Dobro gorni\u0161ko, alpinisti\u010dno literaturo odlikujejo tri stvari: Dobra zgodba, velika, prese\u017ena dejanja, ki jih opisuje, in \u017eiva, slikovita govorica, v katerih je napisana. Ko se vse tri prepletejo na najvi\u0161ji ravni, dobimo knjigo, ki ne le da nas osuplja, navdu\u0161uje in nam ne dovoli, da bi jo odlo\u017eili, preden je v enem zamahu ne preberemo do konca, ampak se\u017ee v globino \u017eivljenja, kjer se besede in \u010dlove\u0161ka usoda zlijejo v neizrekljivo skrivnost na\u0161ega obstoja.\u00a0Alpinist<\/em> Silva Kara ni samo pripoved o vrhunskih, tako reko\u010d najodli\u010dnej\u0161ih vzponih iz polpreteklega obdobja svetovnega alpinizma, ki \u0161e vedno neponovljeni izzivajo tudi sodobne plezalce, ampak tudi zelo odkrit \u017eivljenjepis velikega alpinista, ki pa bralca ne osvoji samo kot popis nekega delovanja, temve\u010d se\u017ee \u010dez na\u0161tevanje in opisovanje opravljenih dejanj in se bere kot izvrsten literaren dose\u017eek, ki bralca potegne v vrtinec silovitega dogajanja, ne da bi pri tem osredoto\u010dil samo na veli\u010dino dejanj, ki jih opisuje. To je delo mojstra, ki je tako vrhunski plezalec, kot spreten pisec, ki nas osupne tako z mo\u010dnimi opisi najzahtevnej\u0161ih vzponov, kot z izredno skromnostjo in igrivim, neposrednim na\u010dinom pisanja. Kljub temu, da je \u0161e kako \u017eivo prisoten v vsem, kar se razkriva na straneh njegove knjige, se kot pripovedovalec umakne nekam v ozadje, tu nimamo opraviti z vsiljivim egom, ki bi nas posku\u0161al prepri\u010dati s pridobljenim ugledom v mednarodni srenji, spretno nas posrka v svet gora oziroma \u0161e ve\u010d, v samo \u017eivljenje, polno obratov, jasnih odlo\u010ditev brez pretiranega oklevanja, te\u017eave, na katere naleti, obrne na glavo in jih do\u017eivlja kot prednosti, ki v njem vzbudijo dodaten zagon. Ne razlaga, ampak kot modrec, ki besedam ne posku\u0161a dati posebnega pomena, stvari prika\u017ee naravnost, brez olep\u0161evanja ali prito\u017eevanja. O vzponih in usodnih \u017eivljenjskih obratih pripoveduje z lahkotnostjo, kot da bi opisoval povsem vsakdanje dogodke. Neskon\u010dno tovorjenje plezalne opreme v patagonskih gorah, ko se je s svojimi soplezalci zaradi slabega vremena moral v neznosnih razmerah vedno znova vra\u010dati v dolino, o ve\u010d dnevnih pristopih in te\u017ea\u0161kemu garanju govori, kot da ne gre za ni\u010d posebnega. Tudi o smereh, ki jih je preplezal s soplezalci, ki so ve\u010dinoma vsi svetovno znani alpinisti, elita alpinizma te izredne generacije, ki je slovensko plezanje ne le pribli\u017eala svetovnemu vrhu, ampak ga celo za\u010dela voditi, odpirati nova obzorja, se lotevati zahtevnih smeri, o katerih so lahko drugi plezalci samo sanjali, pripoveduje skorajda tako spotoma. Mnoge izmed najnevarnej\u0161ih in najzahtevnej\u0161ih smeri kljub temu, da so bile preplezane \u017ee pred desetletji, so tudi za sodobne plezalce \u0161e neuresni\u010deni izziv in \u0161e \u010dakajo, da jih bodo ponovili. Silvo Karo se je s prijatelji kot sta Janez Jegli\u010d Johan, Fran\u010dek Knez Fran\u010dek, Pavle Kozjek, Rolando Garibotti, pozneje Andrej Grmov\u0161ek in drugi izoblikoval na vrhuncu klasi\u010dnega alpinizma na ozadju generacije pred sabo izvrstnih alpinistov kot so bili \u0160rauf, Marjon, Krivic, Den, Nejc Zaplotnik, \u0160tremfelj in drugi, nato pa se je do konca nadgradil s \u0161portnim plezanjem, ki je silovito povi\u0161al lestvico te\u017eavnosti in vpeljal