First ascent route Slovenian Direct by Stražar and Marčič

First ascent route Slovenian Direct by Stražar and Marčič in the Himalaya.

Slovenian alpinists Luka Stražar and Nejc Marčič reported from Kathmandu that during their expedition in Rolwaling between October 28 and 30, 2021, they succeeded in climbing a 1700-meter route in the northwest face of Tsoboja (6680 m). The first ascent route is a true combination of technical difficulty and high-altitude climbing, while wind and cold made the experience truly Himalayan. On the same expedition, Marko Prezelj and Matija Volontar also attempted the west face of the Himalayan six-thousander, but strong wind thwarted their plans.



Luka Stražar (Akademski AO) and Nejc Marčič (AO PD Radovljica) climbed a new route in the northwest face of Tsoboja (6680 m) from October 28 to 30, 2021, which they named Slovenian Direct and rated ED (highest grade on the French six-grade scale), M5, AI5. The 1700-meter route is characterized by demanding and exposed climbing in the central section, and despite the steep terrain, they found two excellent bivouac spots. The ascent was marked by low temperatures and strong wind with spindrift avalanches. To avoid confusion due to the small height difference, they climbed to the central and east summits of the mountain. They descended the west side and reached base camp just before departure.


First ascent route
Slovenian Direct, northwest face of Tsoboja (6680 m): ED, M5, AI 5, 1700 m
Luka Stražar and Nejc Marčič, October 28-30, 2021



"On the first day, thin fragile ice caused us some trouble. We even had to rappel one pitch after realizing we wouldn't find a passage over the steep iced slabs. Thus, we had to find the first bivouac a bit lower than hoped. But we were extremely lucky with the location, as in very steep terrain we found enough space for a relatively comfortable night. The central section was technically the most demanding with several really tense pitches. In the upper part, in otherwise easier terrain, we had to adapt our route to the constant strong wind. The second bivouac we made in a crevasse. The tactic of not bringing a tent paid off. On the summit ridge, we were extremely lucky that the north side of the mountain was somewhat sheltered, otherwise I don't know if we would have managed to push to the top," reported Stražar from Kathmandu, the leader of the alpinistic expedition Rolwaling 2021, which was also co-financed by the Alpine Association of Slovenia.



The prominent six-thousander Tsoboja in the remote Himalayan region of Rolwaling was first climbed by a German alpinistic expedition in 1972, but the Slovenian alpinists made the first ascent via the northwest face. "I'm very satisfied that after illness at the beginning I managed to recover and climb an excellent route with Luka just before the end of the expedition. Of course, there were tough moments with the illness, but I was very motivated for the expedition itself, which helped overcome the difficulties. By the last acclimatization, I somehow recovered and saw our goal, the northwest face, for the first time. That gave me a lot of new strength. The main impression was left by the steep central part of the route with really tense climbing," summed up Nejc Marčič, who fell ill upon arrival at base camp in early October and spent the first seven days in bed with high fever and angina symptoms.



"With the initial setbacks, it was key to maintain patience and believe that Nejc would recover. For reassurance, there was the thought that on all sports tournaments, important victories come at the end and not successes right at the beginning. During the climbing, there were some really top-notch sections. A true combination of technical difficulty and high-altitude climbing. Wind and cold made the experience truly Himalayan," summarized Stražar about the expedition. In his opinion, key to their success was good knowledge of the climbing partner and now also a solid amount of experience with climbing in the Himalaya.

Luka Stražar and Nejc Marčič are a well-tuned alpinistic team that received the Piolet d'Or in 2012 for the first ascent route Dreamers of Golden Caves in the northeast face of K7 West (6615 m), which they climbed in 2011 in Pakistan. Stražar also received the Piolet d'Or in 2019 with Aleš Česen and Briton Tom Livingstone for the first ascent of Latok 1 from the north side. The Ljubljana native and Radovljica resident climbed the first ascent route Blue Racer in the then untouched west face of Janak (7009 m) in the Himalaya in 2012, together with climbing partners from SMAR - Slovenian youth alpinistic national team a new route via the East Pillar on Kang Ri (6200 m) in the Himalaya in 2013, and on the Anapurna 2017 expedition they climbed the normal route on the eight-thousander to 7200 meters.



Members of the Rolwaling 2021 expedition, which is returning to Slovenia at the end of the week, were also Marko Prezelj (AO PD Kamnik) and Matija Volontar (AO PD Jesenice), who attempted the very exposed west face of Tsoboja in strong wind between October 28 and 30. In the southwest couloir, with rock and mixed terrain climbing, they reached 6100 meters. There, strong wind gusts convinced them to retreat. Their goal of ascending the couloir thus unfortunately remained unachieved.