Andrej Štremfelj (61) was conferred with the prestigious Piolet d'Or 2018 Lifetime Achievement award. The Piolet d'Or is an annual mountaineering award given by the French magazine Montagnes and The Groupe de Haute Montagne since 1991.
Andrej Štremfelj was born in December 1956 in Kranj. His climbing career took off in the year 1972 from the Kranj Alpine Club. He went on to teach physical education at Skofja Loka High School after having graduated from the Ljubljana University. He became a mountain guide in 1982 and a fully qualified IFMGA guide in 1997.
Some of his notable ascents include
1979 - He made the first ascent of the West Ridge Direct on Everest (8848m)
1981 - He reached upto an altitude of 8250m on the unclimbed South Face of Lhotse (8516m)
1983 - He made an alpine style ascent of the Bezzubkin Pillar on Pik Communism (7495m)
1986 - He completed a 32-hour round trip ascent of Gasherbrum II (8035m) from Base Camp
1988 - He reached upto 8100m on the SW pillar – The Magic Line – of K2 (8611m)
1989 - He climbed in alpine style up the central pillar of the SW Face of Shishapangma (8027m) via a new route
1989 - He made the first and second winter ascents of three routes on the North Face of Mangart [at around 2680m the third highest peak in Slovenia]
1990 - He made an ascent of the Normal Route on Everest with his wife Maria, and became the he first married couple to stand together on the summit
1991 - He completed an alpine style ascent of the South Ridge of Kangchenjunga to the South summit (8476m). This climb awarded him with the first ever Piolet d'Or
1999 - He made the first ascent of the North Face of Gyachung Kang (7952m)
2002 - He climbed 30 different routes on 27 different peaks throughout Slovenia within a span of 40 days. The most notable of these was Zajeda on Široka PeÄ in the Julian Alps
Andrej Štremfelj's remarkable climbing career spans across 45 years. Andrej's unwavering enthusiasm and dedication towards climbing was given due recognition in 2017 when he was presented with the fourth Lifetime Achievement Award in the field of alpinism by the Alpine Association of Slovenia.
Photo Courtesy: stremfelj.si
