Davo Karničar

Davo Karničar is a 55 year-old Alpinist and Alpine skier, Alpinist instructor and mountain rescuer, ski instructor and trainer (he is also head of the first ski school for Nepalese children). As a competitive alpine skier, he was champion of Slovenia, second in the Balkans and competitor in the world cup. He is the author of the book "Alpinizem, samoljubje, ljubezen" ("Alpinism, vanity and love") and co-author of the book "Z Everesta" ("From Everest"). He runs a mountaineering and ski school at Jezersko and, together with his wife, Petra, is currently establishing a mountaineering centre at Ravenska Kočna.

Since 1980 he has achieved over 1,700 alpine climbs and descents. Together with his brother, he is the first Slovenian to have skied from an eight-thousander, and, first and foremost, the first person on Earth to have skied continuously from the highest peak in the world (Mount Everest) and the first man to have skied down the highest peaks of each of the seven continents. He is recipient of the Bloudek award and silver Order of Freedom of the Republic of Slovenia for extraordinary achievements. The Men's Journal magazine has named him best extreme sportsperson of the year, and he was nominated for the most prestigious sporting achievements award (laureus) in the special or extreme achievements category. 

As a climber, his single most exceptional achievement was his solo climb of the Bonatti Pillar of the Aiguille du Dru. After this achievement, he decided to focus on alpine skiing. In Slovenia, he has skied down the summits of Triglav, Jalovec, Dolgi hrbet, Špik, Grintovec, Kočna. However, his main achievements include descents down faces, glaciers and even icefalls (for example, he has frequently skied down Sinji Slap near Češka koča). He was the first to ski down (and repeat) the Fritsch-Lindenbach route in the north face of Grintovec or Dolška škrbina, which is classified as a grade 7 (the most difficult) route and is the most difficult route anyone has skied down in Slovenia. In Europe, his descents down the north-east face of Eiger and the east face of Matterhorn are two of his most prominent achievements. However, in global terms, he is mostly known for his skiing descents from Annapurna and Mount Everest, both eight-thousanders.

After skiing down the world's (and Asia's) highest peak, he had descended the remaining highest peaks of the seven continents by 2006: Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Aconcagua, Mount Kosciuszko, Denali and Mount Wilson, and thus became the first man to do so.

In September 2019 we received some terrible news that we are still struggling to fully accept. Davo Karničar flirted with challenges in some of the most dangerous parts of our planet. And he always found his way back safe and sound. It seems unreal that he met his destiny a stone's throw from his doorstep. Dear Davo, we will forever miss your laugh, your energy, strength and lust for life. Rest in peace.