Snow-Shoeing in Green (White) Slovenia!

It is such a lovely feeling to try something new that you have never tried before, so I was very excited to have a go at snow shoeing for the first time in a truly wonderful Alpine setting close to lake Bohinj.

The journey up from the Lodge is all motorway to lake Bled, then you get to drive past the first stunning Alpine lake on the local road and it takes under 90 mins in total to get to the little resort village of Bohinjska Bistrica, just before the next uberstunning Lake of Bohinj.

We had been invited up for the day to join a lovely family who already stayed at the Lodge during the summer and then returned to Green Slovenia over Xmas and the New Year for another Slovenian winter adventure!

The really fantastic and UNIQUE thing about little old Green Slovenia is that there are Mediterranean bits, middle European bits, even some flat bits and 4 different Alps too AND the Lodge is right in the middle of ALL of it, so you can pick and choose each day like browsing from an amazing Super Menu to select which weather, food options AND particular bit of Europe you want to see!!

So the option selected from this supermenu for today was snow in the Julian Alps and it was like a bonus that it was such a sunny day!

Our guide for the morning was Grega of Hike and Bike and we were soon fully, but lightly equipped with snow shoes and ski poles and marching out of the village towards the stunning mountains that surround Bohinjska Bistrica.

once you get used to the shoes it is easy to walk on the snow..
once you get used to the shoes it is easy to walk on the snow..

 

Having watched the odd snowy Hollywood western and other Polar classics, I fully expected the snow shoes to be like huge old fashioned tennis rackets, but these modern ones are sleak and made of very solid bright coloured plastic with metal studs underneath.

You step into them and strap them to your hiking shoes and the only tricky bit you must remember is to only go forwards as they they have a release if you move your feet backwards.. but don't worry, this is really easy to get used to.. you only really need to go backwards to maybe reposition to take a photo of your chums, so you kinda do a little dance or shuffle in a small circle and all is good.. or you just fall over and everyone laughs!

When you start walking with the snow shoes you need to have a slightly wider stance a bit like a cowboy, as they are wider than your normal shoes, but you soon get used to that too, so really easy to learn!

our guide told us about the local nature and different types of snow too..
our guide told us about the local nature and different types of snow too..

 

The benefit of wearing the snow shoes is huge as you can go places on the snow you couldn't normally with regular shoes and of course keep your feet dry and clear of snow the whole time.

We marched off like a bunch of penguins and were soon ascending little snow covered hills. The snow was a little icy and frosty on top, so we made an enormous cacophany crunching sound together like we were eating lots of bags of crisps.. it was great!

We soon reached what can best be described as an "Alpine super motorway".

This is a "snow road" for Alpine skiers that leads out of Bohinjska Bistrica and can be followed out into the hills and back.

there is a ski
there is a ski "road" winding all around the valley for cross country skiers and these neat snow rails keep you in line like a train!

 

It is really wide and on the right hand side are two deep and narrow lines like snowy tram tracks that are used by those skiers who use mainly their upper body and ski poles to power themselves along these gridlines with their skis firmly fitted inside the rails.

As "snow shoers" we had a responsibility to look carefully both ways before we crossed this snow road and to even more carefully step over these tram lines, so as not to destroy the rails.

We took our responsibility seriously and for a bunch of foreign people who all came from non snowy countries, there was no better place to be in Europe than here today on the second day of a new year, surrounded by Alpine mountains in the snow and watching Alpine skiers whizzing past, flapping their arms like seabirds and seeing little kids tobogganing down slopes.. it was pretty much a fairy tale!

the landscape was incredibly beautiful all along the walk..
the landscape was incredibly beautiful all along the walk..

 

Having driven along the main road past Bohinjska Bistrica to Lake Bohinj many many times, I was used to stealing little glimpses up at the overwhemingly beautiful mountains on both sides, but on this particular trip was pleasantly surprised to see how much stuff there was wedged in between the peaks on either side of the road!

We had to take our snow shoes off to cross the main road to the other side of the valley and the few light giddy steps we took on the snow without the snow shoes on made you realise how brilliant these clever devices are !

There is a cycle path on the other side of the road and the beautiful river too, but snow shoeing here really brought home the beauty of these snow covered meadows, little hills and the magnificance of the skiers' road that I had completely missed out on before.

This is not an uncommon experience for visitors to Green Slovenia and our strong advice here is to go that extra km or turn that blind corner and have a peek or to go through the door of the cafe or restaurant that looks closed and you will usually have a very pleasant surprise!

what a fantastic way to spend a morning..
what a fantastic way to spend a morning..

 

The other strong advice we have is.. where possible.. go off exploring with a local guide. For us we did a whole year travelling around the world and we always took local guides..it is just the best way to see and learn about the places you are visiting.

Grega was fab, a good guide will always be checking to see if you need a breather and stopping to explain stuff and even for me with all our forest walks here in green paradise near Lipizzaner Lodge I had never actually seen evidence and been told that I was looking at a place where deer sleep.. thanks Grega!

For the children it was also fun to look out for Deer poop and of course they found some. For me, there was a chilling reminder of what is happening to our world when I found a small bee in the snow, which had died, but had obviously been flying around on the second of January in the European Alps.. that can't be right, can it folks??

We enjoyed a small taste of home made pine schnapps, which was actually not as sharp as other schnapps here and had a pleasant sweetness to it and then after a 2-3 hour hike it was time to thank Grega and have some lunch in the village.

we crunched our way up the hill..
we crunched our way up the hill..

 

Wow, what a day.. if you haven't been snow shoeing then put it on your life list.. there were enough ups and downs on this particular hike to really see how the snow shoes dug in and gave you the grip you needed and to make your heart flutter a bit too!

A few pairs of snow shoes immediately went onto our own Lodge shopping list I can tell you! .. For our guests to enjoy the rare days of snow we also get at the Lodge to maybe hike the amazing secret path to Predjama castle and see this wonder of the world, hanging off the side of a cliff in the snow!

Email: info@lipizzanerlodge.com

Address: Landol 17, Postojna 6230, Slovenia

Phone: +386 5620 3443
Mobile: +386 40 47 0239 or +386 40 37 8037

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