Trekking - Annapurna Sanctuary

Beneath the intimidating rock faces and snow fields of Annapurna’s south face lies the utterly charming and attractive Annapurna Sanctuary. It is reached via the Modi Khola valley, which is Nepal’s easiest  path to the famous Himalayan giants which doesn’t require waiting for unpredictable flights (to Lukla, for example), and is relatively straightforward in terms of acclimatization. At the start of the trek you are greeted by sunrise on Poon Hill, which is truly mesmerising. Dhaulaghiri, Machhapuchhare, Annapurna South and Hiunchuli slowly rise from complete darkness into the clearest of blue skies.

The ridge from Ghorepani to the small village of Banthanti was where our transformation became complete; from then on, our days resembled one fairytale after another. When we returned to Phedi, all dirty and covered with dust, and were sipping cold beer atop a marble staircase, waiting for our ride back to Pokhara, a group of children came running by. Their cheerful demeanour reminded me of the first time we came here, and I saw it in my friends’ eyes that our Nepalese fairytale is far from being over... See more photos  Flickr Annapurna... Mountain guide IFMGA Milan Romih

Snow conditions - Klemenca jama (Logarska Valley)

It  fell 15 cm of new havey snow on Klemeči jama and it's 30 cm of new snow at 20 cm base on Škaraje (2141 m).

Gokyo Peak 5380 m

Rebeke Tramšek sent us news that members of Gokyo Trekking reached  summit of Gokyo Peak (Gokyo Ri) 5380 m with mountain guide Milan Romih today.

Crete - exploring the known

I first visited this magical island more than a decade ago, when I was amazed by the beautiful sandy beaches, steep rock faces, high mountains and numerous antique monuments. My imagination was stirred by epic stories from Greek literature, so I barely hesitated when this autumn I was given a chance to embark on a new exploration of the island.

In the beginning of October we travelled to the picturesque village of Matala, which became a famous destination for hippies in the 60’s. We settled into a family hotel directly at the sandy beach. Thousands of years ago, the caves around Matala served as cemeteries for legionaries, but today they are occupied by modern-day hermits. The nearby shores of North Africa send warm water currents to the pristine waters of these beautiful bays. Just half an hour’s drive from Matala is the Agiofarago Canyon, home to countless sport-climbing routes which have recently been equipped by the Greek climbers.

In the five climbing days that we had, we climbed numerous beautiful routes in this canyon, ranging from 6a to 8a+. We didn’t do any multi-pitch routes, since the rock is extremely sharp in the upper, less steep parts of the walls. The canyon drops down to the sea, where nestled between the rock faces lies one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen. Every day after climbing, we came here to rest and enjoy the warm waters.

If you wish to join us on our future explorations of this magnificent island, please contact us. This adventure will cost you around EUR 1000 (including airline ticket, accommodation, transport costs and food). More photos are available at the following link: Flickr - Kreta.

Active Logarska Valley

We presented its activities at the event Active Logar Valley, organized by the tourism service providers Upper Savinja Valley, on the initiative of the hotel Plesnik last Saturday. The event was concluded with  Milan Romih film Lhotse 2000 at meadows in front of the hotel Plesnik. In the context of this event was created  the PlanetTV news (see Vvisokih petah je odšla na Okrešelj).

Swiss adventures

I was brought in the wet Saas Grund at the end of last week . Unpredictable forecasts are forcing us to look for weather holes. Thus, together with mountain guides Borut, instructor Vil and four clients went to the hut Orny, where made ​​the beautiful weather and we climbed on the Aig d'Arpette. We descended on the same day . We climbed the 4027 m high Allalihorn monday. We had seen in the clouds wrapped Matterhoren, Dome and other beauties of Vallis Alps from the summit . It's a beautiful day ended with a thunderstorm. The next morning was the region of Saas Fee bleached with the new snow. See more photos Flickr Orny & Flickr Allalinhorn.

Via Ferrata - Turska gora

The climbing tour over Turski zleb on Turska gora 2251 m is difficult for inexperienced clients. Snow will be retained in the the noth side of the mountains for some time.

See Ferrata Turska gora on fotografije na Flickr.

TRIGLAV! A patriotic hike with Radio Si

Together with Radio Si we are organizing the next Adrenalin Kick, which has already become a traditional event. After skiing in Chamonix and rock climbing in Paklenica, we are now taking a group of people to TRIGLAV! A patriotic hike with Radio Si. Read more about the up-coming adventure at our Facebook page (Alpguide Slovenia) and the Radio Si website (TRIGLAV-A-patriotic-hike-with-Radio-Si), where you can sign up for this amazing adventure. Thanks to The North Face Slovenija (http://www.climbersonly.net), who help us with excellent equipment and clothing. [gallery columns="4" ids="3857,3859,3858,3856,3855"]

Morocco 2014

Look at the heavenly scenery studded with countless stars I could not sleep. I waited on the comet , which every now and then crossed the sky and my mind with ever new desires. So I bivaque on the Sahara dunes . Stars and glimpses are filled my soul . In my mind I was getting in step with himself.