zahtevo po trdem in sistemati\u010dnem treningu. Po nekaterih najte\u017ejih vzponih v doma\u010dih stenah se je \u017ee zgodaj odpravil v najvi\u0161ja in najte\u017eja gorstva na svetu. Spominjam se, kako je takrat \u00bbeksplodiral\u00ab alpinisti\u010dni razvoj, skokoma se je pove\u010dalo \u0161tevilo vzponov, ki so jih opravili. \u010ce je prej veljalo za veliko dejanje nekaj izvrstnih vzponov v te\u017ekih stenah v enem letu, pa se je z njihovim vstopom v alpinizem to spremenilo, saj so jih samo v enem vikendu opravili ve\u010d kot vsi drugi skupaj. Pri tem jih tuje stene niso ustavile, nasprotno, smeri, v katere so se najvidnej\u0161i tuji plezalci podajali le s strahoma in neuspe\u0161no, so nasko\u010dili z istim \u017earom, samoumevnim zaletom, pri tem pa so izvrstno pripravljenost in sposobnost plezanja v najslab\u0161ih pogojih \u0161e stopnjevali, ter \u0161e devi\u0161ke stene premagovali, kot da ne bi bilo to, kar po\u010dnejo, onkraj vsake dotedanje razumljivosti. Tako je bilo vsaj njihovo plezanje videti od dale\u010d. S to knjigo smo dobili \u017eiv, pristen in slikovit vpogled v takratne podvige dale\u010d onkraj vsakdanjega sveta. Ne gre le za alpinisti\u010dne vzpone ali notranji pogled plezalca, za katerega je alpinizem postal ve\u010d kot samo neka dejavnost, namre\u010d najgloblja resni\u010dnost njegovega \u017eivljenja, njegovo \u017eivljenje samo. To knjigo je napisal \u010dlovek iz dna svoje najintimnej\u0161e resni\u010dnosti, pri tem pa nikoli ni za\u0161el v vode globokoumnega razlaganja, ampak je s par potezami vedno znal \u0161e tako celovite trenutke in izku\u0161nje popisati s presunljivo skromnostjo, kot da bi govoril o pitju \u010daja ali pripravi \u0161pagetov za skromno kosilo. Knjiga je, kot re\u010deno, delo velikega mojstra, ki se je umaknil v ozadje alpinisti\u010dnega dogajanja. V ospredje so stopila sama dejanja. In kot \u017ee povedano, tu ne gre samo za prikaz osupljivih dose\u017ekov iz najte\u017ejih sten na svetu, ampak za \u017eivo pripoved samo, ki je bila sposobna to mojstrsko tudi literarno izvesti. Pripoved niti za trenutek ne povle\u010de pozornosti nase. Kljub Silvovi skromni pripombi, da je pa\u010d pri pisanju pogosto posegel po robati gorni\u0161ki govorici in izrazju, ki je udoma\u010deno med plezalci, to ne zmoti, ampak celo doda gas, kot pravi za Johana, ki je po cestah z avtom divjal z isto gore\u010dnostjo in brezobzirnostjo, ki ju je gnala tudi v stene. Knjiga Alpinist ni samo izvrstna avtobiografija enega najbolj\u0161ih plezalcev svojega \u010dasa na svetu in njegovih prijateljev, ampak je samostojno \u017eanrsko delo, rekel bi, da je \u0161e ena\u00a0 prvenstvena smer, ki se jo je Silvo lotil in vrhunsko izpeljal. Nekaj posebnega mora biti v slovenskem alpinizmu. Silvo ni niti prvi niti zadnji od vrhunskih slovenskih gornikov, ki so svoje dogodiv\u0161\u010dine uspe\u0161no prelili v besede. Vsekakor pa spada med najbolj\u0161e. Knjiga se bere kot kriminalka. O\u010ditno je alpinizem nekaj, kar presega zgolj najzahtevnej\u0161e tehni\u010dne plezalske sposobnosti, saj v \u010dloveku prebudi globoko modrost, ki z vso mo\u010djo privre na dan pri pisanju knjige. Ko se \u010dlovek v najte\u017ejih pogojih prebija proti vrhu stene ali pa be\u017ei iz nje, se v kruti neposrednosti golega dejanja v \u010dloveku zgane in razgali neka sila, ki na dale\u010d presega samo golo mo\u010d za najzahtevnej\u0161e vzpone. Sila, brez katere ne bi bilo mogo\u010de preplezati opisanih smeri. Alpinizem ni samo telesna dejavnost, ampak nekaj ve\u010d, nekaj sr\u010dnega. Silvu Karu je uspelo, namre\u010d brez posebnega modrovanja to isto silo, to isto globoko \u010dlove\u010dnost priklicati na plan tudi v knjigi. S tem je knjiga prerasla ozek krog alpinisti\u010dnega poro\u010dila v univerzalno \u010dlove\u0161ko sporo\u010dilo in se, kot ji v popotnico zapi\u0161e Fran\u010dek Knez, skozi podobe sten zazrla v devet \u017eivljenj.