Snežna jama
Slovenia's highest show cave opens at about 1,500 metres on Mount Raduha. Its entrance chambers hold ice all year round.
Winter kept in a mountain
Snežna jama was found by local cavers in 1981, when a snow plug that had sealed its entrance shaft melted back far enough to let them through. Cold winter air sinks into the cave and is trapped there, so meltwater dripping in from above freezes into columns, curtains and a floor of clear ice.
Further in, where the cold does not reach, the ice gives way to ordinary dripstone, including some unusually large stalagmites for a cave at this altitude.
Snežna jama at a glance
- English name
- Snow Cave
- Location
- Mount Raduha, above Luče
- Entrance altitude
- about 1,500 m
- Length
- about 1.3 km
- Discovered
- 1981
- Ice
- present all year in the entrance section
- Temperature
- around 0 °C near the ice, 4 °C deeper in
- Lighting
- helmet lamps
Ice first, then stone
Visitors descend a stairway into the entrance chamber with helmets and lamps. The ice formations change from year to year and are at their finest in late spring and early summer, before the season's warmth has had its effect.
The second half of the route is a dry fossil passage, quiet and richly decorated.
A day in the Savinja Alps
Raduha is the easternmost two-thousander of the Kamnik–Savinja Alps. A mountain road climbs from the village of Luče to a car park, from where a marked path reaches the cave in about half an hour.
The Logar Valley, one of the most photographed glacial valleys in Slovenia, is a short drive further up the Savinja.
Snežna jama in figures
Inside and around Snežna jama
Select a photograph to enlarge it. All images are freely licensed; authors are listed in the photo credits.
Before you go
Getting there
From Luče in the upper Savinja valley a narrow, partly unsurfaced mountain road leads towards the Loka hut on Raduha. Allow extra time and check its condition after bad weather.
On the tour
Tours last about an hour. Helmets and lamps are provided. The steps can be icy; hiking boots and gloves are sensible.
Good to know
Dress for winter whatever the weather outside. The cave is generally open at weekends from late spring to early autumn and at other times by arrangement.
Opening times, tour schedules and prices change with the season. Always confirm them with the operator before you travel: snezna-jama.com.