This is the one of the goals that Izidor Furjan had set for himself. He's a student of Geography and English at the Faculty of Arts in Maribor and also a volunteer of HI Slovenia. He spends most of the year in mountains, either with his friends or as the guide for the mountaineering association. For 20 years he’d been a member of the mountaineering association in Ptuj and more recently he’d also joined the Academic mountaineering association Kozjak Maribor. The 25 year old Ptuj native humbly tells of his days long expeditions to the tallest peaks of Europe and Asia, where enjoyment is just a stone’s throw away from a fight for survival against nature and one’s self. With a backpack, sometimes containing up to 35 kilos and a sleeping bag, he spends the nights under the stars, suspended on steel ropes – if he has to.
Where does your love for nature and mountains originates from?
It’s probably the influence of my parents. We’ve always spent our weekends somewhere in hills. I’ve became a member of the mountaineering section of Ptuj at the age of four. I remember the journal: Young mountaineer, which still existed at the time and my first hikes. At the time I was more dragged to hills as walked.
What are mountains and mountaineering to you? Satisfaction? Habit?
After all these years it’s both – satisfaction and habit. It would be strange to me now, were I not to go somewhere each month. It’s always nice to go somewhere. That’s a sort of a journey. Some like to go to resorts or the beach, others prefer mountains. It’s one way of vacation.
You’re active in the Mountaineering association of Ptuj and the Academic mountaineering association Kozjak Maribor.
Indeed. In the last few years I’ve become active in the Academic mountaineering association Kozjak, with the Alpine section, where I’m an apprentice, as I’ve enrolled in the Alpine school a few years ago. I’m also active with the Mountaineering association Ptuj, where I’m a guide and help other such associations around Slovenia.
You’re a guide of the Slovenian Mountaineering Association for the categories A, B, C, D and orientation trainer. What does that mean?
Category A means easy and dry hikes, mostly visited in the summer. I call it flower picking paths as for instance Velika planina. Category B are steel ropes, rocks. That would be let’s say Triglav and tall mountains. Category C are rock climbing tours. This includes unmarked and demanding parts where you need to use ropes and climb. It’s a combination between a mountaineering and an Alpine path appropriate for smaller groups. It’s very popular in Slovenia. And category D includes easier winter tours as are Raduha or Peca, or a winter visit to Pohorje.
Within the organization we also have mountain orientation and mountaineering orientation competitions. I took part of the education, where we trained how to teach youth the mountain orientation, so they can find their way with the help of a map.
What was it like to get all those licences?
It, above all, took a long time. I started the course to become a guide before I was of age. They were not allowed to take me in, but they made an exception. Looking back, I was not ready to be a guide back then, just wasn’t mature enough. Gaining licences takes time. You need to have one category for two years, before you can start educating for the next one. I’m currently in the process of obtaining the last missing and valid licence in Slovenia. It’s the E category, which is rarely practiced at home. It’s for difficult winter climbs. Other categories are not practiced in Slovenia, except only for the tour skiing, but I’m not a tour skier anyway.
What are the trades of a good mountain guide?
Knowledge and experience. It’s a combination of both. I was fortunate enough, to have travelled a lot and saw many different guides and people. Some trades were what I grew up with, such as knowing the plants, mountain ranges, … and mostly things, you can’t really learn. You can read about some of it in the books, but I’ve gained most of it during the courses.
What’s it like to be a guide? What’s the job description?
Depends on the mode – is it a bus trip or a car trip or something else. You start by planning, placing the trip in the annual plan of the association. Next you put out the call (price, application, time schedule, money collecting…). If it’s a larger group there have to be more guides. It’s decided who walks first and who last. Sometimes I’m the main guide, or I can select somebody else to walk first so that I can join the other people. We have to define the stops and lunch. The work of the guide is sometimes quite defined. As teachers would say we have a lesson plan.
To be continued in the next issue!
