The inhabitants of Kranjska Gora were called Borovci for a long time, perhaps because they arrived out of Borovlje in Carinthia, or simply because of their deforesting pine forests (borovje) upon their arrival. The history of Kranjska Gora reaches back to the second half of the 14th century when the inhabitants began chopping down the forests to a larger extent, transforming them into farm land and pastures for sheep and cattle. The area gained strategic significance during World War I when the military road across the 1611 m high Vršič pass from the Sava to Soča Valleys was constructed by Russian prisoners. Kranjska Gora acquired its fame as a tourist region through the construction of the railroad and its first visitors. Somewhat later, ski jumping and ski flying in Planica carried the name of the area and valley throughout the world. This encouraged a blossoming tourist activity in the Kranjska Gora region especially when the first cable cars were built on the sides of the Vitranc at the end of the fifties.