\u00a0–\u00a0dr. Iztok Osojnik, literarni komparativist.<\/strong><\/p><\/p>\n\n I\u2019ve known many of the great names of British climbing, tied on a rope with quite a few of them, some have become very good friends (Joe Brown. for example, who died earlier this year and who I sorely miss). But the one whose presence, modesty, and forceful quiet genius impressed me most was the Slovenian big-wall climber Silvo Karo, with whom I spent a few weeks at Tapovan in 1995, and who I brought over to Wales to speak at the DMM Mountain Festival in Llandudno in 1997. A signed copy of his just-published autobiography arrived in my postbox this morning. It\u2019s called \u201cRock and Roll on the Wall\u201d. In the scale and rigour of the ascents Silvo describes, the style and often the adverse conditions in which they were done, almost everything else written about climbing (honourable exception to be made for Simon McCartney\u2019s enthralling \u201cThe Bond\u201d, but even Simon\u2019s undertakings are not on the scale, ambition or frequency of those described here) pales into insignificance. Silvo\u2019s a force of nature. His book conveys the pure, unadulterated essence of top-end mountain activity. I stand in awe. Skip the bullshit, start here, and let your jaw drop in the presence of truly phenomenal achievement. – Jim Perrin, writer, climber (UK)<\/strong><\/p><\/p>\n\n In climbing and mountaineering there are so many different disciplines to be found that it\u2019s sometimes difficult to understand that they all fit under one and the same umbrella. Whether it\u2019s bouldering, trekking from one hut to the next one, climbing 4000ers, 6000ers or even 8000ers, collecting 7 summits, speed climbing, going for big walls or trying to scale peaks in winter, pushing the edge on the highest grades, there\u2019s one thing we can all agree upon; we\u2019re all trying to challenge the vertical and enjoy the mountains and the activities we\u2019re engaging in. And yet there\u2019s probably one category that\u2019s most difficult for mere mortals \u2013 like myself \u2013 to wrap your head around. There\u2019s a bunch of supremely gifted climbers who open up and ascend routes at the highest climbing degrees that the scales have on offer, on some of the most beautiful peaks during the most brutal of circumstances. Silvo Karo perfectly fits into this exclusive category. I bumped into Silvo Karo on the streets of Huaraz, Peru in the austral winter of 2000. He was with the Italian Mauro \u201cBubu\u201d Bole. Craig Luebben introduced my group, and we asked Silvo what they\u2019d been up to. He humbly replied, \u201cjust a little climb in the Cordillera.\u201d<\/p>\n\n He and Bole the had just done the first ascent of \u201ca little\u201d\u00a0Cruz del Sur<\/em>, a 2,600-foot 7b on\u00a0La Esfinge\u00a0<\/em>(the Sphinx), a massive granite bubble in the Blanca.<\/p><\/p>\n\n The comment was typical, I\u2019d learn, of one of the world\u2019s greatest alpine wall climbers. He was always humble, always downplaying.