The Valley of Frozen Waterfalls

One of the most beautiful Alpine valleys in Europe, the Logar Valley, is home to countless natural attractions and is a true paradise for lovers of hiking in unspoilt nature. It is embraced by the mighty two-thousand-metre peaks of the Kamnik-Savinja Alps, whilst at its head it delights visitors with the magnificent, 90-metre-high Rinka Waterfall. The Kamnik-Savinja Alps, with their two-thousand-metre peaks, offer numerous mountaineering ascents of varying degrees of difficulty, both in summer and winter. Fans of ice climbing can test their skills on more than twenty waterfalls when conditions are favourable.

One such story comes from Solčava

(Source: Mountaineering News 8/1998)

Ice climbers from the Savinja Valley climbed the famous Rinka waterfall on 5 February. Of the well-known Slovenian waterfalls, such as Boka, Peričnik and Savica, Rinka had to wait the longest for its first ice ascent.

Andrej Grudnik, Jernej Grudnik, Anton Pavlič and Cene Roban made their first ascent on 3 February. First, they climbed the ice cone that had formed beneath the waterfall; then a difficult and risky traverse to the right and upwards awaited them, leading away from the waterfall’s fall line. They climbed it using ice formations clinging to the crumbly red rock.

In the Logar Valley, there is another popular waterfall, the Palenk Waterfall, which is particularly well-visited in winter, when it offers an attractive climbing spot for ice climbing enthusiasts.