Succulent Entangled Stories by Tomaž Žganjar

Succulent Entangled Stories by Tomaž Žganjar - the first pocket edition from the Mountaineering Publishing House.

Entangled Stories are a succulent, naturalistic-lyrical record of memories, anecdotes, and incidents by Tomaž Žganjar, an alpinist, mountain rescuer, and member of the alpine music group Godba vertikale. The majority of the stories are dedicated to mountaineering, alpinism, and mountain rescue, alongside the relationship with friends, climbing partners, and participants in all sorts of adventures.

The first pocket edition from the Mountaineering Publishing House, Entangled Stories, is a collection of stories about courage, reckless actions, mountain rescues, and friendships forged through mountaineering. Most of the entries are dedicated to mountaineering, mountain rescue, and alpinism, but readers are also drawn to the author's adventures on mountain bikes, in caves, canyons, and on wild rivers, as well as the time of mischievous growing up and serving military duty. "The old goat knows what life is! He knows what he lived for and what is worth fighting for. He realizes that his time of glory is past. He no longer squanders life energy, no longer strives for primacy, but he will be glad if another spring comes for him, with that sharp scent of young grass and the gentle warmth of sun rays ..." In the introduction, Tomaž Žganjar meaningfully draws a parallel with a chamois with cracked horns.



Naturalistic descriptions of events, expressed strong bonds with friends, woven during serious trials, as well as accounts of amusing events, reflect a certain view of his active youthful life, and indirectly also of the period of the generation of alpinists active in the eighties and nineties, still in the former country. Žganjar's intent is not to showcase the top achievements of the generation, as during his active climbing period, it was mostly the so-called A-league alpinists who reached for the stars; rather, he strives to depict the conditions of the time, the pulse of the era, amusing incidents, his own sometimes surprisingly immature views and actions, and the lessons he wanted or had to adopt.

"How to capture the book's content in a word or two? How to catch the right proportion? To connect alpinism, reflections, anecdotes ... Entangled stories are a metaphor for all our lives. We explore and inevitably get entangled. We never go straight upward toward enlightenment. All of us, without exception. But it is precisely through mistakes and entanglements that we learn and become different, better, more human ... and we move forward - not to say upward. The idea was given to me by my wife, right from the start!" explains the background of the book's title the alpinist and mountain rescuer Tomaž Žganjar, who, on his long-term mountaineering path, in addition to climbing, has been involved in mountain rescue for a good four decades, particularly also in training and leading rescue dogs.

The professional lawyer has lately been devoting more time to literature, but years ago he dedicated a great deal of time and creativity to music. In the alpine music group Godba vertikale, he combined his love for mountains with his love for music, resulting in three CDs of his original compositions: Prečenje, Brez odveč besed, and Nove zgodbe. His attitude toward mountains and rescue, which is one of the key values and directions in his life, is also evident in his original novels Koridor and Igra resnic, which contain many autobiographical elements but also some fiction.

"My alpinist path is nothing special. I know quite a few alpinists who have gone through the same or similar things, perhaps even wilder adventures. Alpinism is one of the red threads in my life. Like most alpinists, I'm more of a generalist; I ski well, prefer rock climbing, in winter sometimes waterfalls, gullies, combinations, even some serious winter routes," assesses the author, who recalls how free climbing in walls began in the hills in the eighties: "We all tried to free climb serious, classic routes. There were sixes with one piton per pitch, rotten pegs, bad belays, and more. I think I had a good psyche back then; we climbed many things onsight, right on the limit, not to say with risk. But that was the trademark of everyone, especially those in the first league. It's unlikely that such quality ascents as in the eighties and nineties will be repeated. Especially in terms of climbing danger. And those who were forged in our walls therefore achieved notable ascents elsewhere."

The stories offer a fresh, original perspective on the life of a generation that, like any other, built its unique relationship to mountaineering, mountains, walls, alpinism, and life in general. The generation of alpinists and climbers from the eighties and nineties had many common points: climbing in Paklenica, the prime selection of routes in the Slovenian Alps, the cult inn Rio in Ljubljana as a gathering place, and ultimately mountain rescue as a kind of additional upgrade to alpinism. A sworn member of the alpine section of the Mountaineering Society Ljubljana Matica, he climbed and skied the most in domestic areas, but also in the Central Alps, as well as in the Dolomites and Andes; he performed a ski descent from Elbrus and ascended Kilimanjaro.

An important life lesson for him were the antics and mischievous inspirations during growing up, thoroughly described in the book: "Without mincing words, I describe things that influenced me. Even the bad ones, for example that abuse, or the stupidities I committed. All of that belongs to growing up and affects a young person. You can't avoid the influences of others, their actions and words. If you're lucky, you adopt something smart. As a kid, you don't do it rationally. Sometimes you learn something by force of circumstances and the damage you suffer - for example, that downclimbing is harder than climbing up. Certainly, growing up in the time of my youth was quite independent; parents only provided some framework, everything else was left to your ingenuity, as well as social norms that everyone followed."



In nearly forty years with the Mountain Rescue Service Ljubljana, Žganjar has participated in numerous operations, rescue drills, trained dogs, and qualified as a rescue dog handler. But he could easily have found himself on the other side, so in the book he mentions several times that his guardian angel often worked overtime. "Youth is folly. All climbing injuries happened during soloing, even if in crags. I don't do that anymore and don't recommend it to anyone. Yes, some ridge, something easier, sure. Approaches or descents can also be very demanding. And over time, we lose that refined sense of movement we had when we were frequently in the hills. Accidents are often the result of poor judgment, sometimes a confluence of circumstances. I never judge people for mistakes. We all make them - some of us just have more luck sometimes, for others it doesn't align ..." The 62-year-old from Ljubljana today views his alpinist and other exploits through the lens of a mountain rescuer, which not infrequently ended with serious injuries.

Although the densely woven narrative makes it seem almost impossible, Žganjar's book is not the product of diary entries, only shorter notes of experiences, his good memory, and ruminating on adventures with friends. His writing is a fresh breeze - even a bora wind - in alpinist literature; it is succulent, infused with humor, and on one hand naturalistic and on the other lyrical: "I don't want to be just another chronicler of conquering the unconquerable and boasting about achievements. If my stories reveal some humor or self-humor, it only pleases me, or rather, I've succeeded in what I wanted to write. I try to live as naturalistically as possible, at least I hope, and lyrically - I think I'm a romantic at heart. I write poems, compose; music is one of the key things in my life."

"Tomaž's Entangled Stories are a reflection of a time that has inexorably passed. These are not the stories we're accustomed to from many books by seasoned alpinists, about how heroes climb and unconditionally solve even the most demanding climbing problems; rather the opposite - they are descriptions of events, above all the author's mishaps, who dared to describe it all with a pinch of humor, in which this book certainly differs from others published so far," assesses the book's editor and head of the Mountaineering Publishing House, Vladimir Habjan, adding: "Who are the stories intended for? Of course, the author's entire generation, which is slowly concluding its most active climbing period, but on the other hand, they will also be interesting to the younger generation, so that the youth can see what all the 'old warriors' had to 'go through' in their time. Completely different times honed the author and his climbing partners into independent personalities. The charm of the book and the whole series of stories that touch both summits and the sea is that once we take the book in hand, we won't be able to stop reading until we reach the last page. And that is also the publisher's goal."