Olševa


Mount Olševa is a ridge mountain in the eastern part of the Karawanks near the border with Austria. The mountain separates Carinthia from Styria. Its highest point, Govca, is high. Other peaks along the ridge are Obel kamen on the western side, and Smooth Peak and Pretty Peak on the eastern part. About below Obel kamen lies Potok Cave, an archaeological site from the Stone Age. To the southwest of the mountain, at an altitude of, there is a chalybeate spring.

Routes

  • 2¼ hrs from Podolševa
  • 3 hrs from the lower ridge
  • 3¾ hrs from the Firšt Inn
  • 1¾ hrs from Upper Meadow

Hydrogeology

Olševa is formed largely of permeable limestone and dolomite that have been fractured and dissolved over time, creating a karst aquifer―a water-bearing mass of rock whose many cracks and cavities allow rainfall and snow-melt to seep deep underground. These carbonate rocks sit in a tectonic pocket defined by the Periadriatic Fault and a set of parallel fractures; the faults act as barriers, trapping groundwater inside the massif. Because Olševa rises well above the surrounding valleys, the catchment is largely free from human pollution and has been identified as a potential source of high-quality drinking water.
Hydrogeological mapping shows that the aquifer is split into three structural blocks. Two small eastern compartments drain northeastwards towards the Meža River, while the remaining western block—despite cross-cutting faults—behaves as a single unit whose groundwater flows west beneath the Austrian border to emerge in the Rjavica Valley at roughly 900 to 1,000 m elevation. Field measurements during low-flow periods indicate that the Rjavica springs discharge around 770 litres per second on average, implying a recharge area of roughly 11 km2 centred on Olševa's summit ridge.
The calculated dynamic reserves amount to about 24 million m3, while the permanent reserves held in the rock pores are estimated—using a conservative effective porosity of two per cent—at nearly 110 million m3. These figures, together with the massif's isolation from surface contaminants, underline Olševa's importance as a long-term regional water source and illustrate how its distinctive geology shapes both the landscape and the hydrology experienced by walkers on its popular ridge path.