A reminder that your best source of information on Brexit and what it means for you in Slovenia – in terms what’s happening right now and what you should be doing, if not what will happen next, in which case ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ – remains the UK Embassy in Ljubljana, with the latest update from the British Ambassador Sophie Honey below (as of Friday January 18).

So while we’ll make sure to post updates when we have them, if you want the latest official news be sure to follow the Embassy on Facebook, here. To keep things covered from more angles, the British Chamber of Commerce can be found here, and the Slovenian Embassy in London is here. Finally, the lobby / support group British in Europe, billed as “the coalition of UK citizens in Europe”, can be found here.

January 22, 2019 

It is said that every true Slovene should climb to the top of Triglav, the highest Slovenian mountain, at least once in their lifetime.

However, recent reports of heavy traffic at the top of the mountain along with the trash trail that follows it are evidence that such an expression of national pride doesn’t come without the cost these days. Calls to drop the ‘everyone on Triglav’ idea and replace it with practices that are focused on preservation of nature rather than the defence of territory by repeated conquests of inhabitable lands have been becoming louder in the last two decades. Such a paradigm change is even more pressing since the struggle for independence ended with the final acquisition of the Slovenian statehood in 1991.

This article, however is not about what should be done about mass tourism at the top of Slovenia’s highest peak, but rather how it has all begun. How and why did Triglav and mountaineering in general become so tightly knitted into the fabric of the Slovenian national identity.

The start of an obsession

“To conquer the summit” is in fact a literal translation of a Slovenian expression for reaching the summit (osvojiti vrh), while the very idea of climbing to the top of a mountain instead of worshipping it from the bottom originates in the ideas of the Enlightenment.

One of the most important places which allowed for the enlightenment to spread among the 18^th century Slovenes was, perhaps surprising for some, a secluded mining town called Idrija, the location of the world’s second largest mercury mine. As such, Idrija attracted some of the Europe’s finest natural scientists of the time, in particular Giovanni Antonio Scopoli and Balthasar Hacquet. And both men played an important role in the series of events that lead to the first reaching of Triglav’s summit in 1778, which took place eight years before Mont Blanc, the highest peak in the Alps, was climbed.

Now, Triglav at the time was not Triglav today, equipped with ropes, iron fences and widened trails, and even though the peak lies below three thousand metres, it was quite a difficult mountain to climb, not something one could do on the first attempt. So how did the two enlightened thinkers influence the idea to get to the top?

Scopoli, born in the Southern Tirol (today’s Italy) of the Hapsburg Empire, served in Idrija as the first mine physician between 1754 and 1769, a job which included extensive research on the surrounding botany (no antibiotics in those days), including the Julian Alps, the location of the Triglav massive. This is why Scopoli ended as the first man at the top of Storžič (2,132m) in 1758 and Grintavec (2,558m) in 1759. In 1760 Scopoli published a book on his findings called Flora Carniolica and kept a regular correspondence with no other but the father of contemporary taxonomy, Carl von Linné (aka Carl Linnaeus) in Sweden. The two communicated in Latin.

Apart from his inventory of over 1,100 plants from the Slovenian Northwest, Scopoli also founded an education programme in metallurgy and chemistry in Idrija, which he eventually left for professor’s position at several respectable universities in central Europe.

In Idrija, Scopoli was joined and then replaced by a French surgeon and natural scientist Balthasar Hacquet, who, intrigued by Scopoli’s work, came to Idrija in 1766. Hacquet, also credited with the first description of mercury poisoning symptoms, followed in Scopoli’s steps and attempted his first ascent to Triglav in 1777, but only reached one of the mountain’s lower peaks, Mali Triglav.

The natural sciences and Žiga Zois

At the time Hacquet was also in correspondence with Žiga Zois (Sigmund Zois), a natural science enthusiast, geologist and at the time the richest Slovene, who had just purchased an ironworks facility (fužina) at the foot of the mountain in Bohinj.

