The central area oft he Julian Alps is mainly consisting of
bedrock formed during the Trias period (230-195 Mill. B.C.). Two
typs of bedrocks are dominating: the „Dachsteinkalke“
and the „Cordevolkalke“ both are special kinds of
limestone formed in the upper Trias and are both about 1000 m
thick.
The oldest bedrock-types are from the upper Carbon and the Perm
period (280 Mill. B.C.) which can be found around Kranjska gora and
Podkoren.
The sediments of the Trias period originate in a vast but rather
shallow ocean, the so called Tethys, where the conditions of
sedimentation changes rapidly in short distances. So nowadays you
can see nearly perfectly layered lightgrey
„Dachsteinkalke“, sandstones rich of mica,
browncoloured marl and clay next to brownish-green vulcanides with
tuff or also Dolomit, just in a small area around the Vrsic-pass.
Two wonderfull examples are the peak of the Mojstrovka, made out of
„Dachsteinkalk“ and the peak of Prisank (Prisojnik)
with multicoloured formations of different types of rock and its
natural window.
During the older tertiary (65-22 Mill. B.C.) the ground was raised
massively, so the ocean of Tethys was forced southwards, and in the
younger tertiary the area of the Julian alps was already completly
dry land.
The todays appearance of the mountain range was formed during the
iceages. Then also the window was formed by the melt water of the
galciers, running through cracks and gaps in the rock, widening
them up, and finally raised to its actual position.
northern flank of Prisank with
window, myself in front of window
Also an important tectonical fault runs from Kranjska Gora up the
Vrsic-pass down to the valley of Bovec, called the
Mojstrovka-fault. This fault marks the borderline between the
eastern and the western part of the Julian alps. Along this fault
the eastern part was raised by more then 1000m compared to the
western part. That is the reason why the window is at its todays
postion high up in the Prisank northern flank.
How to obtain the log-permission:
- Travel to Vrsic-pass (parking at N 46°26.150 E13°44.680), you
can stay overnight at Ticarjev dom or Postarski dom.
Follow the fixed rope tour (signed with okno) up until you reach
the approx. Position, where I made my photo (~ N46°25.522
E13°45.507).
- Guess the approx. size of the window when you are climbing
through (don´t be afraid there is enough space for you)
- when you are at the southern side of the passage you can climb
to the summit of Prisank or follow the way down to the parking
side, anyway you have to find out if Prisank is the highest peak in
Slovenia, if yes note the height, if not note the name and the
height of the highest.
- Send the answers to the questions to my account, and you will
get the permission to log if everything is correct. Add a photo of
yourself with your GPS and the Prisank window to your log after you
get the permission, so everybody can share this moment with
you.
Additional information:
The fixed rope route is classified as a C/D route so you should
use appropriate climbing gear, such as a fixed rope set, and good
shoes. If you are afraid of height you should not make this tour.
Fort he way up you will take 2,5 hour tot he southern end of the
window, and additional 1,5 hours to the summit, if you want to go
there. The way down again will last 2,5-3 hours, so please think
about to stay in the area overnight and start in the morning.
The peak of Mojstrovka, just on the opposite side of Vrsic-pass is
also a nice summit to climb, it´s not that difficult, but hast he
longest downhill track for pedestrians along a rock fan I know, you
will see when you are at Vrsic.
eastern flank of Mojstrovka with
perfectly layered Dachsteinkalk
When driving further south you can travel to the valley of soca
(Isonzo) where other EarthCaches are waiting and also interesting
historical places can be dicovered.