Between heaven and hellMikša, Peter (Avtor) Laković, Ivan (Avtor) Cold WarYugoslaviaalpinismmountaineeringsocialist sportYugoslav alpinism developed during the Cold War through an asymmetry of access that defined the southeastern Alpine space. While Yugoslav climbers faced persistent administrative and financial barriers to the Western Alps, the Julian Alps remained politically and materially reachable for climbers from Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, and Poland, who could not readily reach the Western ranges either. This asymmetry concentrated elite activity from across the socialist world onto a narrow, technically demanding terrain, producing sustained transnational comparison and competitive pressure that accelerated the advancement of elite performance. Particular attention is given to the winter ascent of the Čop Pillar on the north face of Triglav in 1968, interpreted not as an isolated achievement but as the culmination of a prolonged competitive process and a decisive threshold in the evolution of Yugoslav alpinism. Structural asymmetry, neither closure nor openness, can function as a generative configuration under which elite performance emerges. Rather than treating constraint as limitation, the asymmetrical access redistributed opportunity, concentrating climbers within a shared alpine space where sustained comparison and rivalry accelerated technical development.20262026-06-30 14:53:15Članek v reviji184140sl