<\/p>\n\n He recently released a memoir,\u00a0Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll on the Wall<\/em>, and if humble is our theme, Silvo is the master. It tells the humble story of a kid growing up in a tiny Slovenian village before the end of the Cold War, a humble kid meeting like-minded souls, and a humble approach to the very, very hard climbing that grabbed his attention: extreme walls.<\/p><\/p>\n\n In fact, the extreme nature of both the training and climbing in this book is quite mind-boggling (in the Summer of 1982, Silvo did an amped-up version of the standard Colorado-Wyoming-South Dakota tour with 172 routes climbed in \u201ca little over a month.\u201d These weren\u2019t single-pitch sport routes. These were mostly multi-pitch climbs, routes on the Diamond, Hallet Peak\u2014you get the point). In this book, the 1993 fifth ascent of Wyoming Sheep Ranch is little more than a footnote!<\/p>\n\n New route after new route in his beloved Julian Alps (many of them cycled or run to) are punctuated by climbing trips that seek out the most extreme terrain on earth. Straight out of the gates in 1983 (at age 23), he climbs a new route on Fitzroy, followed by more wild Patagonian routes, including two on Cerro Torre. His description of his and Janez Jegli\u010d\u2019s ascent of the 1200-meter line (\u201cthe Jegli\u010d\u2013Karo\u201d on the south face) is truly the stuff of nightmares. It\u2019s terrifying but highly addictive reading for anyone who\u2019s ever jugged frozen fixed lines on an alpine wall\u2014in Patagonia or wherever. It made me feel physically ill.<\/p>\n\n Their ascent of the 1990 west face of Bhagirathi III is just as soul-throttling, but for Silvo it seems just another run-of-mill \u201cmadmen and masochists\u201d outing. He laughs. I want to hide away from the sight of it.<\/p>\n\n Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll\u00a0<\/em>isn\u2019t just a memoir, it\u2019s also a peek into that period of the 1980s and 1990s when Eastern Europeans were becoming the both the greatest high-altitude alpinists on earth but also the greatest alpine\u00a0wall climbers<\/em>\u00a0on earth. While the Poles were banging out first winter and new-route ascents of the 8,000-meter peaks, other Easterners\u2014particularly the Slovenes\u2014were tearing up both big peaks\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0massive alpine walls. During this period, they did some of the most important climbing ever done on earth. Janez Jegli\u010d, Fran\u010dek Knez, Marko Prezelj, Toma\u017e Humar, and Silvo are household names to anyone who follows alpine climbing (even the famously doubted Tomo \u010cesen shows up).<\/p><\/p>\n\n Of course, Silvo outlasts many of his early partners, but his attachment to Patagonia is reborn decades later with Rolando Garibotti as the pair climb massively long link-ups and variations on huge routes as well as new routes, like Cerro Murall\u00f3n. Solid stuff.<\/p>\n\n But what catches the reader off guard is just how extreme the Slovenes were. Time after time after time, they are jugging torn and frozen ropes that snap from the ice, dodging barrages of stones, and hanging in icy corners by their harnesses\u2014literally beating themselves up to pursue some of the world\u2019s greatest climbing objectives. This story is like reading a prescription for suicide. You expect death at any second, but somehow Silvo and his wildly talented partners daintily dance between the bullets in some of the most dangerous places on earth.