2021 PZS General Assembly: Efforts for adequate climbing infrastructure

Saturday, 22nd May, 2021 PZS 4868 views

The regular annual general assembly of the Alpine Association of Slovenia (PZS) took place on May 21st 2021 in Velenje. Although the number of representatives of the alpine clubs was limited due to the coronavirus restrictions, they unanimously confirmed the reports of the previous year and the plans for 2022. The focus was on the PZS membership, tenders for reconstructions of mountain huts, and the National Climbing Centre project.

At this year's annual general assembly, which was organized by the Alpine Association of Slovenia and the Velenje Alpine Club, the speakers looked back on the pandemic-stricken 2021 and talked optimistically about the upcoming 2022 year.

The first speaker was the President of the Velenje Alpine Club Alenka Es, who was followed by the Vice-President of the Velenje Municipality Aleksandra Vasiljević, and both of them spoke favourably about the prominence of sports in the Velenje region.

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The PZS annual general assembly was attended by fewer club representatives than usual due to the coronavirus restrictions. There were 128 votes and the quorum was 44 %.

New tenders for huts

Despite all the challenges, the PZS still functioned successfully, although its activities were somewhat hampered. PZS President Jože Rovan described the difficulties of the past year: "Most of the work is carried out online; we were thrown in the deep end and have managed relatively well, and some of the newly-established online tools will still be used after the pandemic is over. This assembly is taking place later than planned and with fewer participants, some of the scheduled state-wide events will be carried out by individual clubs, and I hope that the situation settles enough by the end of the year so that we can have a normal awards ceremony in December, where we'll hopefully be able to warmly shake hands with everyone present."

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PZS President Jože Rovan described the difficulties of the past year

Despite all the restrictions, he remains positive about the future of the PZS. He explained that the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology had prepared a tender aimed at improving the energy efficiency of mountain huts and reducing their environmental impact. There are amendments to the Mountain Paths Act being discussed in the parliament as we speak; if adopted, they'll allow for systemic funding of mountain paths maintenance. This year, the PZS has also received substantial funds for the maintenance of sport climbing crags and there are plans for a National Climbing Centre to be built in Ljubljana.

Sport climbers need a big climbing centre

The project was introduced by the Chairman of the Commission for Sport Climbing Aleš Pirc and Matej Planko, who is PZS's coordinator on this project. Aleš Pirc explained that sport climbing's popularity has increased in recent years, which is also due to the success of our competitors. "Although Slovenia is a major force in the climbing world, our young climbers don't have adequate training facilities. A national climbing centre for training and recreational purposes would effectively solve this issue," said Aleš Pirc. Such a centre would be a great asset for competition climbing, recreational climbing, the city of Ljubljana, and Slovenia as a whole, setting new trends in sport climbing. Matej Planko presented the activities and plans of the PZS for establishing such a centre, which was first introduced to the PZS's Management Board in June 2020. The Alpine Association of Slovenia is one of the partners working on the centre. For the 2021-2024 period, the Ljubljana Municipality has allocated a budget of EUR 6.5 million for the construction of the centre.

Relatively favourable financial situation

PZS's Vice-President Martin Šolar and Secretary-General Damjan Omerzu presented the reports for the year 2020.

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The Alpine Association of Slovenia concluded the previous year with a positive balance. Its membership dropped slightly, but the numbers are still encouraging considering the epidemic. President of the Supervisory Board Franci Ekar gave a brief overview of the board's report and concluded that the PZS is on the right track.

Jože Rovan, President of the Alpine Association of Slovenia, presented PZS's programme for 2022.

The assembly was concluded with a formal acknowledgement of the tireless work of former Vice-President Miro Eržen, whose contribution to the PZS cannot be overstated. Since April, Eržen has been in charge of a new project management office, which is focused mainly on the economy of mountain huts and paths.

Photogallery

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