EN
HR
"Nature is always one of the biggest reasons for coming, that is, over 60 percent of tourists declare that they come to Croatia for its natural beauty. We really want to restore the infrastructure and put it into the function of tourism, so that ultimately our citizens, as well as tourists, can enjoy it", he said for HRT's show 'Good morning, Croatia' Slavko Štefić from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.
We are aware that without quality mountaineering infrastructure - hiking trails, houses and shelters - a large part of the beauty of our country would not be known or accessible to the general public.
It is a fortunate circumstance that the implementation of the Safe Reconstruction of Mountaineering Infrastructure (SOPI) project coincided with the anniversary of 150 years of organized mountaineering in Croatia.
The SOPI project, a collaboration between the Croatian Mountaineering Association and the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, is the largest investment in mountaineering infrastructure in the last few decades.
"The project of safe and sustainable mountain infrastructure aims to organize the mountain infrastructure in Croatia, and it is aimed at the restoration and reconstruction of mountain lodges, houses and shelters, and mountain paths. In Croatia today, we have about 6000 kilometers of hiking trails and 160 mountain lodges, houses and shelters. It is through this project, with the support of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, that the Croatian Mountaineering Association invests in these mountaineering facilities with the aim that they provide safety and comfort to all those who come to the mountains", he explained Alan Caplar, general secretary of HPS.
The users of these traces of civilization in the natural wilderness are not exclusively mountaineers, it is a matter of benefit for the common good. There is a constant growth in membership and the growth of newly founded mountaineering societies. "We estimate that there are at least twice as many people as registered mountaineers", he told HRT Darko Berljak, president of HPS.
The emphasis of the project was on mountain houses and shelters - remote facilities that are difficult to access. Mountaineering facilities are arranged by volunteers: they repair roofs, windows, sanitary facilities and everything necessary for a safe stay in them, he points out. Young sparrow, expert secretary for mountaineering infrastructure and project implementation.
The 'Eagle's Nest', the renovated Ratko shelter on Samarski stijene, has exactly all that. In such mountain shelters, comfort is not imperative, it is important that they are always open, that there is the possibility of heating, that you can charge your cell phone via the panel, and everything else the mountaineers bring with them, Berljak points out.
A bit more comfort is provided by the mountain house and the mountain shelter on Bijeli stijene. As part of the renovation project, more than 12 tons of materials and equipment were transported here on the steep ascent on the shoulders.
/ / / Adventure travel: 7 trends worth following
"There is the Mountaineering House 'Dragutin Hirtz' on Bijeli stijene, and a little further on there is the mountaineering shelter 'Miroslav Hirtz'. Now we are renewing the windows, changing the compost toilet system, we installed new benches... The shelter is open all the time, all year round, 0-24 and every hiker and excursionist who happens to be there can enter it and spend the night. It is open for all people all the time.", He said Vjekoslav Habulinec, president of PD Kapela from Zagreb.
It was built on the site of the old one, but according to modern standards of impressive beauty. It is the largest mountain shelter in Croatia. As part of the project, it was created according to the idea of an architect who, among other things, designed and built an egg-shaped shelter on Učka.
/ / / What should mountain shelters look like in Croatia? Just like on Učka
"As an architect, you have the responsibility to make something the best you can, which means to build on the perfection of the space in some way, not to defile it, not to mess it up, but to upgrade it. No matter how abstract this looks, it is not so much because we are actually standing in an ornithologically rich area and in fact the story about that nest and one egg as a paraphrase of that ornithological theme simply led to this solution", he explained to HRT architect Ivan Juretić.
In most locations where there are shelters, the biggest problem is the demanding and laborious transportation of equipment. Some buildings are so far from roads that delivery of materials for reconstruction is only possible by helicopter.
Photo: Mario Jurina
