Blaz
4.9
(28)
Mountain Guide
Ljubljana
I’m an IFMGA Mountain Guide and an Alpine Instructor from Slovenia.
At the back of the house where I grew up, past a slope, a higher hill and some rocks, you could see Mount Triglav rising towards the blue sky.
Mountains were a part of my backyard and I started practicing alpinism when I was a schoolboy. At that time, I enrolled for a sport climbing school and I became an alpine instructor in 1995.
Between 1995 and 1997, I’ve been a member of the Sub-commission on Extreme Alpinism for the Slovene Alpine Society. Some years later, I was Chief of the Commission for Alpinism.
As a member of the alpine team, I went on several expeditions in North and South America, the Himalaya, the Tian Shan and the Kookshall-Too mountain range.
I climbed more than 700 routes in Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland and France. Long winter climbs and ridges are always among my favorites.
I made some first winter ascents: on two routes on the north wall of Ribezni, Možnica (700m, V+, 5, UIAA VI/A1) and in Jof di Montasio / Poliški Špik, Grapa (700m, UIAA 4, ascent and complete ridge traverse). Other memorable climbs were a winter traverse of 4000 m peaks in Mont Blanc (4807 m) and the Slovenian Peuterey ridge traverse, among many others.
After 6 years of training, I obtained my IFMGA certification in 2010.
I organize many guided ski touring, rock climbing and ice climbing trips in Slovenia, especially in the surroundings of Mt. Triglav and the whole Soča valley.
Programs
What people are saying about Blaz Stres
Mike
Blaz was an excellent guide for our via ferrata trip and I highly recommend him! He proved to ve very knowledgeable and taught me a lot about the history of Slovenia. The communication is definitely something to be aware of. In fairness, Blaz does a lot of guiding off grid. It was never a problem for us, but it just meant the odd delay in replies. Blaz was perfectly on time on the day and everything was well organised. The equipment was in excellent condition and Blaz is clearly a very capable mountaineer. You should absolutely listen to his advice. We opted to start early in the morning (which he suggested) to beat the heat. It was absolutely the right call and made for a very pleasant morning trip.
Jeremy
Kanika
Blaz is a great guide, offering interesting tidbits of information about the hike and points of interest along the way. Though we couldn’t hike Mangart due to weather conditions, the proposed hike was just as fun and Blaz was incredibly patient and helpful throughout! Wouldn’t hesitate booking with him again!
Abby
Blaz was an incredible guide! Was very informative about the history behind the area and did a great job of making sure we had everything we needed for a great climb! Took so many pictures of us along the way and was a delight to speak with all the way!
Elizabeth
We had a fabulous trip with Blaz. Highly recommend it. No mean feat to inspire our 9, 14 and 17 year olds at the same time and leave us all feeling well exercised and challenged. The early start (rejected 5am offer in favour of the more relaxed 6am!) meant even the grumpy 14 year old learned the benefits of climbing up to the beginning of the actual via ferrata before the heat set in. Breakfast up a mountain looking down on the cloud filled valleys at 8am was a real treat. But then the proper fun began. Roped together and often secured to the rocks with carabiners on the fixed wires, we climbed up gulleys and along rock faces that we could not possibly have tackled without Blaz's encouraging leadership. Along the way he delighted the boys with tales of Slovenian history and had constant stories to distract our young daughter. His photos provide a great reminder of the day (ok, long morning) and meant we didn't need to worry about cameras, and he and Igor (our second guide) made very good company over a well earned cuppa and pancakes at the Vrisic pass cafe at the end. Not cheap, but well worth it. We'll be back.
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