Why Sigismund (Žiga) Zois decided to sponsor the first expedition to the top of Triglav in 1778 is not entirely clear, as the so-called Bohinj papers in which expedition details were discussed have been lost. According to one theory, the predominant reasons were to send someone on the lookout for possible new ore deposits. Another theory is that Zois got inspired by the failed attempt of his geologist pen-pal Hacquet. Either way, Žiga Zois presumably promised a financial award to anyone reaching the top and also organised an expedition, which eventually successfully reached the summit for the first time in 1778.

The expedition was led by Zois’ ironworks facility physician and Hacquet’s student Lawrence Willomitzer, who was to be accompanied by three local guides: Luka Korošec and Matevž Kos, both miners and a hunter Štefan Rožič. Although there is some debate about wether or not all of the men really reached the top, in 1978 the Mountaineering Association decided to depict all four men in a statue in Ribčev Laz, Bohinj, as “more first ascents are better than less”.

Vodnik makes it to the top of Slovenia

Besides researchers and the nobility (Žiga Zois was a baron), another group of people was interested in mountaineering in those early days: priests.

The first one to mention is Valentin Vodnik from Šiška (Ljubljana), who went to Triglav in 1795 in another of the expeditions financed by Zois. The main goal was to prove the neptunist theory on the sea origin of Julian rocks, and thereby refute the plutonist claims of the rock’s volcanic origin, a dispute Zois found himself in with an acquaintance from Transylvania, Johann Ehrenreich von Fichtel, whose claims on the upper parts of the mountain to be of volcanic origin were based on a simple assumption. To prove Fichtel wrong Zois needed a specimen from the top of the mountain that would show some sediment, which was eventually provided by Vodnik.

Valentin Vodnik, however, didn’t stay priest much longer after meeting Zois in 1792. He switched to teaching position at Ljubljana grammar school six years later. As such, both Vodnik and his patron Zois are part of the group responsible for the early experimentations with Slovenian nationalism, which in the case of Valentin Vodnik meant the use of what was then considered vulgar peasant language in poetry. Indeed, Vodnik’s 1794 ascent of Kredarica and then a year later of Triglav inspired one of his better poems, Vršac.

With Austria’s defeat by the Napoleon’s army, life changed significantly for Vodnik in 1809, when the newly established Illyrian province with its capital set in Ljubljana allowed him to teach in the Slovenian language. He became a principal of Ljubljana grammar school and a supervisor of vocational and handicraft schools.  Vodnik marked this French move in support of local ethnic empowerment with an ode called “Illyria reborn” (published in 1811), for which he had to pay a price once the Austrians took their territory back in 1813 – he was banned from ever teaching again in 1815.

Alpinism evolves

In this circle of early priest alpinists we can also count the Dežman brothers, who also reached the top of Triglav in the years of 1808 and 1809. Among Slovenia’s most notable alpine climbers at the time, however, Valentin Stanič stands out as the first proper alpinist in a contemporary sense of the word. His ascents were often unique and daring, since he regularly climbed solo without a guide and even in winter time. He climbed various European mountains, including Grossglockner in 1800. In 1808 he and his guide Anton Kos reached the top of Triglav, where Stanič measured its altitude with a barometric device and only missed the exact figure by 7 metres, an admirable result for an amateur surveyor. Although it seems that his climbing initially served his scientific interests, Stanič later developed a much more sporting interest in trying to climb as many mountains as possible, to be the first one to reach unconquered summits, and on the way overcome hardships and experience happiness and excitement, attitudes that were very unusual and forward-thinking for the era he climbed in.

Despite this, most researchers, noblemen and priests would not head into dangerous mountain conditions without local guides, with this latter group less concerned with getting to the top of the mountain than they were with the opportunity to make some money for themselves and their families.

Enter the Slavs

In the middle of the 19^th century several ideological attitudes developed in the mountaineering communities of Europe.

The sporty style of the British nobility on Europe’s most prominent mountains came into being with the help of local French and Swiss guides. This elitist style of climbing by a leisure class who could afford to travel abroad and mount expeditions was contrasted by the style of the Germans, who were climbing at home and thus needed less money to do so, and for whom mountaineering was less associated with class, prestige and conquest. Well, until the Slavs enter the picture.

