We gathered together in the cold frosty morning, circled around an animated pixie like figure who was pouring the contents of our rucksacs onto the icy ground at our feet. “OK guys” he grinned “one rope, no sleeping bag and no bivi bag, we go to Triglav North Face, Slovenian style!”.

I had heard so much about Slovenian alpinism and now here I was with 5 other nervous Brits sampling their unique approach to mountaineering on an informal Winter Climbing exchange organised by the BMC and the mountain pixie Marko Prezelj. Slovenia, the first of the Balkan states to gain independence from the Yugoslavian Republic, has an amazing mountaineering history. Despite being a country smaller than Wales and with a population of only 2 million, Slovenia has established itself as probably the leading alpine nation during the late 80s and through the 90s. There are 110,000 climbers and 1/3rd of the Parliament are mountaineers or hillwalkers.

One reason for mountaineering’s importance in Slovenia soon became evident as we drove to Kranjska Gora, where the meet was to be based. 2000-3500m mountains lined the horizon with routes of alpine stature soaring up from the roadside. Every type of mountain activity seemed within easy reach and during our time there we sampled roadside ice climbs, alpine ice couloirs, multi pitch sport climbs, huge mountain routes and ski descents. All were of excellent quality with the ice climbing rivalling the best in France or Italy.

International Meets and exchanges, like this informal one in Slovenia, have many purposes. The BMC’s numerous summer and winter meets have been very successful in getting together a very influential body of people and canvassing their opinion on such important topics as the mountain environment, mountain tourism, women's mountaineering and fixed equipment in the mountains. This has resulted in several vital policy initiatives adopted by the UIAA, many of the guests countries and key mountain organisations. The exchanges also offer the best possible training for Britain’s young climbers and mountaineers, many of them being inspired onto greater climbs through their international experience. The meets also offer international visitors a chance to savour the unique delights of British climbing from the winters of Scotland to the sea cliffs of Gogarth to the edges of the Peak. Visitors often speak of how the British approach to climbing has influenced theirs back in their own country.

Back on the North Face of Triglav we were learning our lessons fast. After a cold night at the hut at its base, where the promised piles of blankets had miraculously disappeared, we set off early with our Slovenian hosts as usual blazing a trail through the knee deep snow. The style of the climbing with hard rock climbing interspersed with snow patches and long run outs took a while to get used to. As did our hosts' super confident speed and style; 10 minutes for an E2 pitch in plastic boots with less than a handful of runners!

Perhaps our biggest lesson in the reality of Slovenian style was at our bivi after 700m of cold North Face. Sam Chinnery and I wrapped our rucksacks tighter round our legs and shivering pulled our jackets around our ears as we curled up in the hole we’d scraped out of the snow. Through the gloom I couldn’t believe what I was seeing: a mischievous pixie grinning as he and his partner pulled out their own lightweight... but warm... sleeping bags!

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