One Goal, 25 Victors: Everest 40 Years Ago

The 40th anniversary of the mountaineering day of victory is approaching, May 13, 1979, when Andrej Štremfelj and Nejc Zaplotnik made history as members of the 25-member Yugoslav expedition led by Tone Škarja, becoming the first Slovenes to summit the world's highest mountain. Two days later, along the pioneering route via the unclimbed western ridge, the summit of Everest was also reached by Stane Belak - Šrauf, Stipe Božić, and local Ang Phu.


In October 1975, the Slovenian mountaineering expedition led by Aleš Kunaver climbed the south face of 8463-meter-high Makalu via a pioneering route, placing Slovenia alongside Himalayan superpowers, as it was only the third wall climbed in the Himalaya. In 1977, Andrej Štremfelj and Nejc Zaplotnik summited Gasherbrum I (8068 m), the second Slovenian eight-thousander, and on May 13, 1979, they became the first Slovenes to stand on the world's highest mountain - Everest. Two days later, the summit was reached by Slovenian Stane Belak - Šrauf, Croat Stipe Božić, and Sherpa leader Ang Phu from Nepal. To date, 18 Slovenes have summited the 8848-meter peak, with three different routes climbed on Everest, including one pioneering route, a women's ascent, an ascent without supplemental oxygen, and the first ski descent from the summit, placing Slovenia at the top of Himalayan superpowers.







The last high camp at 8120 meters was set up by Marjan Manfreda - Marjon and Viki Grošelj, who were the first to have the chance to go for the summit. They solved the puzzle of the difficult chimney, which Marjon climbed without gloves or supplemental oxygen, but had to return due to severe frostbite. The next chance for the summit went to Dušan Podbevšek and Roman Robas, who on May 12 reached the top of the 8296-meter ridge, but it did not lead to the main summit, which also tempted Marko Štremflj, though on the key day his oxygen bottle valve failed. After two successful teams that summited, Borut Bergant, Ivč Kotnik, and Vanja Matijevec were the last team to attempt the summit, but from camp five they went to assist Šrauf, Božić, and Ang Phu, who slipped to his death during the descent. All members of the expedition contributed to the Slovenian/Yugoslav success, including Jože Zupan, Stane Klemenc, Tomaž Jamnik, Franček Knez, Bojan Pollak, Štefan Marenče, Zvone Andrejčič, Vladimir Mesarić (HR), Muhamed Gafić (BiH), Muhamed Šišić (BiH), doctors Evgen Vavken and Igor Tekavčič, and support staff: radio operators Matjaž Culiberg and Slavko Šetina, journalists Marjan Raztresen and Rade Kovačevič (HR), cameraman Slavo Vajt, and painter Franc Novinc.







The entire Yugoslavia breathed with the expedition, fulfilling the wishes of Yugoslav political leaders that it would be appropriate to summit Everest on Labor Day, May 1, or on Victory Day, May 9. But the mountaineering day of victory was May 13, 1979, a day of victory for the entire expedition that had toiled for three months on the mountain of mountains. "Our triumph on the summit was primarily very short, as it was quickly replaced by concerns about where and how to descend. Of course, the heart played upon reaching the summit, we patted each other, shed a few tears, and called the base. The wild shouting from all camps said it all about the collective spirit. We reached the summit for everyone and relieved the expedition of the fear of failure. But in the sense that we were afraid all efforts would be in vain. We reached the summit for Marjon and Viki, who were healing frostbite in base camp, for my brother, Roman, and Dušan, who were not given the chance to summit, and also for all who still hoped for it, lightening their burden a bit and showing them it could be done," recalls Andrej Štremfelj, adding: "The true realization of what was achieved came much later. Due to Ang Phu's accident, there was no real joy over the success in base camp or even in Nepal."







"From May 13, a new - fifth route is charted on the map of the world's highest mountain, and Yugoslavs are the fourth country to achieve such a feat," wrote expedition leader Everest 1979 Tone Škarja 40 years ago. "The western ridge starts from Lho La saddle, accessible from Tibet but politically inaccessible, dropping to the Nepalese side with a 700-meter wall. To answer whether it was logistically climbable for the expedition, we sent a reconnaissance team in 1978. The finding confirmed the possibility, but to transport six tons of gear to the saddle, we constructed a 200-meter hand-operated cableway over the upper overhanging part of the wall. The route's difficulty was shown by its diversity itself. First 700 meters of difficult rock wall, then 1200 meters of ice, with rocky sections in the lower part, then a three-kilometer ridge that rises only about 200 meters but is exposed to hurricane winds, and finally a 1300-meter-high summit pyramid of difficult rock climbing (the highest fifth grade in the world) and moderate ice climbing," describes today the great strategist of not only Slovenian but also world himalaism.