<\/p>\n\n What I loved most about this book is the unforced humility. Silvo took up climbing with his friends, got good, explored his world, then he just kept on going. And he looks back at as one great adventure, which is the best way to look back at any climbing life, including one of the most impressive the world has ever seen. – Cameron M. Burns<\/strong><\/p><\/p>\n\n I have been waiting for\u00a0Silvo\u00a0to write this book for\u00a0a long time. I was afraid he would not embark on the difficult task to share with a wide audience what not everyone can truly grasp.\u00a0Silvo\u00a0and his partners have forged a legendary partnership that resulted in some of the most impressive Alpine walls ever climbed. We can only be grateful to read his stories. The man\u00a0has\u00a0seen it all.\u00a0–\u00a0Korra Pesce, Alpinist<\/strong><\/p><\/p>\n\n Kennt ihr den \u201eheimlichen Mr. Cerro Torre?\u201c \u2013 eine Rezension des Buches \u201eRock n Roll on the Wall\u201c<\/p>\n\n Drei Erstbegehungen an diesem f\u00fcr den Alpinismus so wichtigen Berg. 3 Routen, die jede einzelne f\u00fcr sich, wenn nicht zu den gr\u00f6\u00dften Kletterrouten aller Zeiten, zumindest jeweils als Alpine Meilensteine gesehen werden. Die Ostwand des Cerro Torres noch im alten Expeditionsstil, die wilde, riesige und \u00fcberh\u00e4ngende S-Wand im puren Stil einer zweier Seilschaft und dann die Route \u201eSlowenian Sit start\u201c, die fast die doppelte L\u00e4nge des ohnehin schon mit 31 SL nicht gerade kurzen Ultraklassikers der SO Pfeilers von Cesare Maestre, im reinen Alpin Stil\u2026..<\/p>\n\n In seinem vor kurzem auf Englisch erschienen Buch \u201eRock n Roll on the Wall\u201c beschreibt Silvo Karo detailgetreu die wilden Abenteuer in einem noch spartanischen Patagonien, ohne Wetterbericht und Tr\u00e4ger, daf\u00fcr mit monatelangem Warten und vielen wilden R\u00fcckz\u00fcgen aus den diversen Routen. Nicht zu vergessen nat\u00fcrlich die Route der Slowenen \u201eDevils Dihedral\u201c am Casarottopfeiler aka Pillier Goretta des Fitz Roy, welche 1983 die erste Route der \u201eDrei Musketiere\u201c in Patagonien darstellte. Leider sind Francek Knes und Janez Jeglic aka Johan mittlerweile umgekommen.<\/p>\n\n F\u00fcr mich sehr interessant ist auch die Schilderung des Werdeganges des Weltklasse Alpinisten und Kletterers Silvo Karo. Von den ersten Klettertouren in seinen Heimatbergen, den Julischen Alpen, \u00fcber viele Klettertrips ins Velebit (Paclenika) und schlie\u00dflich in die gro\u00dfe Welt der Berge. Karo erlaubt auch einen Blick hinter die Kulissen und schildert detailgetreu die M\u00fchen des Trainings mit seinen Freunden sowie die Finanzierung der einzelnen Expeditionen.<\/p>\n\n Au\u00dferordentlich ist sicher das gro\u00dfe Abenteuer am Bhagirahi III mit Johann und der unmittelbar nachfolgenden Expedition zum Mt. Everest Westgrat.<\/p>\n\n F\u00fcr Alpinhistoriker interessante Erlebnisse beschreibt der Autor im Kapitel \u201eCalifornia\u201c, wo es um gemeinsame Touren und Anekdoten mit dem legend\u00e4ren Jim Bridwell in Kalifornien geht.<\/p>\n\n Viele weitere Klettertouren unternahm Silvo Karo auch mit dem legend\u00e4ren Rollo Garibotti an den wilden sturmumtosten T\u00fcrmen der Fitz Roy Gruppe. Etwa eine Begehung einer Route am Poincenot und viele andere.