Ljubelj - Vertatscha/Vrtača (east groove Y)

Access to the starting point:
From the Ljubljana - Jesenice motorway, take the Ljubelj exit and follow the road to the border crossing. Just a few metres before the border crossing, the signs for Zelenica direct us to the left and after a few 10 metres of further driving, the road leads to a parking lot under the Zelenica ski centre.

Path description:
From the parking lot, follow the footpath towards Zelenica, Vertatscha and Stol. The dirt track, which runs along the left-hand side of the ski slope, leads us after about 15 minutes of moderate ascent through the forest to the aforementioned slope along which we then climb. The path, which offers beautiful views of the extensive scree Begunjščica on the left and the ridge Ljubeljščica on the right, then leads us in a gentle ascent to the hut at Vrtača. From the hut, continue straight along the marked path, which slowly turns slightly to the left and, after a short cross-climb, leads us to lane of dwarf pines. The path then climbs steeply for a short time and then leads to cart track (transport-rescue road), which is then followed in a moderate ascent to the mountain home at Zelenica.
From the home on Zelenica, continue right towards Stol and Vertatscha (left Begunjščica) along the path, which turns left immediately after the home and climbs by the children's ski lift. Somewhere halfway along the cableway, you will come to a less visible crossroads, where you continue right and cross the ski slope (straight ahead to the hut at the source of the Završnice River). Continue through a short lane of forest and the path leads to the next lift which you cross in a slight downhill. On the other side of the ski slope, you will see a larger rock with a marker on it, which will direct you into the forest. The way forward first descends gently and then ascends crosswise over a scree slope. The path soon lays down and turns slightly to the left, where it reaches a small unmarked crossroads. Continue straight on the gently sloping and marked mountain path, which leads us only slightly further to a place where an unmarked path branches off to the right into the valley of Suhega dwarf pines (mozic). Follow it through the dwarf pines patches and sparse forest and past boulders towards the Žleb notch between Pautz and Palec. Just below the gully turn left and cross the scree Pautz in an arc towards the base of the eastern wall of Vrtača. The crossing is a bit difficult due to slippery rubble and rocks. Once below the chute outlet, you have to climb steep rubble to reach the wall, which is quite broken, allowing for fast progress. Higher up, the gully narrows considerably and splits into two slimmer gullies. Continue on the left, which is wider, in contrast to the right, which is also incomparably easier and the wall is not as steep. Climb over the craggy rock jumps until you reach two wedged boulders, under which you have to crawl. Then comes the key part of the route, where we have to climb two crumbly rock jumps on the right. Then we climb up a scramble to a saddle, from which we reach the summit in an easier climb. We climbed more or less in the range of difficulty levels I-II.

On the way: Koča Vrtača mountain hut (1288m), Dom na Zelenici mountain hut (1536m), Žleb (Suho ruševje) (1916m)

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