Safer Adventurism: The New Alpine Maps
Since existing maps of the Dinaric Alps, a mountain chain that stretches along the length of Dalmatia, and that is every year visited by more and more people, are no longer accurate and to a large extent deviate from the situation on the terrain, the cause of which is entirely in natural change, the Dinaridi Adventure Team association in collaboration with the Alpine Rescue Service have launched an extensive project of the precise mapping of the entire area. The team, made up for the most part of experienced alpinists has so far covered the area of Mount Mosor and the Omiš part of the Dinaric Alps, is currently covering and mapping the Kozjak area after which Pelješac is to be covered. All alpine routes – horse trails, macadamized trails, dirt roads, hiking and cycling trails, have been plotted on their maps, while caves, springs, wells and shelters have been precisely indicated as have places where chance travellers can seek medical and other assistance. Two of the planned 60 maps have been completed so far that will, besides the Dinaric Alps, also cover inhabited parts of the islands. All key historic localities have also been plotted onto the completed maps, which will also be the case with all of the remaining maps. The old maps of the entire area are nowadays quite unusable as the temperament of nature is such that it is in a constant state of flux. Some trails or springs can move up to a kilometres over a period of ten years, which makes going difficult for both hikers and the people of the Alpine Rescue Service. Considering that there are a growing number of hikers and tourists coming to Croatia every year who wish to explore the endemic rocky country and Karst phenomenon, these maps will help them all. Besides that, all significant localities will be plotted on the maps along with loads of expert advice in English and Croatian making them also useful as tourist maps.
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