<\/p>\n\n Auch die Welt der gro\u00dfen Himalajaberge sind f\u00fcr Silvo Karo keine Unbekannten. So war er Teilnehmer an einer gro\u00dfen slowenischen Expedition zum Yalung Kang (Kantsch) in deren Zuge ein gewissen Tomo Cesen m i t Sauerstoff den Gipfel erreichte und wie vorhin schon erw\u00e4hnt einer Expedition zum Mt. Everest.<\/p>\n\n \u201eThe older the crazier\u201c ein Kapitel, in dem sich so manche Kletterer der alten Schule wiederfinden k\u00f6nnen. \u2013 Wenn auch nicht in derselben Liga wie Silvo Karo. Bei so mancher meiner kleinen Abenteuer in meiner pers\u00f6nlichen Felsheimat des Dachstein k\u00f6nnte der Titel nicht treffender sein. F\u00fcr den Autor allerdings geht es dabei um solche \u201eKleinigkeiten\u201c wie die Route \u201eEternal Flame\u201c am Trango Tower im Karakorum. Noch mit 45 Jahren gelang ihm dabei die erste Begehung dieses Ultraklassikers an einem Tag. Immerhin bis zum Grad IX in 6000 m H\u00f6he\u2026\u2026.<\/p>\n\n Nachvollziehen kann ich auch das gro\u00dfe Abenteuer Cerro Murallon in Patagonien, wo nicht mehr die Kletterschwierigkeiten, sondern das gesamt Abenteuer im Vordergrund stehen. Wobei auch bemerkenswert ist, dass in der N\u00e4he der Uppsala H\u00fctte f\u00fcr Silvo Karo der sch\u00f6nste Platz Patagoniens liegt\u2026..<\/p>\n\n Besonders ber\u00fchrend empfinde ich das letzte Kapitel \u201eDescent\u201c wo Silvo Karo mit den \u201eJungen Wilden\u201c Sloweniens, 20 Jahre nach seiner Erstbegehung am Bhagirathi III mit Johann, einen Versuch an der \u201eSharks fin\u201c am Meru machte. Eindringlich schildert er, wie ihm sein \u201eSchutzengel\u201c zufl\u00fcstert: \u201ees ist genug\u201c. – Walter Laserer, alpinist<\/strong><\/p><\/p>\n\n Silvo’s book Rock ‘n’ Roll on the wall and especially its English translation was long-awaited. Slovenian alpinism and especially the striking lines climbed by Silvo and partners around the world are a huge source of motivation for me. I expected the book to be a nice collection of trip reports and very directly written. IT IS SO MUCH MORE, as you really get an insight into the restless personality of Silvo. There is not a single ascent done without learning from the previous. Surely he is restless and driven by the beauty of the mountains but furthermore, he strives for perfection. His climbing style is a constant evolution and gets purer and purer, minimizing the safety margin to a bare minimum but always calculated enough to push it through. This self-reflection and the way how he reaches his goals is what makes the book so rich and amazing! – Fabian Bull, alpinist<\/strong><\/p><\/p>\n\n V knjigi ni lirskih izlivov, ni visoke filozofije, ni iz\u017eivljanja s podrobnimi opisi nad\u010dlove\u0161ko te\u017ekih detajlov, hkrati je pripoved zelo teko\u010da in berljiva. Ko jo preberemo, je, kot da smo prebrali kak realisti\u010den roman, v katerem je zajeto bistvo neke dru\u017ebe in neke dobe. – dr. Tomo Virk, literarni zgodovinar in teoretik<\/strong><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Reviews and Responses Dobro gorni\u0161ko, alpinisti\u010dno literaturo odlikujejo tri stvari: Dobra zgodba, velika, prese\u017ena dejanja, ki jih opisuje, in \u017eiva, slikovita govorica, v katerih je napisana. Ko se vse tri prepletejo na najvi\u0161ji ravni, dobimo knjigo, ki ne le da nas osuplja, navdu\u0161uje in nam ne dovoli, da bi jo odlo\u017eili, preden je v enem […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1547","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n
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