Davorin "Davo" Karničar (October 26, 1962 – September 16, 2019) was a Slovene alpinist and ski mountaineer. As an active mountain skier, Davo was a member of the Yugoslavian national mountain ski team between 1975 and 1982. An alpinist since 1980, he made an estimated 1,700 climbs and descents. He made his first summit of an

eight-thousander The eight-thousanders are the 14 mountains recognized by the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) as being more than in height above sea level, and sufficiently independent of neighbouring peaks. There is no precise defin ...

in 1989 when he climbed

Nanga Parbat Nanga Parbat () (; ), known locally as Diamer (), is the ninth-highest mountain on Earth and its summit is at above sea level. Lying immediately southeast of the northernmost bend of the Indus River in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan-a ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, later summitting K2 in 1993. In 1995, he made his first ski descent from Annapurna in

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

and, in 1996, he made a ski descent from

Shishapangma Shishapangma, or Shishasbangma or Xixiabangma ( zh, s=希夏邦马, p=Xī xià bāng mǎ), is the 14th-highest mountain in the world, at above sea level. The lowest 8,000 metre peak, it is located entirely within Tibet. Name Geologist Toni H ...

in Tibet. When Davo was 38 years old he became the first person to ski down from the summit of the highest mountain in the world,

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

, on October 7, 2000. The feat took four hours and 40 minutes to complete. He was the first person to make a complete ski descent from the

Seven Summits The Seven Summits are the highest mountains on each of the seven traditional continents. On 30 April 1985, Richard Bass became the first climber to reach the summit of all seven. In January 2023, ''Climbing (magazine), Climbing'' said "Today, t ...

, less than one month after the first person, Kit DesLauriers, skied from the top of all of the seven summits, but did not accomplish complete descents on Everest and Denali. His

descents were: *

(8848 m) in Asia in October 2000 * Kilimanjaro (5895 m) in Africa in November 2001 *

Mount Elbrus Mount Elbrus; ; is the highest mountain in Russia and Europe. It is a dormant stratovolcano rising above sea level, and is the highest volcano in Eurasia, as well as the tenth-most prominent peak in the world. It is situated in the south ...

(5642 m) in Europe in July 2002 *

Aconcagua Aconcagua () is a mountain in the Principal Cordillera of the Andes mountain range, in Mendoza Province, Argentina. It is the highest mountain in the Americas, the highest outside Asia, and the highest in both the Western Hemisphere and the ...

(6960 m) in South America in January 2003 *

Mount Kosciuszko Mount Kosciuszko ( ; ; Ngarigo: ) is the highest mountain of the mainland Australia, at above sea level. It is located on the Main Range of the Snowy Mountains in Kosciuszko National Park, a part of the Australian Alps National Parks and ...

(2228 m) in Australia in August 2003 *

Denali Denali (), federally designated as Mount McKinley, is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. It is the tallest mountain in the world from base to peak on land, measuring . On p. 20 of Helm ...

(6194 m) in North America in June 2004 *

Puncak Jaya Puncak Jaya (; literally "Victorious Peak", Amungme: ''Nemangkawi Ninggok'') or Carstensz Pyramid (, , ) on the island of New Guinea, with an elevation of , is the highest mountain peak of an island on Earth, and the highest peak in Indones ...

(4884 m) in Oceania in September 2005 *

Vinson Massif Vinson Massif () is a large mountain massif in Antarctica that is long and wide and lies within the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains. It overlooks the Ronne Ice Shelf near the base of the Antarctic Peninsula. The massif is located ab ...

(4897 m) in Antarctica in December 2006 The other significant peaks he skied from include the north-east face of

Eiger The Eiger () is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland, just north of the main watershed and border with Valais. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends ...

and the east face of

Matterhorn The , ; ; ; or ; ; . is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the Main chain of the Alps, main watershed and border between Italy and Switzerland. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the Pennine Alps, ...

in Switzerland and

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (, ) is a mountain in the Alps, rising above sea level, located right at the Franco-Italian border. It is the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains, the second-most prominent mountain in Europe (after Mount E ...

, the highest peak in

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

in the border between Italy and France. In February 2001, he guided the first ski school for

ese children on the

Khumbu Khumbu (also known as the Everest Region) is a region of northeastern Nepal on the Nepalese side of Mount Everest. It is part of the Solukhumbu District, which in turn is part of Koshi Pradesh.Bradley, Mayhew; "Trekking in the Nepal Himalaya"; ...

Glacier in Nepal. In 2017, he collaborated with ski manufacturer Elan to produce the world's first mass production folding skis. He died on September 16, 2019 in a tree-cutting accident on his property.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karnicar, Davo 1962 births 2019 deaths Slovenian mountain climbers People from the Municipality of Jezersko Summiters of the Seven Summits Accidental deaths in Slovenia

See also

References