Ponca Vevnica Mangart Jalovec circle

@nejc

"If you attempt to walk an eleven hour long path that ends at a shelter but you run into impassable/dangerous snowy section after seven hours ... then you can find yourself in the world of trouble quite soon."

I wouldnt consider this example a world of trouble (unless you are dresses for the beach maybe). This would just mean you would "suffer" long return back, probably partly in the night.

For a world of trouble example, I would consider Eiger North Face story where they crossed a section from which they couldnt come back any more.

You can call it whatever you want, but I will just write some major contributors to risk factors in the above scenario:

- worse orientation capability in micro surroundings (you have to devout lot of time and energy to find path; you can take the wrong path, miss markings, miss signposts)
- worse orientation capability in macro surroundings (you can not deduce from surrounding area features where you are)
- temperature drop (you may be ready for temperatures around 0-5°C, but what if temperature drops far below that? In the night it can.)
- tiredness - impacts how safe your step/grip is. Also impacts judgment; if you combine that with orientation trouble, the outcome can unfortunately be really bad (changing your destination to get out while not really knowing where you are in the first place).
- decreased visibility affects how safe your step/climb is

Everybody who's at least moderately experienced mountaineer will tell you about these risks. I've also attended a couple of mountaineering courses where I've been told similar things. Also some mountain rescuers also gave lectures and presented reports of accidents and we broke down what caused them. There is even a campaign in Slovenian media to launch warnings about what can go wrong in the mountains. Everywhere you'll hear the similar things (but everyone else will probably be able to explain them better than I did though ).

You can have a lot of great experiences for the whole lifetime in our mountains if you are careful. I hope you'll make right decisions and travel safe. Bye!