Drago Bregar (23 August 1952 – 10 July 1977) was a Slovenian

mountaineer 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, an ...

. Drago Bregar was the first Yugoslav death in the

Himalayas 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 10 ...

. In the summer of 1977, he was a member of a Slovenian expedition in Karakoram, that climbed a new route on

Gasherbrum I Gasherbrum I ( ur, ; ), surveyed as K5 and also known as Hidden Peak, is the 11th highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is located in Shigar District in the Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan. Gasherbrum I is part of the G ...

. (8080 m, 26510 ft). Ljubljana branch of the Alpine Association of Slovenia is named after Drago Bregar. Gasherbrum I

In the Summer of 1975, Bregar was a member of a Yugoslav expedition in the

Caucasus Mountains The Caucasus Mountains, : pronounced * hy, Կովկասյան լեռներ, : pronounced * az, Qafqaz dağları, pronounced * rus, Кавка́зские го́ры, Kavkázskiye góry, kɐfˈkasːkʲɪje ˈɡorɨ * tr, Kafkas Dağla ...

. On 17 July, the whole team reached the summit of Elbrus (5642 m, 18510 ft), the highest mountain in Europe. After that, the next goal was Nakratau (4277 m, 12157 ft). The climbers climbed through three different routes on the North wall of the mountain. Bregar was in a four-man team, together with Janez Dornik, Drago Šegregur and Franci Šter, that climbed the route ''Zamora''. The route is mixed with rocks and ice, which was a chance for Drago to show his renowned skills in ice climbing. Between 8 May and 22 August 1977, Slovenian climbers made their first trip to Karakoram in Pakistan, driving there and back. Two years before, on 6 October 1975, they reached the summit of their first eight-thousander,

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 ...

. On 8 July 1977, Nejc Zaplotnik and

Andrej Štremfelj Andrej Štremfelj (born 17 December 1956) is a Slovenian mountain climber, and in 2019, became the 10th recipient of the Piolet d'Or ''Lifetime Achievement Award''. Life and work Štremfelj was born in Kranj and got involved in mountain ...

climbed a new route on the southwest face of

, which was the second eight-thousander for the climbers. Bregar, who was the most experienced climber of the expedition with numerous ice climbing achievements in the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...

, tried to solo-climb the new Slovenian route the next day. However, the weather got worse and he got stuck not far from the peak of the mountain. The rest of the team tried to search for him, however, after six days of continuous snowing, they had to stop the rescue mission. Drago Bregar was aged 24.

Sources

{{Reflist Slovenian mountain climbers Mountaineering deaths 1977 deaths 1952 births Sport deaths in Pakistan