For most of the Slavs, and especially the Slovenes, mountaineering was closely associated with a defence against language- and class-related Germanising influences, as seen, for example, in the use of new German names for mountains and other places that were originally in Slovenian, a process that increased with the growing number of well-organised German climbing groups who were visiting the Julian Alps at the time. On top of this, Napoleon’s short-lived Illyrian province, which planted the seed of nationalistic sentiment in the minds of the Slovenian masses, strengthened the assimilating pressures of the Austrian empire, which in turn generated much greater resistance. Mountaineering thus became part of the Slovenian national project, and Triglav as the highest peak in the Julian Alps was its symbol.

Read part two here

22 January 2019 – The village of Slapnik in Goriška Brda has been abandoned for decades, but is set to get a new lease of life this year with the news that the BBC is to renovate some of the buildings and film a reality show there.

Slapnik, a settlement with 17 houses that once had around 80 residents, mostly farmers, lost its population to larger towns in the region, as well as to immigration to the US and Australia after WW2. Since 1985 is has been designated as part of Slovenia’s immovable cultural heritage, and become a curiosity for visitors, and those interested in the region’s architecture in particular.

According to Delo, the British Broadcasting Company will film a show in the village in which couples from around Europe will live in the renovated houses. Further details remain unknown, but it’s expected that around 20 episodes of the series will be filmed.

Slapnik, and the region in general, is expected to benefit from the attention, while the renovated buildings will provide more opportunities for further commercial activity in the village. A municipality official, Anita Manfreda, told the media that after the renovation and filming, expected to last two or three years, there are proposals to develop the area into a resort for guests wishing to relax in the peace and quiet of the countryside.

STA, 22 January 2019 - Brewer Pivovarna Laško Union has won a damages suit against its former CEO Boško Šrot, with the latter being ordered to pay EUR 51m to its former employer, the news portal Siol reports.

The brewer's corporate affairs director, Tanja Subotić Levanič, could neither confirm nor deny the information when asked to comment by the STA.

According to Siol, the brewer has already applied for enforcement against Šrot and his family business Atka-Prima with the Celje District Court in a bid to seize his assets.

The beverage group, which was taken over by Heineken in 2015, brought a EUR 13.3m damages claim against Šrot in 2011 arguing damages incurred through the financing of his management buyout.

The Celje District Court found that Šrot was responsible for his actions early in 2016 after which Šrot unsuccessfully appealed with the Supreme Court.

He is currently serving a prison sentence of almost six years for abuse of power in the leveraged management buyout of the beverage group between 2008 and 2009.

Damages suits against Šrot have also been brought by the beverage group's subsidiaries that have since been sold, that is mineral water company Radenska, fruit drinks maker Fructal and newspaper publisher Delo.

Siol says that the companies would probably never get the damages awarded because the Šrot family has protected most of its assets from seizure, while seized assets would not even cover court costs.

WMTV have what may be the final report on Jon Luskin, the 25-year old who grew up in Madison, Wisconsin, went missing in June 2018 after arriving in Ljubljana, and whose remains were found in in Iški Vintgar Gorge in late December. It includes the following video of Mr Luskin’s parents, as well as details of their son’s death.

The full story can be read here, but in brief Luskin appears to have fallen while hiking, sustaining fractures to the left side of his forehead, shoulders, and ribs, with the damage to his backpack also indicating that such an accident rather than foul play caused his demise.

STA, 21 January 2019 - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec, whose cabinet has been assessed the most favourably in the past ten years in the latest Vox Populi poll, would not comment on the poll on Monday, saying that it was up to pundits to analyse the results. Analysts Antiša Korljan and Rok Čakš attribute the PM's success to his persona.

"Our goal is to achieve results and work," Šarec told reporters, adding that polls meant nothing without actual results. The PM, who has overtaken President Borut Pahor as the most popular politician, said there was hard work ahead and plenty of projects to be implemented.

Only time will tell if the government is successful, and "speaking about popularity and success after three or four months is much too early," added Šarec, whose government was sworn in in September.

