There is evidence to suggest that man has been present on Velika Planina since prehistoric times. A number of items have been uncovered to confirm this, such as a number of axes from between the 13th and 11th century, numerous tools, pendants and ceramics, amongst over things. As with many things from such a terrifyingly long time ago there is a lot of conjecture with regards to the little details, but it is believed that animals were reared on these hills in the long long ago as well.

Velika Planina’s glory years, if a mountain can have such things, began in the 16th century. The style of huts that came to dominate were built during this time, with the Preskar Museum hut that stands today being almost identical in design. Dairy farming really took off during this time as well. The number of people living up on the mountain was generally unknown until the 18th and 19th centuries, when tentative records began. Tourism exploded in the 1930s, and this was because the huts, which had previously been empty in winter, were rented out to those who came to ski.

Velika Planina couldn’t escape the carnage that engulfed Europe in World War Two, and German soldiers and local militiamen burned down all of the huts on the plateau. Not even the Chapel of Our Lady of the Snows was spared. Immediately following the end of the war the rebuilding process began, bringing the settlement to its current aesthetic. The chapel was rebuilt in 1988. Much credit for the rebuild goes to Vlasto Kopač, a Slovene architect and mountaineer who visited the peak every year for 70 years, carefully noting everything and anything down about life so high up. Kopač died in 2006.