»Gora ni nora – nor je tisti, ki gre gor!« A Journey Into the Unknown

But mountaineers, benefiting of modern equipment, advanced weather forecasts and supported by a network of huts on well paved and protected trails, would hardly feel the fear and uncertainty of mountain tourists of the past - when such a mountain tour literally meant a journey into the unknown.

The few who went to the mountains had a very good reason for this: hunting, grazing, searching for ores and herbs, fleeing away and due to overpopulated lowlands. Archaeological finds in the Slovenian mountains confirm the presence of man in the highlands already 10,000 years ago.

When the first explorers set out for the mountains thousands of years later, the trails were already well known to the locals. 

Due to their knowledge and experience they became the first guides to the early mountain tourists and carried on their shoulders the lion's share of the credit for the first successful expeditions to the Slovenian mountains.

“It goes without saying that in any country, in any province, a man can't go to high mountains without taking with him mountain folks or wild hunters for signpost as they are familiar with the landscape," warns Balthasar Hacquet, the first systematic researcher of the Slovenian high-mountains.

Among them are the names of internationally renowned natural scientists such as Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, who was the first to conquer Storžič and Grintovec mountains Franc Hohenwart, Henrik Freyer, Rihard Ursini Blagaj and especially Balthazar Hacquet, who in 1777 organized one of the first documented attempts to ascend Triglav (he did not reach the top). 

Žiga Zois, a nobleman, businessman, patron and enlightener, has a special place in the history of exploring the Slovenian mountains. Although he was due to his illness unable to take part in the expeditions himself, he constantly encouraged, organized, and also financially supported the first researches and expeditions to the high-mountains.

Conquering the mountains was still too demanding and dangerous for a mass visit. There were no adequately guarded trails, suitable equipment and network of mountain chalets. 

“In the high mountains you must not be completely unarmed, that here you are not fighting a man, but a different enemy: big eagles, e.g. with bearded sulfur, and with others. If you are alone and walking along the cut above the precipice, this bird is just so daring that it starts twisting and pushing you with its feathers. If you fall, he immediately plants his sharp beak and claws in the nape of your neck."

Suitable footwear were heavy chained shoes with thick leather soles, preferably with nails. 

For special conditions, they carried in their bags also a coat, leather gloves, a rope, simple crampons and a long ice-axe.

Slovenian mountaneers were second-class guests in the German chalets. Such usurpation of the Slovenian mountains - in time when the Slovenian national consciousness was forming and spreading quickly - encouraged numerous national patriots to get organised and make sure that Slovenian tourists would also feel at home in the Slovenian mountains. 

A significant role was played by the association's newsletter, Planinski vestnik, which has been published continuously since 1895, and is considered the oldest periodical in the Slovenian territory.

A special place in the national struggle, which encompassed the Slovenian mountains, and somewhere became very fierce, belonged to Triglav. 

To end the discussion once and for all, and unequivocally state to whom the highest peak belongs, the parish priest of Dovje, Jakob Aljaž, bought for 1 florin (the price of 10 litres of milk or a few dozen eggs) the land at the top of our highest mountain from the municipality. He built a simple shelter on it, which he designed and financed himself.

Due to the many social changes, especially the spread of railway, the most recognizable Slovenian mountains were visited in much larger numbers by the end of the 19th century.

The national struggle for Slovenian mountains between German and native organization contributed considerably: they almost competed in marking trails, building supplying huts, and promoting mountain tourism.

Generations of Slovenian mountain lovers, spiritual descendants of Valentin Stanič, have been testing their knowledge and strength for many years on the highest and most notorious peaks of the world. Many of the directions that were once considered invincible are now called Slovenian - "Slovenska".

More than 1.7 million visitors who go to the Slovenian mountains every year are proving that, almost 250 years after the first ascent to our highest mountain, mountaineering is still an inseparable part of Slovenian nation.