Meanwhile, analyst Korljan, the editor-in-chief of the Primorske Novice newspaper, told the STA that the prime minister was gaining in popularity due to his persona and demystification of government work.

Korljan said the government, whose work was perceived as successful by 56% of the 700 respondents in the poll carried out by Ninamedia because Šarec speaks about leading the government like about any other business. "People apparently assess this positively and the prime minister is gaining in popularity based on what we call 'common sense'," he said.

Similarly, Čakš, the editor-in-chief of the conservative portal Domovina, said that Šarec succeeded with the help of media "to create an image of a decisive and capable leader, who's not landed in the office from some professorial or another intellectual position, instead, he appears as one of [the people]".

How Šarec is like Ronald Reagan

"This is why his seemingly simplified ... speech, which is frowned upon by intellectuals, is actually liked by people. In this sense, Šarec has a certain political talent, which undoubtedly stems from his vocation. He slightly resembles the popular former US President Ronald Reagan, who was also an actor and had a strong sense of how to gain popularity with people."

Nevertheless, the image of Šarec's capabilities and decisiveness was largely facilitated by the media or rather by "the absence of a deeper media critique in the first months of the government's work".

In part this is due to favourable global conditions, which also play a major part in people's perception of Šarec due to rising standards of living, and in part it is due to Šarec's likeable moves such as his clear position on fighting hate speech in media.

Korljan also believes the prime minister knows how to work with media: "He's working hard not to turn them against himself."

SDS in crisis with Janša stepping back

Like the prime minister, his party, the Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) is also gaining in popularity, having overtaken the opposition Democrats (SDS) in the first spot in the Vox Populi poll.

Korljan believes that the SDS is in some sort of a leadership and identity crisis, with its leader Janez Janša taking a step back and Anže Logar coming to the forefront as his successor, "at least as far as public appearances are concerned".

On the other hand, Čakš believes that the LMŠ's rise is a delayed aftermath of Šarec's popularity. Nevertheless, more polls will have to be conducted to be able to say anything more definite about the change on the top of party rankings.

As regards Šarec's overtaking President Pahor in popularity rankings, Čakš said that they had a lot more in common than either would be willing to admit.

STA, 21 January 2019 - Fraport Slovenija, the operator of the Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport, has decided to cancel talks with the selected bidders for the construction of a new terminal and repeat the tender. The decision comes after the National Review Commission introduced a new practice in the tender for the construction of the second Karavanke tunnel tube.

According to the decision, published on the e-Naročanje public procurement portal on Monday, it follows from the decision of the review commission in the Karavanke tunnel case that bids cannot be amended following the deadline for applications.

The new practice was introduced after the deadline for bids for the construction of the new terminal at the airport passed and could not be factored in in Fraport's call for applications.

The company has established that the call's documents were unclear in terms of the new practice, which is why it has decided to reject all bids and repeat the tender after the expiry of the eight-day period for potential requests for legal recourse.

Under the new tender, Fraport will negotiate with all applicants whose bids will meet the tender criteria and not only the best three, to increase competition. The company will only negotiate the price and not the substance of the contract, because this will ensure the best possible transparency.

The company received six applications in the first tender. A solo bid was submitted by Austrian Strabag, while joint bids were filed by Slovenia's GIC Gradnje and Elcom, Croatian GP Krk and Slovenian CBE, Slovenian Kolektor Koling and CGP, Slovenia's Pomgrad and Gorenjska Gradbena Družba, and Slovenia's VG5 and Remont.

It is unclear for how long the repeated tender will delay the construction, which, according to Zmago Skobir, the head of Fraport Slovenija, was set to begin this year.

He said at the end of last year, when Fraport decided to enter talks with three bidders, that he expected talks to be concluded by the end of spring and the construction to be completed by the end of 2020.

Fraport later said that the decision to repeat the tender would likely delay the start of the construction by two to three months, whereas insisting with the cancelled tender could cause significantly longer delays.

The terminal, valued at around EUR 20m, was scheduled to open before the summer season in 2021, just before Slovenia is to take over the EU presidency. This is still the goal, said Fraport.

