Aleš Kunaver was a
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
n
alpinist and
tour guide
A tour guide (U.S.) or a tourist guide (European) is a person who provides assistance, information on cultural, historical and contemporary heritage to people on organized sightseeing and individual clients at educational establishments, religio ...
, born June 23rd, 1935 in
Ljubljana
Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center.
During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...
, Slovenia. Kunaver died November 2nd, 1984 in a helicopter accident on the slope of Vrš above
Blejska Dobrava.
Kunaver was an engineer by profession as well as a top mountaineer,
mountain rescuer, lecturer in five languages, author of numerous articles and co-author of books on
mountaineering
Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, a ...
, the first Yugoslav
Himalaya
The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...
film cameraman, longtime head of the
Commission for Expeditions to Foreign Mountaineers of the
Alpine Association of Slovenia
The Alpine Association of Slovenia ( sl, Planinska zveza Slovenije) is the association of voluntary association, volunteer Alpine clubs () providing the conditions for the development and exercising of mountaineering and hill walking in Slovenia a ...
, member of the mountaineering society of Yugoslavia, representative of Yugoslavia to the
International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation
The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation, commonly known by its French name Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme (UIAA, lit. ''International Union of Alpine Clubs''), was founded in August 1932 in Chamonix, France ...
(UIAA) and a candidate for President of the Alpines Commission at this international institution in which he did not live to see the elections. He also was the head of six Yugoslav Himalayan expeditions, the driving force behind the Manang Mountaineering School, and the person credited with the rise of Slovenian mountaineering to the world summit.
Life
Aleš Kunaver was born in Ljubljana to Henrijeta and
Pavel Kunaver
Pavel Kunaver (19 December 1889 – 19 April 1988) was a Slovene language, Slovene pedagogy, pedagogue, writer of popular science books, geography, history and Slovene language teacher and pioneer of amateur astronomy, mountaineering, mountain c ...
. After graduating from high school, Kunaver enrolled at the
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the
University of Ljubljana
The University of Ljubljana ( sl, Univerza v Ljubljani, , la, Universitas Labacensis), often referred to as UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 39,000 enrolled students.
History Beginnings
Although certain ...
. He had started
mountaineering
Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, a ...
at age 14, and as a student he constructed climbing equipment and tools for the mountain rescue service. With his wife Dušica, née Zlobec, he had three children: Vlasta, Brigita and Primož. He built a prefabricated house for the family with his own hands. For family holidays he designed and made a plastic
boat
A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats.
Small boats are typically found on inl ...
"Kuna". The construction of this boat was so good that
Jure Šterk crossed the
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
in one of the "Kunas".
Aleš's only job was in
Avtomontaža, a bus body factory, where he first worked as a constructor, but soon became the commercial director of this factory. He traveled officially in Europe and much of Africa, as their buses have been established in many countries. Kunaver also wanted to introduce the production of aircraft in Avtomontaža, for which he drew some new types, but these plans, as well as many others, were interrupted by his death in a helicopter accident in the forest above
Blejska Dobrava on 2 November 1984.
Kunaver as alpinist
Between 1950 and 1960, Kunaver and his fellow climbers climbed some exceptional routes, both on domestic and foreign mountains: the first winter crossing of
Kamnik Alps
Kamnik (; german: Stein''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, pp. 26–27. or ''Stein in Oberkrain'') is a town in northern Slovenia. It is t ...
; the first winter ascent of the long German route, the Long German
Triglav north wall; the first Slovene repetition of Bonatti's route in Grand Capucin; the first Slovene repetition of the classical route in Drus and many others.
He made several first ascents in the Slovenian Alps, among them:
* 1961, he climbed with
Kazimirjem Drašlarjem the first route in the famous Triglav Sphinx (VI / A2), which at the time was considered as the last riddle of the
Triglav north wall.
