Triglav Group : Climbing, Hiking & Mountaineering : SummitPost

Overview

UIskovnica meadow

What's New On This Page?

> SP V3 design updated.
> December 24th, 2006 - new pictures embedded.
> March 28th, 2005 - Links to the new page inserted: Rz.
> February 13th, 2005 - Links to the new page inserted: Zadnjiški Ozebnik.

The Purpose of This Page

On this page I would like to give an overview information of Triglav subgroup (Julian Alps), in order not to be repeated on all distinct summit pages. The map below links you to distinct summit pages on SummitPost! Regarding pictures and routes, this page is the place only for overall information.

General about Triglav Group

Triglav subgroup from the NE, from Karavanke range.

Triglav Subgroup stands on the very NE part of Julian Alps, where these lower significantly to forehills (beyond Sava Bohinjka river) and to Gorenjska plane. Borders of the group are: Luknja pass - Vrata valley - Sava Dolinka valley - Sava Bohinjka valley - The Upper Bohinj valley - Voje valley - Mišeljska dolina (valley) - Hribarice plateau - Prehodavci Pass - Zadnjica valley - Luknja pass.

All the highest peaks of this group are concentrated on its western part. In the central and southern part there's a broad high plateau, named Pokljuka, covered almost completely with beautiful forests and nice alpine meadows. On the NE part, beyond Radovna valley, there is a mountain range, or high plateau, named Mežaklja, which still belongs to Julian Alps, but its highest peak reaches only the altitude of 1593 m.

Some Geography and Characteristics of Mountains

Triglav Subgroup interactive map: Hover over summit marks to see mountain names, click on them to get SummitPost pages!

Towards the summit

A part of Triglav North Face

In the highest part of the group, some 1800 m above Vrata valley and above one of the most monumental rock walls of the whole Alps the summit of Triglav, 2864 m, stands. The summit massif has two side peaks, Mali Triglav, 2725 m, and Rjavec, 2568 m.

SW of Triglav, alone stands Šmarjetna glava, 2358m, and beyond Dolič pass Kanjavec massif, 2568 m. The western shoulder of Kanjavec is Vršac, 2194 m, itself an unimportant peak, but with a beautiful north wall in which there are many hard climbing routes. Towards the south, Kanjavec lowers on Hribarice high plateau, 2350 m, where Thiglav subgroup is attached to Bohinj subgroup. Beyond Zadnjica valley there's also the massif of Zadnjiški Ozebnik, 2084 m, which officially also belongs to the Triglav group. SE of Hribarice a nice summit stands - Mišeljski konec, 2464 m, which starts a long ridge streching towards the east. This is Mišelj ridge, consisting of a few minor summits and finishing on the eastern end with Mišelj vrh, 2350 m and the throne of Koštrunovec, 2102 m. SE of Triglav there's one more ridge, streching towards the long crest above Pokljuka plateau - the highest summit in it is Vernar, 2225 m.

East of Triglav a high ridge goes towards Rjavina. The first two summits, Kredarica, 2541 m and Rž, 2538 m, would be less important, if on the first one there would not stand the highest hut in Julian Alps. So, from Triglav three ridges go towards the NE. From the summit of Triglav first only the edge of the huge N wall goes. Where it lowers, there's a place, named Prag. Beyond it the first mountain ridge begins with Begunjski vrh, 2461 m, continuing towards NE to the summit of Cmir, 2393 m. With Cmir this ridge comes to an end, because from Vrata valley up to the centre of Triglav massif a side valley goes, named Za Cmirom (=Behind Cmir).

Rjavina

The second ridge goes parallelly to Begunjski vrh - Cmir ridge. It starts with Visoka Vrbanova špica, 2408 m, and lowers down to Spodnja Vrbanova špica, 2299 m, which is especially beautiful from Kot valley. But this ridge doesn't end like the first one. It lowers significantly, but continues over Požgana Mlinarica, 1873 m, which is still attractive and rocky, then over many lower summits, covered with woods, until it finishes near Mojstrana.