At 10,000 m2, the terminal will house departures and security check facilities, which are currently cramped in a space that cannot be expanded. Additional retail and restaurant facilities are planned as well.

Below is a review of the headlines in Slovenian dailies for Tuesday, January 22, 2019, as summarised by the STA:

DELO

Abandoned villages
"Greetings from Slovenia's abandoned villages": There are 61 villages without permanent residents in Slovenia, most of them in the southern Kočevje area. One such village, Slapnik, will now be renovated by the BBC (front page, page 4)

China's economic growth
"China slowing in its path to the top": Ning Jizhe, head of China's National Bureau of Statistics, announced yesterday that China's economy expanded by 6.6% last year, while analysts have underscored that growth in the final quarter was only a worrying 6.4%. (front page, page 6)

Bad bank
"Embarrassment in land sale probe": After the sale of a plot of land in Logatec prompted the sacking of the management of Bank Asset Management Company, the circumstances of the deal's audit are coming to light. (front page, page 10)

DNEVNIK

Pensions
"Higher pension rating base not until next year": A gradual increase in the pension rating base planned by the government is estimated to increase pensions for men with 40 years of service by more than 10%, while the overall financial impact of the rise would be EUR 50m, according to the head of the Pension and Disability Insurance Institute. (front page, page 2, commentary 14)

Housing
"Novo Mesto plot 'snatched' away from housing fund by BAMC": The mayor of Novo Mesto has addressed an open letter to Bank Asset Management Company (BAMC) after it outbid the national Housing Fund for a plot in Novo Mesto designated for housing construction. (front page, page 10)

FINANCE

Economic trends
"Wave of pessimism": The paper runs a series of articles suggesting a slowdown in economic growth headlined The Worries of 1,378 CEOs Worldwide, Why is China's Economy Coughing? and Why Decline in Entrepreneurial Activity in Slovenia?. (front page, pages 2-7)

VEČER

Students' costs of living in Ljubljana
"Usurious rents": How to survive as a student in Slovenia's capital with apartment costs alone exceeding EUR 350 a month?. (front page, pages 4, 5)

North-south expressway project
"DARS steps up, protest suspended": After the locals threatened a protest, three locations are now projected to start building the long-awaited north-south expressway known as the Third Development Axis in December. (front page, page 13)

Prison incident
"New incident behind bars": Samo Tadin, a man who is serving a 30-year sentence at Dob prison for murder and attempted murder of a police officer, stabbed a prison guard yesterday. (front page, pages 20, 21)

Alpine skiing World Cup
"Štuhec's wish come true": Slovenia's best alpine skier Ilka Štuhec will appear at the World Cup giant slalom for the 55th Golden Fox Cup in her home town Maribor. (front page, pages 22, 23)

STA, 21 January 2019 - Slovenia is getting ready to implement the EU disinformation rapid alert system, which the bloc expects to have up and running in March, Foreign Minister Miro Cerar said in Brussels on Monday. In Slovenia, the national contact point will most likely be headed by the Government Communication Office (UKOM - Urad vlade za komuniciranje).

The foreign minister's statement comes after an EU ministerial on the action plan to fight disinformation, which is considered one of the key challenges due to the upcoming elections to the European Parliament.

The rapid alert system, which is part of the action plan, is to be set up in the coming weeks and is expected to start operating by March, Cerar said.

Slovenia's contact point will most likely be set up at UKOM. This will allow the country to directly cooperate with EU institutions and other member states in sharing information, and fighting and preventing the spread of disinformation, the foreign minister added.

He highlighted the importance of working together with the private sector and online content providers and of raising awareness about the dangers of disinformation in schools.

At the meeting with his counterparts, Cerar also highlighted the importance of EU strategic communication in the Western Balkans to prevent the spread of influence of those who want to create a negative image of the EU and could consequently harm the integration processes in this part of Europe.

"We live in a period of populisms when some policies are based on inciting hatred and prejudices and mislead people by means of made-up stories. In the society of modern networks we often witness lies, fake information and manipulations," he stressed.

