Slovenia's qualifying for the Football World Cup has undoubtedly received more media attention than any other Slovene sporting success. But very few sports lovers know that in this nation of two million there are exceptional sportsmen who have made it into the halls of fame of extreme sports achievements, including the Guinness Book of Records. Among Slovenia's greatest sportsmen are Davo Karničar, the first person to achieve an uninterrupted descent of Mt. Everest on skis; Martin Strel, the absolute world record holder in uninterrupted swimming and the first to swim the length of the Danube; and Tomaž Humar, the only climber who has scaled the exceptionally challenging South face of Daulaghiri. But these are just a few among many.
For Slovenia, 7 October 2000 was a historic date, as on this day the extreme skier Davo Karničar uninterruptedly skied from the top of the highest mountain in the world Mt. Everest (8858 metres) to the base camp at 5340 metres. With this daring ascent he managed to complete his 'trilogy' of skiing from three highest peaks: in addition to Mt. Everest, the highest mountain in Europe (Mt. Blanc, 4807m) and in Slovenia (Mt. Triglav, 2864m). This was his second attempt at an uninterrupted descent of Mt. Everest: in 1996 he was forced to retreat by a snowstorm. The descent took just under 5 hours, and he faced numerous dangers on route. The hardest part was not, as Karničar expected, the Hilary Step, but the steep section leading to the South peak, where there was a considerable threat of avalanches. He had to face an exhausting mental challenge just above the base camp when he had to tackle the Icefall, where ice from the Lo La threatened to fall down unexpectedly. Another unpleasant experience was seeing the body of an unknown mountaineer, which Karničar zipped past as he descended.
The beginnings of extreme Alpine skiing in Slovenia go back to 1972, when the pioneers of this sport descended from the top of Triglav on what are now museum-collection skies. To date, Slovene extreme skiers have descended two other peaks over eight thousand metres: Anapurna (8091m) and Gashebrum I (8068m). Marko Čar descended the latter on a snowboard.
In 2000 and 2001, Martin Strel's name appeared twice in the Guinness Book of Records. On 23 August 2000, he swam 3004 kilometres along the longest international European river - the Danube. This was the longest distance swim in the history of mankind. No-one before had ever swum the full length of the river which touches ten countries and which links even more nations. Martin Strel swam for peace, friendship and clean water. The message of his swim to the world was that rivers are the mirrors of our ecological awareness and it certainly mattered what they were like at the turn of the millennium. Furthermore, he wished to emphasise the importance of co-operation between countries, nations and cultures. In spite of the very cold water (11oC) in the upper part of this great river, he managed to swim 70 kilometres a day and completed the challenge in 58 days.
On 6 July 2001 he once more attracted attention with his world distance record in uninterrupted swimming, again along the Danube. After he had broken Argentinean Ricardo Hoffman's record by covering a distance of 482 kilometres in 81 hours and 3 minutes, which was 3 hours and 34 minutes faster than Hoffman, Strel also set an absolute record in uninterrupted swimming by covering 504 kilometres in 84 hours and 10 minutes. In addition to the fast currents and numerous whirlpools, on the first night he also encountered a cargo barge crossing the river: the accompanying team had lost contact with him and he was not aware of the barge's approach. He was badly hit and the wake pulled him towards the bottom of the river. He was saved only by his experience and exceptional physical condition.
Martin Strel is planning new adventures for the coming summer. He will swim the full length - 3797 kilometres - of the longest river in North America, the Mississippi. He will face the greatest challenge of his life - "Eye to Eye".
In the autumn of 1999, Tomaž Humar tackled alone one of the greatest challenges of modern Alpinism, the South face of Daulaghiri, which at 8167 metres is the sixth highest mountain in the world. The great Alpinist Reinhold Messner described it as "a death zone - one of the last great mountain adventures". Humar spent 12 days struggling with the 4000 metres high wall. He climbed with practically no support. For the first few days he was constantly threatened by falling rocks and icy falls. Nearer the top, his advance was slowed by altitude-related problems, the severe cold, lack of oxygen and tiredness. Crossing the ridge to the north-western descent was, due to the fragility of the terrain, a real drama. The descent itself was no easy task and the helicopter that picked him up at 6000 metres appeared to him as an angel saviour rather than a flying machine. Even though he decided against an assault on the top itself, he had achieved his goal and a new chapter in Alpinism was open.