Slovenj Gradec
In addition to being a necessary resupply point as the only town on we’d pass through before heading into the Kamnik Alps, Slovenj Gradec was a surprising amount of fun!
The decent into town was steep, slow, and long (we descended about 1100 m to get from our mountain hut to get to the valley).
A thread that will run through this trip is that hiking downhill. While it leaves you less sweaty and out of breath than uphill, it’s hard on the knees, and if you’re clumsy like me, letting your body propel itself downward (which is what you’re supposed to do in terms of weight distribution) nearly always leads to twisting an ankle, falling on your face, or some other unforeseen disaster.
As we approached town, Nick was antsy to get there and proposed a what he deemed an appropriate shortcut: cutting through the switchbacks of the trail to get to the road below us in a point-to-point manner. I was apprehensive, but relationships are about trust, right? Nick elegantly pranced through the trees and was down by the road in no time, giving me false a false sense of confidence that I could do the same.
I started off strong. The first switchback was a bit steep, but there were ample trees on both sides to be able to grab onto for the support. On the second I met my match. In one swift motion I managed to fall (feet forward, thankfully) to the ground and begin a not-so-graceful skid down to the next switchback. Hence, I’d learned my next big lesson of the hike: when Nick says shortcut, what he really means is landslide.
Other than my wipe out, we made it to town mostly unscathed and were eager to take hot showers and get something to eat. We had (in my opinion) our best meal of the trip to date at an Italian restaurant overlooking a garden (neopolitan pizzas, olives, and a bottle of house red), then ate our body weights in gelato before passing out to sleep.
The next morning we checked out and were surprised to find that the streets of thjs sleepy town were packed. Olympic banners lined the streets, carts sold ice cold drinks outside, and crowds gathered in anticipation. Are people here just really into the Olympics, we wondered trying to figure out what was going on. In front of the church on town center square a projector was showing women’s combined climbing, and we quickly figured out that Janja Garnbret, the first ever female Olympic gold medalist in sports climbing, was from Slovenj Gradec. As the reigning champion, she was seeking a second gold medal in Paris!
It was a complete coincidence that we ended up in Slovenj Gradec that day, but it was so cool to watch her win gold (Brooke Raboutou from the United States got silver) surrounded by her friends, family, and people who knew her! Apparently Janja and Brooke are close friends off the climbing wall, and traveled around Slovenia and did a combined training camp together before the Olympics.
A giant projector hung outside the church in the town square to play the Olympic sports climbing final. People from across town (many of whom knew Janja and grew up with her) came to cheer her on!
When we were trying to figure out what was going on, the signs and flags that read “Janja go go” gave a us a good clue.
Gelatos = devoured. Nicks blue gelato flavor (when we ordered we thought it was birthday cake, but it tasted more like blue raspberry) remains a mystery to this day!