As a mountain guide , I again found himself in Morocco on my journey through time . Good company I shared with mountain guides Aco , Spela , Mojca , Thomas, Irene , Darja , Vida , Milena , Hussein , Mohamed .... Although the trekking routine planned , but we experienced some unexpected adventures. Three days prior to departure fell 15 cm of snow on Toubkal and the temperature during the day did not fall under - 10 degrees C. Nevertheless, we had slightly warmer conditions and we quickly climbed the highest peak in North Africa and enjoy the breathtaking views of the desert and lush East green meadows in the west.

Todra canyon was the complete opposite of cooler 4167 m high Toubkal area. We got the blood in the veins on excellent rocks , in addition, we were warmed on hot sun . After climbing it was a pleasant soak your feet in colder stream .

Every participant of this avature experienced its own story. Some of them were and will remain in the mind. Some of them were recorded by cameras . My photos you can see on the  Flickr!

Ski Touring - Rodica

I decided that I should go to ski touring last week. I chose mountain Rodica. I and Branko left very early, we caught one of the first cabel car. Well we warmed up in the morning flooded and icy snow on the Vogel ski center slopes. We ascented above Suha mountain on the top of Rodica. We were at the top of Rodica in the company of other skiers a little after noon. We were rewarded with beautiful views of the Julian Alps and Karavanke. We descended  after a short rest. Skiing was great. Danilo Tic

Ski touring below the Kriska Face

After seeing the promising weather forecast and hearing Mitja Šorn’s positive feedback about the snow conditions in the Krnica valley, I decided to go ski touring beneath the massive rock face of Kriška stena. I was quite worried, though, about the moderate (level 2) avalanche danger listed on the ARSO website. Because of the warmer temperatures, I expected to encounter smaller avalanches from the high faces around our chosen route. That’s why Gorazd and I wasted no time after arriving at our starting point and hurried past the Krnica hut towards the slopes we intended to ski.

As expected, we saw several small avalanches sliding from the faces of Prisank and Razor. On the other side of the valley, snow was coming down from Špik’s slopes and couloirs. Since all these avalanches were very small, we continued with our skin to the base of Kriška stena, which appeared to have a layer of ice beneath the fresh snow. Of course this fresh snow was poorly bonded with the layer beneath it and was quite unstable due to the warm and sunny weather.

We had to deal with some crust at the start of the skiing, but the quality of the snow improved considerably further down. We found the best conditions among the small trees, which were barely sticking out of the snow. The skiing was incredible, and we were back at the hut in no time. We had a really great time!

Mountain guide IFMGA Danilo Tič

Lines above Chamonix

This year’s “Lines above Chamonix” programme came to an end this Saturday. We enjoyed three weeks of skiing with three different groups, all equally enthusiastic. Each group had at least two or three perfect days – blue skies, sunny and at least 30cm of fresh powder.

We did many runs in the Pas de Chevre area beneath the Dru, finding completely untouched slopes there, or being just the second party to ski our line. It snowed almost every day and we didn’t have to skin to find untracked snow, so we just used lifts, which is easier and makes it possible to ski more runs in the same day. Of course we also skied the Vallee Blanche and its numerous variants. On more than one occasion we skied both runs in the same day: Pas de Chevre in the morning, followed by Vallee Blanche later in the day. If it hadn’t snowed for more than two days, we skinned (but never more than two hours) to get deeper into the backcountry, skiing under the Dent du Geant and from the Col du Passon.

It’s true that Italians are known for great coffee, but here’s my tip for the best morning brew in Chamonix: take the first tram to Grandes Montets and ski one of the couloirs beneath the Dru, before stopping at the Les Rochers des Mottets hut. Trust me, the coffee tastes so much better when you're sitting in front of this lovely hut, looking at the line you just skied beneath the imposing rock faces, and wondering whether or not you might be dreaming. That was my farewell to the high mountains of Cham on Thursday.

It snowed on Friday, but that didn’t stop us from skiing from the Aiguille du Midi mid station, leaving our lines hidden in the trees and the patches of mist. 

Cham's News

Aco and Milan have collected km of powder above  Chamonixom with best skis Dynastar Cham. They skied culuar below Dru and different slopes above Vallee Blanch few days ago. It's snowing now. Snow report 40 cm of new pow!

Alpe-Adria Fair

Alpguide mountain guides  presented our tours on the Alpe Adria Fair in Ljubljana last week. Milan Romih (mountain guide IFMGA/UIAGM) and Franc Pepevnik Aco (mountain guide IFMGA/UIAGM) were visited by a good friend Aswin Kumar Shrestha (General Consul of Nepal in Slovenia).