I can't even remember how old I was. Eight, nine? Something like that. It doesn't matter. We were skiing up to Jelení studánka on cross-country skis. Another skier was gliding down towards us, and as he passed, he and my dad called out to each other: "Ahoj!" What question could possibly pop into a child's head? "Dad, do you know that man?" ... "No. That's just how people greet each other in the mountains." And ever since then I've known what's right and proper.

But twenty years have gone by and something has changed. There I am, skinning up the Silesian Trail into Velký kotel on my touring skis. The weather's nothing special. The kind of fog only Praděd can conjure up. And it's a weekday. The mountains will probably be deserted today. But then, out of the fog ahead of me, the silhouette of someone on snowshoes starts to appear. We get closer, and when there are barely three metres between us, I say: "Ahoooj!"

And nothing.

Just a blank stare along the lines of: "Do I know you?"

Well, sure – maybe he was mute. Maybe deaf. Or maybe Hungarian.

But I don't think there are that many deaf-mute Hungarians wandering the mountains. Because it happens to me quite often: "Ahoooj!" And nothing. A blank stare. That's the better outcome. In the worse one, the person I've greeted doesn't even look up from their phone.

At least a grunt, please

I mean, I get it on the way up Sněžka or on the tarmac road to Praděd. You'd never stop saying hello. Though I usually can't resist greeting people anyway. But it seems absurd to me when two people meet on a deserted mountain ridge and don't even mumble at each other.

OK, maybe "ahoj" (Czech for "hi") is too familiar. But believe me, I didn't improve my score with "dobrý den" (good day) either.

And so it occurs to me: if people don't even say hello any more, would they help if someone got into trouble? After all, statistics say that only one driver in ten stops at a road accident. Don't we like each other as people any more? Probably not. More likely a lot of people just don't know that you say hello in the mountains.

So please, say hello. It's polite. It's nice. And it's always been part of the mountains.

In Czechia it's "ahoj" – elsewhere, it's this

People can tell from your face that you're greeting them. Whether you say "ahoj" or "ciao" to an Italian doesn't matter. They'll get it. Still, it's a nice courtesy to greet people in the language of the country you're in. So here's a little guide.

Poland

"Cześć!"

Austria, Germany

"Hallo!" ... "Grüß dich! ... "Servus!"

Italy

"Salve!" ... "Ciao!" ... "Buongiorno!"

Slovenia

"Zdravo!" ... "Dober dan!"

France

"Salut! ... "Bonjour!"

Switzerland

"Salü!"

Russia

"Здравствуйте!" 🙂

And if, like me, you run into someone deaf, a slight raise of the right hand and a nod will probably be understood internationally.

So, here's to the mountains!