UKC

Hello,

I am going to the Julian Alps, Slovenia the last two weeks of June.

I am hoping to get some advice on whether to take winter gear or not. And generally the conditions on the highest peaks (triglav etc). I have read that it is advisable to carry an ice axe through to July, so are crampons necessary? Trying to lighten my load as much as possible but not be unprepared .

Does anyone have any knowledge of this years conditions/advice.

Thanks!

H

In reply to heathergrace:
In my experience you can expect to find snow on north facing slopes in June. South facing areas are generally fine. I would advise axe & crampons but not bother with full winter clothing.

A couple of years ago I did a vf on the N face of Prisank that turned out to mostly be cramponing up steep snow between rock steps. The ridge descent was almost entirely snow free.

In reply to heathergrace:

I forgot to mention that it is possible that not all the huts will be open in June, particularly if there has been heavy snow. They will move heaven and earth to get them open by the time of the school holidays at the start of July, but June is not a given. I got caught out by that on my first trip there.

The high huts have winter rooms with blankets so you wouldn't be completely screwed but it is worth checking.

In reply to davidbeynon:

Hey, thank you for the info! Exactly what I needed. I heard about the huts nit all being open so plan to check with the tourist office when I get there.

Thanks for the advice

In reply to heathergrace:

Someone else has asked about the Julians recently, search for the thread 'cos it had some good info in it. Also, look up these guys http://en.rivercottageslovenia.com/home.php as they wrote the guidebook. It's a nice place to stay as well.

In reply to heathergrace:
Certainly when I've been on on the standard route of Triglav, around the time you mention, I wouldn't have dreamed of taking crampons or an ice axe. Although there was some old snow on the summit, it would have been eminently step-kickable on a less well trammelled route, in which case I would have taken just an ice axe (and probably a skimo one at that).

As for the huts, they were packed when I was there, so we bivvied. Watch out for the park rangers if you do this - it's legal, but make sure it's more of a bivvy than a camp!