Make sure you hike safely

Plan your hikes

When heading into the mountains, plan your time and route carefully. Take into account your fitness level and check the weather conditions. It is recommended that you head out to the mountains early in the morning due to the risk of thunderstorms. Someone down in the valley should know about your itinerary! Record your progress in the mountain logs along the way. Check in advance and book overnight stays in mountain huts, where you can refresh yourself with food and drink. Stay on marked trails when hiking. Follow the markings and not any momentary whims!

Use maps and applications

Your best accessory on the way are printed mountaineering maps in scale 1 : 50,000 and 1 : 25,000 and guidebooks for selected mountain ranges. You can find them in bookshops, hiking accommodation facilities and tourist information centres in hiking destinations. Note that there is no cell phone service in many places in the mountains. When planning a route, first upload to your mobile phone the appropriate GPS tracks of the selected routes as well as digitised topographical maps and applications such as maPZS, Outdooractive, Slovenia Trail, Alpe Adria Trail, Juliana Trail, Monolit2Go, Komoot and others.

Be well equipped

The most common cause of slips is inappropriate footwear. Protect your feet with shoes that have good ankle support and deep-lugged, stiff soles. Take enough water and highenergy food, warm clothes (anorak, cap, gloves, long-sleeved shirt), mobile phone with full battery and personal first aid kit in your backpack. In the high mountains, take a helmet, headlamp and spare batteries and safety blanket, and on more difficult routes with protected sections (via ferratas), also take a self-protection kit, which you must know how to use.

Don't go on your own in winter!

Appropriate equipment is even more important in winter. Make sure you wear quality boots, gaiters and clothes. Take an ice axe and crampons with you, and due to the risk of avalanches, include perfectly functioning avalanche gear (a beacon on your suit and probe and shovel in your backpack). Make sure you know how to use this equipment! Bear in mind that many huts are not open in winter. Follow the weather forecast. Don't go to the mountains for at least three days after a heavy snowfall or thaw. Don't go on winter hikes on your own! Join organised, guided hikes or arrange a route with a mountain guide licensed by the Alpine Association of Slovenia.

Take into account how you feel

Go on hikes only when healthy. Walk at a pace adjusted to your physical fitness level. Fatigue reduces concentration. While hiking, make sure you have regular rests and replenish your energy with suitable food and drink. Don't produce waste and don't disturb the animals. If you think that you have lost your way, immediately return to the last starting point with markings!

In the event of an accident act with composure

In the event of an accident, stay calm, assess the situation and protect yourself and the victim from immediate additional risk. Call the emergency number 112 or send a short message to this number stating who you are, what happened and where and when, how many victims there are, what their injuries are and what kind of help you need. Rescue in the event of accidents is performed by the Mountain Rescue Association of Slovenia. Bear in mind that help may not arrive until several hours later.

Recommendation: reside as a hiker and trust mountain guides

There are 178 mountain huts, shelters and bivouacs along the hiking trails in Slovenia. While some huts in the highlands and valleys are open all year round, huts in the high mountains are supplied only from June to the end of September. In huts, you can spend the night in small rooms or rooms with shared beds. Book your overnight stay before the hike! Specialised accommodation for hikers is also provided by more than 50 hotels, guest houses and apartments. They are often tied to the offering of small tourist agencies that organise guided hikes in cooperation with properly trained and licensed mountain guides. You can also arrange for individual guidance.