JASNA (3. 5. 2024) This was the 13th time that volunteers gathered below Mt Chopok at the traditional spring event known as “Green Chopok”. It was jointly organised by the Jasná mountain resort, the village of Demänovská Dolina and the Región Liptov tourism organisation for the first time.
High interest in participating was a pleasant surprise, a total of 261 volunteers from three countries came together. “We had to close the registration after 3 days because the maximum numbers for the northern as well as the southern sides of Mt Chopok were reached. We are glad that despite moving the event to a new date, people came and helped us tidy up not only the resort after the season but also the area around Vrbické pleso (tarn) and the surrounding trails and pistes,” said Jiří Trumpeš, the resort general manager.
“It is satisfying to know that there is less waste in general, but it still can be found and we still fill dozens of bags. Pieces of glider sledges, mudguards, sweet wrappers, plastic bottles, cigarette boxes. The snow uncovered winter transgressions and today we have cleaned them up,” said Richard Bros, the mayor of the Demänovská Dolina village.
In addition to feeling good after doing something beneficial and being in fresh air, every participant was rewarded with lunch and a 1-day ski pass valid in the upcoming ski season.
“We perceive this welfare event as part of Liptov’s preparations for the summer season and believe the season will be successful and the region will be a popular destination for visitors from Slovakia and abroad,” added Darina Bartková, the executive director of the Región Liptov regional tourism organisation.
The event was co-financed by the Región Liptov regional tourism organisation and a grant from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Slovak Republic.
Over the past 13 years of its existence, the Green Chopok event helped rid Demänovská dolina (valley) of not only hundreds of bags of waste but also, in cooperation with land owners, plant thousands of new trees. The Green Chopok event, dedicated to nature and people who want to do something for the environment, has its followers in other resorts operated by TMR company as well. Green Ještěd and Green Špindl in the Czech Republic, as well as Green Szczyrk in Poland, help resorts clean up trails and pistes after winter and prepare them for the summer season.