Alpine Warriors

After the Second World War a period of relative calm began in Josip Broz
Tito’s Yugoslavia. During the next thirty years citizens could travel freely
if they had the money. Most did not, but alpinists did

Through elaborate training régimes and state-supported expeditions abroad,
Yugoslavian alpinists began making impressive climbs in the Himalaya as early
as 1960. By the ’70s, they were ascending the 8000ers. These teams were
dominated by Slovenian climbers, since their region includes the Julian Alps,
a fiercely steep range of limestone peaks that provided the ideal training
ground.

After Tito died in 1980, however, the calm ended. Inter-ethnic conflict and
economic decline ripped Yugoslavia apart. But Serbian strongman Slobodan
Miloševic misread the courage and character of several Yugoslavian states,
including Slovenia, and by 1991 Slovenia was independent.

The new country continued its support for climbers, and success bred success.
By 1995, all of the 8000ers had been climbed by Slovenian teams. And in the
next ten years, some of the most dramatic and futuristic climbs were made by
these ferocious alpinists. Apart from a few superstars, most of these amazing
athletes remain unknown in the West.