mountains It is with great pleasure that I welcome you mountains more accessible, the locals have to Jezersko on behalf of the Jezersko Alpine opened countless climbing routes on the Club and all the local people you’ll meet sheer rock faces above Jezersko. The area during your explorations of our mountains has also managed to become Slovenia’s ski and the surrounding areas. You’re about to mountaineering capital and the standards discover a truly special place, which shares of extreme skiing have reached world-class many similarities with other beautiful al- levels. This tradition of mountaineering pine valleys. This is a stage set against a and alpinism, which is still very much alive, stunning backdrop of mountains, where life along with the rich natural and cultural her- has a slightly different pace than anywhere itage, is what will make our time together else. You can look forward to exploring new in this valley truly special and is the reason paths, new horizons, and new experiences, why you’re here, isn’t it? and we’ll be happy and proud to share all That’s exactly what the network of moun- of this wealth with you.