Klemen is an excellent guide, with an intuitive feel for the mountains. He speaks several languages and his skills and experience are second to none. He first climbed Triglav when he was 7 and has over 40 years experience in Mountains, including 15 years in Mountain Rescue. You could not be in sounder, safer or better hands.
Klemen brought my wife and I up Triglav in one day, we stayed the night in the Kredarica hut and went down the next morning. We’re not experienced climbers but are reasonably fit. Many people had told us that it was too windy, too cold to go up the mountain. Because of this, we wanted an experienced guide. Unless you’re a very experienced climber, I wouldn’t recommend going beyond the hut in any weather. It is exciting, scary at times and challenging… but it is so incredibly worth it, without a doubt the highlight of our holiday and year. We learned so much and have amazing memories!
Klemen emailed us in advance to check we had the right gear and met us in Mojstrana (we had a rental car and it was easy to find & leave the car). He provided us with crampons, because he sensed they would be useful in the conditions. Many people didn’t have them, but we were very grateful we did. This is just one example of how well he understood the Mountain and how extra prepared he was. He brought us up quickly through the forests and highlighted the best place to get water and take photographs. He suggested when to add layers, and taught us many tips for walking, hiking and scrambling. At the hut, he acted as translator, ensured we got food and that my wife and I had a room to ourselves. Klemen brought us up the Triglav late afternoon, he ensured we had the right gear and tied rope round us and made sure we had the crampons on right. We had a harness on but didn’t use in the end, as we didn’t need to and we moved quicker without it. He kept pushing us, which was a good thing and took some photos along the way to help us remember the occasion. He would teach us the right way to do things, and ensured even we we felt challenged we were always safe. After descending, which is tricky too for novices, he went back to make sure people still on the mountain got down safe as it was getting dark.
Klemen is fit, and will be able to match any pace you can go. He’s happy to answer questions and can alter the route as required (we went down the mule route for parts to avoid scrambling sections). On the morning, when we saw people climbing up Triglav we noted how the conditions were different and how tricky it would have been to pass other groups. We were very glad to have climbed it the day before, plus it made the evening a lot more relaxing and allowed a few celebratory beers. Klemen even brought us for tea/coffee after we got to the bottom and had lent me mountain boots as well as providing tape, after I had got blisters from walking.
Unless you’re familiar with climbing Triglav, I would definitely recommend a guide. You get so much more out of it, learning and adventure wise, but mostly safety wise. Talking to Klemen you realise how experienced he is in terms of climbing, how much he loves the mountains, how he’s taught his kids climbing and skiing, and how well he is respected. Klemen knows many mountains well, especially the Alps (climbed Mount Blanc over 60 times). Triglav is spectacular, and we’d definitely recommend getting a guide and there’s no better guide than Klemen.
ps we looked at a few providers, and Explore Share were not only best value (price wise) but they were also great at keeping in touch and re-assuring us that we could make it to the top. A great service. Thanks
