Lovers of winter sports are in their element in Slovenia this year with plenty of snow at all the major ski resorts, numerous tracks for cross-country skiing and also several good mountain roads, which have been prepared into sledging tracks.

I, unfortunately, am not keen on any of these sports but I do enjoy winter hiking if the snow conditions are right and if it is a nice sunny day – as it was on Saturday. Well actually, here in Radovljica it was somewhat cloudy but that’s one advantage of living close to the mountains, if it’s cloudy down here in the valley, it’s more often than not sunny up above, so with a little effort you can soon be up enjoying the warmth of the sun, relishing the views and reaping the rewards of ones effort.

Having spent 20 minutes shovelling snow to clear a parking space (that’s winter in the Alps!), the walk towards Dovška Baba began. The peak of Dovška Baba (1891m) is part of the Karavanke Alps and is most directly reached from the village of Dovje. This is a walk I do a good few times a year and always usually go to the top, from where there are stunning views in all directions, towards Slovenia on one side, and Austria on the other. However, with the current amount of snow it took longer to get just half-way up than it would usually take to get to the top and back. But it was just so lovely to be outside and to feel the warmth of the sun and being there, up above the clouds it was almost like I had momentarily entered a different country, or at least a different season. Of course I wasn’t alone in seeking the sun and some snowy fun, there were quite a few people walking up with skis or snowboards on their backs, some snowshoeing and also quite a few others dragging their sledges up, in order to enjoy the rapid descent. This photo, taken on the way up, shows the views over the Julian Alps and to Triglav, Slovenia’s highest mountain (2864m).

Radovljica is sandwiched between the Karavanke and the Julian Alps, so there is a wide range of choice for all kinds of sporting activities, both summer and winter, for adrenalin seekers or for those wanting a more gentle experience or just to enjoy the views, and all within easy reach. Radovljica is in the region of Gorenjska, which is also home to Slovenia’s only national park, Triglav National Park.

Triglav National Park (TNP) is named after Triglav, the highest point in the park, whilst the lowest part is the Tolminka Gorge at 180m. TNP extends along the Italian border and close to the Austrian border in the north-west of Slovenia and covers 880 square kilometres, or more than 3% of Slovenia. Two-thirds of TNP is covered by forest, the predominant species on the south side being beech whilst on the north side spruce and larch trees dominate. In fact, wherever you go in Gorenjska you won’t be far from a forest since ¾ of the region is covered by it.

TNP is a paradise for hikers, although it must be noted that there are some strict rules in place to protect the flora and fauna within the park i.e. flowers may not be picked, fires may not be lit and camping is not permitted anywhere within the park. More information about TNP can be found here – http://www.tnp.si/national_park/

A fun, and different, experience for hikers wishing to stay overnight, is to stay in one of the mountain huts within the park. A stay is a good way to sample a bit of the real Slovenia – just don’t expect too many home comforts – but a bed and a home-cooked meal is often all you need after a long day of hiking. I’ve spent quite a few nights sleeping in various huts and its always an interesting experience!

I thought I would start this week’s blog by writing about some of the upcoming events happening in Radovljica and elsewhere in Slovenia in the coming months. Of course this is just a small selection of events and I will endeavour to keep blogging about more interesting events as and when I come across them and posting reports and photos of those which I attend. I’ll be noting them in my diary – I hope you will be too!

There was more sporting success for Slovenia last weekend when Tina Maze won the slalom at the Women’s Golden Fox (Zlata lisica) event and came second in the giant slalom – just missing out by 0.08 seconds. The Golden Fox event is held annually at the Maribor Pohorje ski resort and so her success was even sweeter in front of a very enthusiastic home crowd! Additionally, ski jumper Robert Kranjec won his first World Cup victory of the season in Norway.

Ski jumping has traditionally been considered a male sport but last year the first FIS Women’s Ski Jumping World Cup was held in Slovenia and it the event will be taking place again this month. The host town is Ljubno ob Savinji, a small town in the Upper Savinja Valley, which lies approximately halfway between the capital, Ljubljana, and the second city Maribor, and the town is synonymous with ski jumping.

Continuing on the ski jumping theme, another major skiing event which takes place here annually in March is the Planica FIS World Cup Ski Jumping Final which is a crazy weekend full of sport and partying with a great atmosphere (or so I’m told anyway!).

Although they didn’t win, the Slovene Handball team came in fourth place in the World Championships last week. It was disappointing to lose to Croatia but nevertheless it was the best ever result for the national team.

Slovenia will also host the European Basketball Championships this year from 4^th – 22^nd September with matches due to take place in Ljubljana, Jesenice, Koper and Celje.

Personally, being probably the world’s biggest chocoholic, I’m most looking forward to the Chocolate Festival to be held in April here in Radovljica. It was held for the first time last year and was so successful that this year it is going to be held over two days, rather than one – mmm, twice as much chocolate!

By the way, just in case it’s confusing Radol’ca is the name of the tourist region which includes the main town of Radovljica plus surrounding towns and villages including Begunje, Kropa and Lesce. More information about the area, events and other information can be found here – http://www.radolca.si/en/

There were a couple of days of beautiful winter sunshine this past week so I was, of course, out and about walking, with my crampons on of course as its rather icy in places now. At this time of year I often walk from home, either because I’m short of time or to save having to de-ice the car. An easy to reach destination, which offers great views for relatively little effort, is to Talež (725m). Talež is part of Jelovica, a vast plateau which dominates the view to the south side of Radovljica. The highest point of Jelovica is 1,411m and it is entirely covered by forest. There are numerous places to walk and it is also great for mountain biking BUT, a note of caution, it is huge and you could very easily get lost if you stray from the marked paths. The views from Talež across to Lake Bled and across the valley to the Karavanke Alps make it well worth the effort and there is a small hunter’s hut (pictured above) which offers drinks and home-made food (only open at weekends during the off-peak season). There are numerous routes up, none of which take longer than an hour, including those starting from the villages of Lancovo, Ribno, Selo, and Bodešče.