1991 Štremfelj and Prezelj Kangchenjunga South Ridge Expedition

Slovenia🏔️ 6 Peaks

Andrej Štremfelj

Andrej Štremfelj was born on December 17, 1956, in Kranj, Slovenia. Beginning his climbing journey in the Julian Alps and Kamnik-Savinja Alps at fifteen, he rapidly became one of the leading figures in the golden generation of Slovenian alpinism. In 1977, at just twenty years of age, he made his Himalayan breakthrough on Gasherbrum I (8,080m) alongside Nejc Zaplotnik, opening a new route on the southwest face. Two years later, in spring 1979, Štremfelj was selected for the landmark Yugoslav Mount Everest Expedition led by Tone Škarja. The team tackled the formidable, unbroken West Ridge of Mount Everest directly from the Lho La col (6,026m). Operating at the absolute outer limit of physical endurance, Štremfelj and Zaplotnik surmounted steep, crumbly limestone bands (Grade V+) and navigated the knife-edge crest in devastating westerly gales. On May 13, 1979, they reached the 8,848-meter summit, completing the first ascent of the complete West Ridge—a line that has never been repeated in its entirety and is celebrated as one of the hardest routes ever climbed on Everest. In October 1991, Štremfelj teamed up with young climbing partner Marko Prezelj to make a pure alpine-style first ascent of the 3,000-meter South Ridge of Kangchenjunga (8,476m South Peak) without supplemental bottled oxygen. The climb was hailed as a benchmark for fair-means Himalayan exploration and earned the duo the inaugural Piolet d'Or in 1992. In 1990, Štremfelj summited Everest again with his wife Marija Štremfelj, becoming the first married couple to stand atop Everest together. In 2018, the international mountaineering community honored him with the Piolet d'Or Carrière (Lifetime Achievement Award).

Slovenia🏔️ 4 Peaks

Marko Prezelj

Marko Prezelj was born on October 13, 1965, in Kamnik, Slovenia. Training in the rugged limestone walls of the Kamnik-Savinja Alps, he combined a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Ljubljana with an intense devotion to pure alpine climbing. Prezelj quickly established himself as an outspoken, visionary purist who rejected heavy siege logistics, fixed ropes, and supplemental oxygen, insisting that the value of climbing lay strictly in the honesty and uncertainty of the experience. In October 1991, at twenty-six years of age, Prezelj partnered with veteran Andrej Štremfelj on the towering, unclimbed South Ridge of Kangchenjunga (8,476m South Peak). Carrying all equipment in their backpacks and bivouacking on steep ice shelves, they completed the massive 3,000-meter route in pure alpine style. Their ascent earned them the inaugural Piolet d'Or in 1992, setting a new global standard for lightweight high-altitude climbing. Over the subsequent three decades, Prezelj amassed an unparalleled record of cutting-edge first ascents on the world's most technical peaks. He became the only person in history to win the Piolet d'Or four separate times: for Kangchenjunga in 1992, Chomolhari Northwest Pillar in 2007 (with Boris Četelis), the North Face of Hagshu in 2015 (with Aleš Česen and Luka Lindič), and the East Face of Cerro Kishtwar in 2016 (with Urban Novak, Manu Pellissier, and Hayden Kennedy). Also renowned for the first alpine-style ascent of the North Face of North Twin in Canada with Steve House, Prezelj is celebrated as the conscience and foremost philosopher of modern alpine-style mountaineering.