The Skiing Museum in Tržič
Skiing is one of Slovenia’s favourite sports. It has a long tradition which began with skiing on the Bloke plateau, in the southwest Slovenia.
Slovenia has a long tradition of skiing
During the 17th century historian baron Valvasor wrote reports on skiing activities in Slovenia, in which he describes in detail skiing on Bloke.
In Valvasor’s time, the people of Bloke were the only ones in Central Europe to use skis to walk or move downhill in snow. According to this historical facts, the Bloke Plateau was thus the cradle of old folk skiing.
The people of Bloke used skis to transport water, wood, woodenware and cereals, and also coffins on special funeral skis.
The second, also very important means of transport, were the snowshoes that the people of Bloke used for lengthy walks on snow and for poaching.
The history of skiing in Slovenia in one place
Let’s jump from the 17th century Bloke plateau to the small city of Tržič, where the largest ski collection of the country is being presented since 2014.
Why Tržič? Because it is home to the largest number of Slovene winter athletes who participated in the Winter Olympic Games. The Skiing Museum in Tržič features over 100 items, of which about a half are various skis, including from the end of the 19th century.
The collection also features skies of former representatives of the Slovene skiing team like Bojan Križaj, Mateja Svet, Jure Košir, Veronika Šarec, Andrej Jerman and Jure Franko. Among them is also snowboarder Žan Košir, who brought home a silver and a bronze medal from Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Tržič is a town in northern Slovenia, close to the Austrian border.
