ountains have often been represented as natural state borders and served as the ground for rival mountaineering practices aimed at planting national flags. Throughout its history, mountaineering has also brought people from different countries together – international mountaineering organisations were established in the interwar period – but this has been largely hindered in times of conflict. After the war, mountain borders were heavily guarded. In the 1960s, not least because of the interest in tourism development, the traditions of 'mountaineering friendship' that transcended national borders were publicly revived by the representatives of some important Alpine clubs from Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Slovenia, and Carinthia. They started organising annual Convegni Alpi Giulie/ Srečanje treh dežel/ Dreiländer-Treffen from 1965.
Despite numerous difficulties and misunderstandings, they collaborated to reach reciprocity agreements regarding mountain huts (preferential treatment for club members in other countries’ huts), to make mountain borders more permeable, and to protect the shared environment. Several initiatives were launched to encourage mountaineers and hikers to explore the mountains across borders. In the framework of this cross-border cooperation, mountains were depicted less as barriers of defence and more as places of encounter and exchange.
Personal relationships between mountaineers were crucial in promoting cooperation. This letter was sent by an executive of the Italian Alpine Club of Gorizia to an executive of the Alpine Association of Slovenia in 1967. It emphasised the values of transnational and cross-border friendship among mountaineers.
The Friendship Festival has been organised every year since 1980 on Mount Forno/Peč/Dreiländereck. It has attracted thousands of participants at the border crossing point between Italy, Yugoslavia (now Slovenia) and Austria. The initiative continues to this day.
Launched in 1972, the Friendship Peaks/Pot prijateljstva/Wege der Freundschaft initiative promoted ascents to the 30 most important peaks between Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Slovenia and Carinthia. The initiative was a resounding success. By 1990 more than 10,000 trilingual itinerary booklets were sold.
