Avalanches in the Municipality of Tržič

Abstract

Over the last century, avalanches have claimed twenty lives in the Municipality of Tržič, placing it among the areas with the highest avalanche fatalities in Slovenia. The article presents areas with the most frequent avalanche-related accidents in the municipality. At the beginning, it highlights the Ljubelj road, an important trade lifeline that has for centuries been exposed to avalanches. In addition the article also presents three other areas of the municipality: the Storžič Mountain, the former Zelenica ski resort, and the Košuta Massif. For the Storžič area, the article mentions an avalanche in 1937 that claimed as many as nine lives, and for the area of the the former Zelenica ski resort, it points to two avalanches, one that claimed the lives of Yugoslav border guards (1962) and one that killed pupils and teachers from a secondary school in Kranj (1977). The article concludes by presenting accidents related to avalanches on the Košuta Massif.