Overall, disinformation is a new, great threat to democracy and democratic values, Cerar added.

“A fire burned inside me and I knew only two ways out: either to keep stoking it or allow myself to be burned by it.” Nejc Zaplotink, Pot

There are many moments of horror when reading Bernadette McDonald’s Alpine Warriors (2015). The horror of snow, ice and wind to contend with, along with vertical walls, overhangs, collapsing seracs, avalanches, frostbite, lost shoes, exploding stoves, and death. And there is, as in every climbing book, death aplenty, the narrative always taking an ominous turn when recollections slip away and it becomes clear the climber in question never got to tell his side of the story from this point on, that they disappeared into the snow.

Alpine Warriors, a follow-up to McDonald’s  2008 book on Tomaž Humar, tells the story of two or three generations of Slovenian climbers who came to prominence in the 1960s to 1990s. This small group made many first ascents and established new routes up the most difficult faces. They were also key players in the dramatic changes overtaking the sport of alpinism as it evolved from a nationalist, state-sponsored activity to a more individual and commercialised one, with documentaries, energy bars and branded jackets, not to mention the opening of Everest to weekend climbers and those in mid-life crises. The same years saw a move from huge, months-long siege-style expedition climbs with dozens of high altitude porters and tons of equipment, to the light and fast style that at its most extreme ends up in solo ascents with only what you can carry in a backpack, up and down mountain in a few days.

The latter, exemplified in the book by the likes of Tomo Česen (b. 1959, Kranj) and Tomaž Humar (b. 1969 Ljubljana, d. 2009 Nepal), may seem more dangerous to non-climbing readers, but there’s a logic to it. The faster you move, the less danger you’re exposed to in terms of the elements. Think of camping out on the face of a mountain as like playing Russian roulette, and each day, as the sun warms the face, there are avalanches, sometimes lasting for hours, meaning in some places there’s only four hours of safe climbing, during which you need to make some ground and then dig a snow cave before the weather turns. The book is thus full of extreme events, amazing escapes and tales of endurance that appear superhuman. And despite all the skills of the climbers, and all their good judgement and experience, sometimes people just vanish, overwhelmed by the forces of nature, and other times they make it down, frostbitten and exhausted, having survived through the luck of the draw.

Manaslu - Konec poti Nejca Zaplotnika from Anže Čokl on Vimeo.

McDonald picks Nejc Zaplotnik (b. 1952 Kranj, d. 1983 Nepal) as the thread that runs through this group of climbers, who either knew the man or grew up hearing about him, not least through his book Pot. Despite its lasting success in Slovenia this work remains untranslated, but the title means “the Path” or, in a more Daoist sense, “the Way”, and the excerpts in Alpine Warriors set out a philosophy of climbing and being in the mountains that’s very tempting if divorced from the realities of life at 8,000 metres – “A path leads nowhere but on to the next path. And that one takes you to the next crossroads. Without end.”

The story begins in 1960, with the first Yugoslav team being sent to the Himalayas as part of a state-funded expedition, with the bulk of the talent coming from Slovenia. As McDonald notes, “the topography, combined with the hard-working, pious, matter-of-fact Slovenian temperament, honed and perfected under German/Austrian domination, created the perfect climbing machines.”

One side the of the narrative thus follows the changes in Slovenian society from the simplicity and relative poverty of the 1960s and 70s, when just leaving the country with visas and enough equipment was a trial, to the more open and individualistic 80s, 90s and beyond, when media interest and commercial sponsorship gave climbers more options than following the dictates of the Alpine Association. As McDonald tells it, the Association, as a nationalist endeavour, remained focused on goals such as climbing all 14 eight-thousanders, while the climbers themselves often had their own ambitions, like finding new routes up challenging faces, no matter what the height or where their partners came from (with, for example, Marko Prezelj forging a long partnership with the American Steve House - as seen in the following documentary, along with Vince Anderson).

