It has been a while since the season ended. And it has been a longer while since my last posts. The reason is quite simple. Next to work and “grown up life”, I was also busy with the #biwipowproject. Some of you followed our adventures on instagram and I would like to thank you for all the likes :). Now after six trips instead of three all the articles are ready and so is the landing page that you can check out here. The project went a lot better then planed but I had to push it into the late part of the season. It would not make much sense to publish the articles in the summer, even if they are already done, so be ready for them to drop when the pre-season hype starts in a few months. Regardless a few snowy adventures thins still happen, even in summer. This time we visit Skuta glacier at Jezersko.
I can not stay away from the snow. Without it something is just missing. That is why two weeks ago Matic called me with a cool proposition. For his birthday, he wanted to be on snow. That is a mantra for all us powder-junkies.
There are two glaciers left in Slovenia. The first one lies under our highest mountain Triglav. The second is closer to Kranj above higher Jezersko, a really nice area next to the Austrian border on one side and Logarska valley on the other. From there we would head to the Glacier under Skuta peak. We would strap our skis and boots on our backs put on board-shorts and be there and back before sun hits midday. It was summer after all. Temperatures here were in the 30 degrees range. We did not know thou how much snow was left either.
It would also mean that I would not sleep a lot. I had spent most of the previous day climbing at CAC climbing center in Graz. That is 35 minutes from Maribor. But Maribor is a good two hours from Jezersko. Count another birthday party into the mix, departure at 4 am and you will know that sleep was not on the table. So at a lazy pace super early on that Sunday I picked up my buddy Jure in Maribor and we were off.
Since we were running a little late I pushed 160 km/h on the freeway. We meet up with Matic and his dad at the parking lot under the peak and started our ascend. The way up is a nice one. First you go trough some cool woods until you reach a big rocky area and from there you ascend quickly until you reach the Kranjska hut at almost 2000 m. The ascend is a bit like a Via Ferrata. With skis and boots on your back you are a little limited in mobility and takes longer to descend then to ascend.
We did good time and made it to the hut. After a Radler and a beer the glaciers lower part is only 10 minutes away. It was funny meeting all the seasonal hikers. Some were rather confused to see us with skis. The locals thou knew what we were up to. After a short beer to toast Matic`s birthday we were at the glacier.
There was a lot more snow then we expected. We put on our skis, I even used my skins and went all the way to it`s top. The middle and the upper part were mostly connected so we could ski it all in the shade mostly in one piece.
Unfortunately Matic`s busted Kingpin bindings gave it their last breath and so he had to kandahar ski to the bottom. Knee exercises. After a year of excessive use and even some sand dunes they had enough. Truly tested in all the ways one can not think off :P. While we did our toying on the snow you could hear the breaking of stone above us. This area is very crackly as are most of the alps in Slovenia. Maybe that is why Slovenians are such great alpinists and skiers.
Matics` dad on the other hand had another idea. His bike club had an anniversary and he decided to put on his gear and ski on slalom skis to commemorate that occasion. It was really epic. When I am old I will do crazy things like that too. I also managed to get my skins all dirty. Walking on the molten concrete like ice with skins was quite challenging. It was a good exercise for moving in really shitty conditions. I do hope that this glacier, or what is left of it is not a sing on things to come. I fear thou it is. Climate change…
After achieving our goal it was time to return to the valley. If you are ever in Slovenia and wan`t to see a nice area. Go visit Jezersko. It is a bit secluded but really has a lot of good lines in the winter. Another one of those areas of the country that has endless potential in tourism that has never been realized. Question again is if that is a good or a bad thing.
That thou did not finish my day. Shortly after getting back to the parking I got a call form my dad. He went windsurfing to the other part of the country and forgot half his gear. So a few hours later I was also enjoying a nice breeze on a lake near Murska Sobota. So instead of going north to south for the one day thing I went southwest to northeast. I reckon that is something that has not been done before. So I claim it skiing and windsurfing in one day, the other way around haha.
Well since summer is in full swing two more articles will be dropping in the coming days. First me and Jan head to the Outdoor fair in Freidrichshafen and then do a quick less then 48 hour stint in Chamonix. Enjoy the heat and read the about our feats !
