Julian Alps

The Julian Alps contained routes, mountain pastures and high summits that drew increasing scientific interest in the eighteenth century. Triglav, the range's highest peak, became the focus of a sustained attempt to reach and describe the high mountains. The naturalist Balthasar Hacquet tried to climb it in 1777 by way of Konjščica and Velo Polje.

In 1778 four men from Bohinj reached the summit: Lovro Wilomitzer, Štefan Rožič, Matevž Kos and Luka Korošec. Their ascent, encouraged by the industrialist and patron of science Sigmund Zois, became the first documented successful climb. The episode brought local mountain knowledge together with Enlightenment curiosity about the Alps. Hunters and other inhabitants supplied practical experience of the terrain, while naturalists and patrons helped turn a difficult summit into an object of organized exploration.