"With distance, I increasingly realize how wisely the team was composed and how everyone truly contributed to the common success. Top alpinists alone without other skills and knowledge would really struggle. The route is demanding due to major technical difficulties distributed throughout the route practically from start to summit, due to its great length and exposure to wind," emphasizes Štremfelj, who summited Everest again in 1990 with his wife Marija, unknowingly becoming the first married couple on the roof of the world. He has stood on a total of eight eight-thousanders, been on more than 20 expeditions in the Nepalese Himalaya, and made first ascents on several seven-thousanders. Last year, as the first Slovene, he received the Piolet d'Or for lifetime achievement, becoming the only person on Earth with this prestigious award for both lifetime achievements and an outstanding ascent.







The world's leading Himalayan experts unanimously agree that the Slovenian - then still Yugoslav - route on Everest is the most difficult of the eleven climbed to date on the world's highest mountain. In 1984, only the Bulgarians repeated it successfully, but their leader died returning along the ridge; Poles climbed it to the western shoulder and then followed the American route, while there were no other successful repetitions, at least 20 attempts. "It showed what a group of good and cohesive alpinists can achieve, where the unifying point is the goal, i.e., the route to the summit. It also showed that media ignorance of teamwork highlights only the victors, although in other circumstances any could have been the victor. The goal of all was a new route to the mountain's summit, and everyone contributed greatly. Nevertheless, we succeeded on more expeditions, and even those with more members had the opportunity to climb alpine-style and achieve personal goals - e.g., Shishapangma, Yalung Kang and Kangchenjunga, Annapurna, mountains in Tibet, if we speak only of pioneering routes," outlines Škarja, on current alpinism challenges: "Today's generation suits goals requiring top ice and rock climbing, appropriate fitness, and modern climbing gear, like Gasherbrum IV, Shivling, Chomolhari."







Slovenian alpinists summited the 14 highest peaks of the world in 20 years, mostly via pioneering routes. In 1975, Marjan Manfreda and Stane Belak were the first Slovenes on the eight-thousander Makalu (8463 m), with Manfreda ascending without supplemental oxygen, a world altitude record at the time. Two years later, Andrej Štremfelj and Nejc Zaplotnik summited Gasherbrum I (8068 m). As the first Slovenes, in 1979 they stood on the world's highest summit Everest (8848 m). Viki Grošelj summited Manaslu (8163 m) in 1984 with Croat Stipe Božić. In 1986, Bogdan Biščak and Grošelj summited Broad Peak (8047 m), the next day complemented by the first Slovenian woman on an eight-thousander, Marija Štremfelj. That same year, Gasherbrum II (8035 m) became the sixth eight-thousander conquered by Slovenian alpinists Bogdan Biščak, Viki Grošelj, Pavle Kozjek, and Andrej Štremfelj. On Dhaulagiri (8167 m) in 1987 stood Marjan Kregar and Iztok Tomazin, who a year later conquered Cho Oyu (8201 m). In 1989, via the first ascent route, Viki Grošelj summited Lhotse (8516 m); same year, Pavle Kozjek and Andrej Štremfelj conquered Shishapangma (8046 m), the tenth Slovenian eight-thousander. A year later, Marija Frantar and Jože Rozman summited Nanga Parbat (8125 m). In 1991, Marko Prezelj and Andrej Štremfelj climbed a pioneering route on the south face of Kangchenjunga (8598 m); two days later, Grošelj stood on the main summit of Kangchenjunga (8586 m) with Croat Božić. In 1993, Zvonko Požgaj and Viki Grošelj summited K2 (8611 m) via the classic route without supplemental oxygen, the thirteenth eight-thousander overall and the first in independent Slovenia. In 1995, Davo and Drejc Karničar as the first Slovenes summited and then as the first in the world skied the north face of Annapurna I (8091 m). This was simultaneously the last, fourteenth Slovenian eight-thousander conquered.