Within this setting McDonald sets up various the personality conflicts, making clear there’s not one type of climber, even at the highest levels. Zaplotnik is thus presented as the romantic mystic, Silvo Karo (b. 1960 Ljubljana) and Marko Prezelj (b. 1965 Kamnik) as taciturn and plain-spoken (the latter on Kangchenjunga “At first it looks shit, and then you begin to solve the problems. Without complexity I am not challenged.”) and Tomaž Humar as an unstable, driven man, pushing himself into a public role and then retreating from it, eventually dying alone at the top of a mountain after his life at base level seemed to have fallen apart.

There are many scenes when even the most imaginative reader will struggle to feel what it’s like to experience 200 km per hour gusts of wind or -36°C while trying to bivouac on a ledge “three butt cheeks wide”, or to find your tent has been crushed by snow, equipment lost, ice axe shattered, partner vanished, with no hope of rescue but a will to live and endure that might not be enough. These are extraordinary men (and a few women), the kind who can say, like Tomo Česen,“I knew…that I could go three to four days without food and two or more days without sleep”.

Česen himself is presented as a pivotal figure, both for his early acceptance of sponsorship as a way of breaking free of the Alpine Association, and for the scandals related to claimed ascents of Jannu and Lhotse’s South Face, which suggest how commercial pressures changed the nature of the sport, demanding ever-greater spectacles, leading to the circus that often surrounded McDonald’s last focal climber, Tomaž Humar.

Others covered in the book include Tone Škarja (b. 1937 Lubljana), Stane Belak-Šrauf (b. 1940 Ljubljana, d. 1995 Mojstrovka, avalanche), Marjan Manfreda (b. 1950 Bohinjska bela, d. 2015 Gorenjska, traffic accident), Stipe Božič (b. 1951 Croatia), Drago Bregar (b. 1952 Višnja Gora, d. 1977 Pakistan), Viki Grošelj (b. 1952 Ljubljana), Borut Bergant (b. 1954 Podljubelj, d. 1985 Nepal), Franček Knez (b. 1955 Celje, d. 2017 while climbing in Slovenia), Andrej Štremfelj (b. 1956 Kranj), Slavko Svetičič (b. 1958 Šebrelje, d. 1995 Pakistan) Janez Jeglič (b. 1961 Tuhinjska dolina, d. 1997 Nepal), and Vanja Furlan (b. 1966 Novo mesto, d. 1996 Mojstrovka). There are thus too many interesting characters here for this review to touch them all, but one we’ll highlight is Aleš Kunaver (b. 1935 Ljubljana, d. 1984 Jesenice, helicopter accident), the team leader on many expeditions who was able to bring out the best in his climbers while remaining in the shadows and often off the summit. It was also Kunaver who opened the first school for Sherpas in 1979, in order to reduce accidents in the Himalayas, and from whom we get the quote “In the mountains magnificence is diametrically opposed to comfort”.

Aleš Kunaver. Source:

ales.kunaver.com

And while there are deaths throughout the book many of the characters are still alive and active on the scene, firmly enmeshed in the both the history and present of alpinism and climbing in general, not just in a Slovenian context, but globally. The move from high to steep mountains, to walls with more technical difficulty than altitude, can be seen in pop culture triumphs like Alex Honnold’s free solo of El Capitan, as well as less publicised ascents such as that of the North Face of Latok, the “holy grail” of high altitude climbing that was finally achieved in summer 2018 by a Slovene-British expedition consisting of Aleš Česen (Tomo’s son), Luka Stražar and Tom Livingston (as reported here).

So although the book Alpine Warriors was published in 2015, and ends with Humar’s death, the story continues, and is one that those of us who live in Slovenia can easily feel a personal connection to, through the men and women who live among us when not climbing, and through the stunning landscape that has shaped such people and inspired dreams of the freedom that’s possible when one leaves the towns and cities and goes up into the mountains with good friends or alone.

In short, I enjoyed this book a lot, and if any of the above struck your interest then consider picking up a copy of Alpine Warriors, by Bernadette McDonald, and learning much more about Slovenia’s climbers. I’ve seen both English and Slovene editions in bookstores here, and it can also be ordered online in paper or ebook versions.