The most important is the third, Rjavina ridge. After Rž, there's a saddle Dovška vratca, 2254 m, beyond which the strong and nice Rjavina, 2532 m, begins. Further towards the NE of its highest summit in the strong ridge there are some more, also important summits: Luknja peč, 2245 m, Dimniki, 2101 m, Macesnovec, 1926 m, after which the ridge lowers and finally finishes at Radovna village.

And finally the last of high Triglav group crests, which on the SE rises above Pokljuka plateau. Beyond Bohinjska vratca (notch), 1979 m, the first high mountain is the fat Tosc, 2275 m. From this one the mountain chain goes allways towards the NE. Its N and NW walls are high, vertical rocks, very attractive for hard climbs, while its S slopes are more or less grassy, intermitted with some rocks. Next to Tosc there stands a beautiful pyramid of Veliki Draški vrh, 2243 m, Then the sharp Mali Draški vrh, 2132 m, Debeli vrh, 1962 m, Lipanski vrh, 1965 m and finally Debela peč, 2014 m. After this last important summit the crest lowers and after some minor summits it ends in Radovna valley. And the last two mountains to name. From this long crest two shorter side ridges go towards the south. The first one, the ridge of Ablanca, 2004 m, is south of Veliki Draški vrh and the second one, the ridge of Viševnik, 2050 m, is south of Mali Draški vrh.

Mountaineering Highlights

Over the N face in winter

Northern approaches

The most valuable mountaineering goal of the group is of course the summit of Triglav. The ascent from the north is a true feast for every fit mountaineer. If doing it in one day, the best option is by its NW ridge (Plamenice) and down by one of the other two trails. Doing this it, means some 1900 m of altitude up and the same down. For good climbers Triglav north wall is of highest value. In almost 5000 m wide and 1500 m high wall there are numerous routes of all difficulties.

Any other of big summits can be a valuable mountaineering goal. Nice marked trails/ferratas are on Rjavina, over Vrbanove špice ridge, over Cmir ridge, on Kanjavec and on Debela peč. Very rewarding are tours, where there is no trails, nor marks: Mišelj ridge, summits in the ridge above Pokljuka and many more distinct summits. See more about these possibilities on distinct mountain pages.

For hard climbs also other summits offer nice rock walls. here's first of all the wall from Tosc, over Veliki to Mali Draški vrh. Some possibilities are also in Rjavina north wall, and even in its SE walls (Teme). Also Debela peč is very popular. From Trenta side a special pearl for hard climbs (long routes!) is Vršac north and north-west wall.

Finally in Triglav massif there are some best possibilities for tour skiing in Julian Alps. Triglav itself can not be done with skis (only few extremely good skiers did it). But the whole area south of it offers nice terrains. Skiing down from Kredarica into Krma, from Kanjavec on Velo polje and over Bohinjska vratca into Krma, behind Cmir, and from almost any summit above Pokljuka plateau is highly enjoyable.

Other Places To See

Bled lake	Bled lake with its island, a church on it, the old castle on a high rock above the lake and nice views on the neighbouring mountaind all that makes the place to be one of the best known landmarks of Slovenia.
Vintgar gorge	Vintgar gorge north of Bled is great in spring. Radovna river made its way through 200 meters high rocks of neighbouring hills.

Radovna valley is nice for doing a bike tour, or just hiking.

Peričnik waterfall in Vrata valley is easily reachable and is one of the most attractive ones in Julian Alps. If you have some time (15 more minutes) and energy, it's worth ascending by the marked path on top of it and a few minutes further to the higher (but smaller) waterfall.

Pokljuka forests are attractive for hiking and biking in any season. In winter you can enjoy there kilometers of nice tracks for cross country skiing. On Rudno polje every year a world cup race in cross-country skiing or biathlon is held. In Šport hotel you can also find accomodation.

Otherwise, the valleys, leading into the group are in detail described on the Triglav page.

Getting There

Triglav subgroup - access roads and main summits are clearly seen.