* 1968 Aleš Kunaver, together with
Stane Belak-Šrauf and
Anton Sazonov-Tonač, successfully finished the first ascent of Čop's Pillar in the
Triglav north wall. It involved eight days in the most difficult winter conditions, with very poor equipment; they count to this day among the hardest endeavours in the Slovenian mountains. Seventy rescuers from all over Slovenia had come together on the dangerous, avalanche-prone slopes of Triglav, with two meters of snow and more relentlessly coming down. The three climbers succeeded to climb out of the wall by themselves and met the rescuers when descending from Triglav.
Expenditions
He was a member of the first expedition, and later the leader and organizer of the following expeditions:
* 1960: member of
JAHO I, first ascents on
Trisul
Trisul is a group of three Himalayan mountain peaks of western Kumaun, Uttarakhand, with the highest (Trisul I) reaching 7120m. The three peaks resemble a trident - in Sanskrit, Trishula, trident, is the weapon of Shiva. The Trishul grou ...
3 (6170 m) and Trisul 2 (6690 m)
* 1962: he and
Zoran Jerin made a reconnaissance trip for the next expeditions through western
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
, from
Kathmandu
, pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia
, coordinates =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name =
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...
to
Darjeeling
Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal, ...
* 1968: Head of the
Hindu Kush
The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and western Afghanistan, Quote: "The Hindu Kush mountains run along the Afghan border with the North-West Frontier Provinc ...
expedition to
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
; they reached five peaks ranging from 5900 to 6900 m
* 1969: leader of the expedition
JAHO III to
Anapurna, climbed
Anapurna 4 (7525 m); on this expedition Dr. Andlovic set a unique world record - he saved Kazimir Drašlar's frostbitten fingers at an altitude of 6500 m, in the highest "office" in the world at the time
* 1972: leader of
JAHO IV to ascend
Makalu
Makalu ( ne, मकालु हिमाल, Makālu himāl; zh, t=馬卡魯峰, p=Mǎkǎlǔ fēng) is the fifth highest mountain in the world at . It is located in the Mahalangur Himalayas southeast of Mount Everest, in Nepal. One of th ...
; they reached an altitude of about 8000 m, not by the usual approach, but for the first time via the southern wall; the expedition is worth mentioning also for the scientific research done by three scientists, who joined the team
* 1975: leader of
JAHO VI to Makalu, via a new route in the southern wall, with one member reaching the summit done without using oxygen
* 1981: leader of the expedition to the southern wall of
Lhotse
Lhotse ( ne, ल्होत्से ; , ''lho tse'', ) is the fourth highest mountain in the world at , after Mount Everest, K2, and Kangchenjunga. The main summit is on the border between Tibet Autonomous Region of China and the Khumbu ...
- they reached the top of the wall at 8000 m (
Franček Knez,
Vanja Matijevec);
The International Mountaineering Association (UIAA) assessed it as the "most difficult ascent in the Himalayas so far".
* 1984: leader of the Croatian-Slovenian expedition to
Manaslu
Manaslu ( ne, मनास्लु, also known as Kutang; muh-NAA-slu) is the eighth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is in the Mansiri Himal, part of the Nepalese Himalayas, in the west-central part of Nepal. The name Mana ...
'84; two members reached the top of the mountain in an alpine style
Routes named after him
Friends called Kunaver "bara sab", which in the language of the Nepalese locals means "leader". From the six expeditions, he always brought all their members home safely. His memory was honored by his friends and their younger peers with memorial routes in the home mountains and in the Himalayas:
* Kunaver's route in Mali Mangart, 1986 (Filip Bence - Peter Podgornik)
* Kunaver's route on the western wall of Trisul, 1987 (Slavko Frantar, Janez Kastelec, Vlasta Kunaver (Aleš's daughter), Sandi Marinčič, Lado Vidmar)
* Slovenian route on the southern wall of Lhotse, dedicated to Kunaver, 1990 (Tomo Česen)
Acknowledgments
*
Student Prešeren Award for the construction of a rescue drum for the mountain rescue service - February 8, 1960.
