We arrived with no plan other than packing skis and showing up in the Julians. A helpful Instagram follower sent Kt a photo of this very couloir. It was a deep slash in the side of Jalovec, the sixth highest peak in the Julians at 2,645m, and it looked amazing. We headed straight for it.

We kept climbing, kicking steps up along the arête into the flat whiteness, until a faint shout came from Kt a hundred meters ahead. Barely visible in the blowing snow, she was perched, smiling and hunched with her back to the howling wind on a perfect flat spot. We piled onto it, ready for the descent. One by one we dropped in.

The couloir – while definitely not powder – was chalky and grippy, steep enough to be really exciting, just shy of terrifying. We hop turned down the first 400m until it began to mellow out and the lower snow softened.

Jump turns morphed into faster, bigger ski turns out onto the apron and the edge of a thickly treed forest. We soaked up out success and adrenaline high for a few minutes, and then headed back through the thick forest to the little alpine hut we used as base camp for a few celebratory pivos (beers).

Locals we met along the way told us you weren’t considered a true Slovenian until you had climbed this peak, so we figured we could at least make ourselves honorary citizens of this charming country. However, it was not to be. Local opinion was the peak would be out of ski condition for a few more weeks.

So we had stuck out for (softer) snowier mountainsides, heading up to the northern side of the range near the borders with Italy and Austria in our overpacked rental car.

On the west side, we discovered Sella Nevea, a hidden little gem of an Italian ski area, with Bovec, a lovely, bustling Slovene mountain town, on the other side of the border. Between the two was a ridge with couloirs, bowls, featured mountain flanks, and little mountain bivies on both sides.

By the time we arrived, the mountains had a new coat of light, fluffy powder. Luckily, we made a couple of local Italian/Slovenian friends – of course – who just happened to be ripping freeskiers and one named Enrico Mosetti, who was an IFMGA guide.

They generously showed us the goods in their backyard, by which I mean line after line of powder-filled couloirs and featured little descents. We topped it all off with plenty of other worldly-level cappuccinos whenever the opportunity arose.

Although we had developed a fine appreciation for Slovenian goulash, we weren’t about to say no to a few post-powder skiing, wine-filled, Italian family dinners cooked up by our multi-talented friends.

***

After nearly a week of heavenly, cold, Julian powder snow, it was time to head back to beautiful little Ljubljana, where we toasted with glasses of fine Slovenian wine to a successful exploration.

Despite the low snow season, we found the ski touring opportunities in the Julians to be more than worthy of return trips.

Many thanks to Slovenia Tourism, Bajtica Guest House in Bled, Vogel Ski Resort and the Slovenian Alpine Association (PZS)