For a broader orientation (highways, railways, airports, ...) see the Eastern Alps GROUP page, and, because this is only a subgroup page, the Julian Alps page.

On the map left you can see that you can drive by car into all three valleys from the north: Vrata, Kot and Krma. Roads end on altitudes of about 1000m. In recent years there are strong voices that the road into Vrata valley should be closed for public traffic. But so far this hasn't been realised yet. In Vrata in summer there's also the bus connection.

For mountaineering purposes also the Pokljuka plateau can be reached by good roads. They are all toll-free and the main road on Rudno polje is cleared also through the whole winter (unless desperately too much snow falls).

From Bohinj valley, you can, besides driving on Pokljuka, drive a few kilometers also into Voje valley.

And finally, from Trenta valley you can also drive by a narrow road into Zadnjica valley (for west approaches). Also Mežaklja side ridge can be accessed by car.

Red Tape

The highest mountains are in the Triglav national park. So, please do everything to preserve nature!

Here are some links to web pages where information is also in English:

The official page of Triglav National Parc.

A kind of bi-lingual page with panoramic pictures of the area.

A page for waterfall enthusiasts.

When To Climb

After the storm

Months with the most stable weather are usually from July to October. For tour skiing the best months are from March to May.

For weather see here.

Even better site is wunderground - here's the direct link to Kredarica station, 2515m (below Triglav summit).

Camping & Huts

Camping in nature is forbidden. High on the mountain nobody will tease you if you just make it over the night (and of course not close to a mountain hut). In any case you should leave the nature unchanged. Otherwise camps are in Sava valley, in Trenta, in Bled and in Bohinj valley. For other touristic possibilities see the main Julian Alps page!

Mountain huts of Slovenian Mountaineering Association:

(1) Blejska koca na Lipanci, 1630m, (050) 633769, (050) 611903. Access route(s): From the parking place on Pokljuka in 45min - marked path.

(2) Kovinarska koca v Krmi, 870m, (050) 631989, accessible by car.

(3) Vodnikov dom na Velem polju, 1817m, +386(0)51 607 211.

(4) Zasavska koca on Prehodavci Pass, 2071m, Tel.: +386(0)50 614781 +386(0)41 844776.

(5) Trzaska Koca na Dolicu, 2151m, (050) 614780.

Access route(s):

From the Valley of 7 Triglav Lakes. This route was described by Velebit here. The relevant section is: Section 2) 7 Triglav Lakes hut - Koca na Dolicu hut: 3.30h. The variant from Prehodavci to Dolic over the N face of Kanjavec is described here.

From Trenta valley / Zadnjica valley. This route was described by Velebit here. The relevant section is: a.) Zadnjica - Koca na Dolicu hut - Triglav. 5h.

From Vrata over Luknja pass. From Aljazev dom, 1015m, (hut) we follow the marked path alon Triglav's N face towards SW and ascend Luknja pass, 1758m. Now we must descend more than 250m down towards Zadnjica valley, until we reach the path, described above. 6h.

From Vodnikov dom, 1817m. From the hut we descend to Velo Polje meadow, 1700m, and go towards W all the way by the beautiful Velska dolina (valley). Approaching the upper end, we don't continue on the same direction to Hribarice Pass, but turn instead right (towards N) and ascend Dolic Pass and the hut beyond it. 2h.

(6) Dom Planika, 2401m, (04)5744069, (050) 614773,
(7) Triglavski dom na Kredarici, 2515m, (04) 2023181,
(8) Stanicev dom, 2332m, (050) 614772,
(9) Aljazev dom v Vratih, 1015m, (04) 5891030, (031) 384011, (031) 384013,
(10) Dom v Vojah, 690m, (04) 57 23 213, (051) 308 959,
(11) Planinska koca na Uskovnici, 1154m, (031) 341 814.

Existing SummitPost Pages

2864m - Triglav,

Not to disregard other pages, but Triglav page is the best example of high quality SummitPost page! It is almost every day updated (weather conditions), there you will find any information about the mountain and its surroundings.