* The Order of Merit for the Nation with a Golden Star awarded for the Makalu Expedition in 1975
* Golden badges of the Mountaineering Association of Yugoslavia:
** as a member of the 1st Himalayan Expedition
** for many years of meritorious work in mountaineering, April 27, 1981
** for the 3rd Yugoslav Himalayan expedition
** for the 4th Himalayan expedition
* Golden badges and golden badge of honor of the Mountaineering Association of Slovenia
*
Bloudek Award in 1974 for top achievements in mountaineering and alpinism as the most successful participant in Yugoslav expeditions to foreign mountains and leader of six expeditions, as a member of GRS and author of films on mountaineering
* Golden medal at the international competition of skiers - mountain rescuers in Davos, Switzerland (as a team with Marjan Keršič-Belač), 1958
* Diploma for the film "Ascent to Trisul" at IX. Yugoslav Documentary Film Festival in Belgrade, 1962
* Medal for the same film at the XIV. Trent International Mountaineering Film Festival in 1963
Manang Mountaineering School
In 1978 Kunaver proposed to the government of Yugoslavia to help establish
mountain guide school in Manang The project was approved and the assistance of the Consulate General of Nepal in Slovenia, Mr. Aswin Kumar Shrestha played a vital role in acting as the bridge between NMA and the
Alpine Association of Slovenia
The Alpine Association of Slovenia ( sl, Planinska zveza Slovenije) is the association of voluntary association, volunteer Alpine clubs () providing the conditions for the development and exercising of mountaineering and hill walking in Slovenia a ...
.
The Nepal Mountaineering Association fully supported the project by providing land and necessary legal guidance. In a difficult dilemma of either leading an expedition to Everest or building a mountaineering school, Kunaver subordinated his mountaineering goals to a desire to help Nepalese locals. With mountaineering knowledge, he wanted to prevent accidents to locals in the Himalayas. He also wanted the locals to become mountain guides, not just ignorant bearer mules. "Everest is the goal and school is the mission," he said when deciding to focus on the Mountaineering School at Manang, with the full support of the
Alpine Association of Slovenia
The Alpine Association of Slovenia ( sl, Planinska zveza Slovenije) is the association of voluntary association, volunteer Alpine clubs () providing the conditions for the development and exercising of mountaineering and hill walking in Slovenia a ...
that was very keen to set up and support the training school.
In 1979, in Sabji Khola, Humde, the Manang Mountaineering School was established with the financial support of Yugoslavia and the government of Slovenia and the great effort and unselfish help of Mr. Ales Kunaver.
Bibliography
* Aleš Kunaver &al: Makalu, Mladinska knjiga 1974,
* Aleš Kunaver &c: onto the top of the world, Mladinska knjiga, 1979
* Aleš Kunaver with himalayan friends: Trisul - Varuh boginje (knjiga in DVD), published by author Dušica Kunaver, 2006
* Aleš Kunaver with himalayan friends: MAKALU,published by author Dušica Kunaver, 2006
* Aleš Kunaver, the land of sherpas 1962, published by authorDušica Kunaver, 2007, ISBN 978-961-6179-66-9
* Aleš Kunaver with climbing friends: LHOTSE - south wall, published by author Dušica Kunaver, 2008
Documentary films:
* ČOP illar, 1968
* TRISUL, 1961
* Aleš Kunaver - The land of sherpas, 1962
Matjaž Žbontar: Aleš Kunaver - Dežela šerp
/ref>
* MAKALU, 1972 in 1975
* LHOTSE SOUTH WALL, 1981
References
External links
Članek - prezrti velikan
Aleš Kunaver, spominski večer ob 30-letnici smrti
Spominsko obeležje
Home page Aleš Kunaver
1935 births
1984 deaths
Slovenian sportsmen
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