Tomaz Humar – Rescue Effort Video

One of the world’s top alpinist, Tomaz Humar, order died this past week on the remote Nepalese peak Langtang Lirung, 23,711′ 7227m. The Slovenian mountaineer was climbing solo on the south face and suffered some type of injury at 6300m.

A massive rescue effort was quickly organized out of Switzerland dispatching an elite team of pilots, climbers and logistics experts to Nepal. Sadly, they found his lifeless body around 5600m on Saturday November 14th.

Tomaz had called via his satellite phone on November 10th saying he was injured and needed an immediate rescue. The following video reports on the rescue attempt:

More on the Swiss rescue team can be found via this link

Tomaz was a unique climber as this excerpt from website chronicles:

Tomaž Humar a mountaineer from Slovenia, is thought of as a man with either insanely good luck or connections money can’t . It is believed that the Gods are fond of him. He believes that the Himalayas are fond of him. He doesn’t climb for fame or mountaineering awards, although he has received many and his ascend of the south face of Dhaulagiri made him famous in the whole world. He climbs because he can only truly start breathing at an altitude of 5000 m. There is no rest for him in the valley – his heart, his mind, and his legs have been hauling him up there in the mountain faces for as long as he can remember. The reason he climbs is that the mountains are the only place where he is really close to Him.

When he explained his plan before ascending Dhaulagiri to Elizabeth Hawley, one of the greatest experts on the Himalayas and its visitors, she said: “He is crazy, but certainly not dumb.”

He was never a man of rules. He decided very early on in his life that his story with the mountains would be his alone and that his journeys would be set by nobody but himself. He denounced classical Himalayan expeditions where one has to follow the rules of a leader and became the master of his own destiny. He climbed Dhaulagiri, the most difficult face of his carrier, solo, alpine-style.

He says alpine-style is basically about the simple art of surviving in the vertical, where there is no room for lingerers or great heroes. Ice and rocks are his natural environment. Instead of teams of experts he takes with him his ‘private horde’, as his Dhaulagiri expedition was called in some professional circles. It consists of his closest friends and co-climbers, a personal physician, a bio-energy practitioner – people who breathe with and for him and don`t try to get smart even when the situation seems hopeless..

My deepest and since condolences to all Tomaz’s family, friends and admires around the world. It takes a certain courage and ability to attempt what he did over the years and the climbing world will be less without him.

Alan