UMCA Talk 2 | The History of Slovenian Mountaineering: Alpine Warriors

Bernadette McDonald is the world's foremost mountaineering biographer, transforming raw climbing records into human-centred narratives and elevating the spirit of alpinism into art. A two-time winner of the UK's Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature and a recipient of the American Alpine Club's H. Adams Carter Literary Award, its highest literary honour, she holds a singular authority within the field of mountain literature. She is especially accomplished at reconstructing, in full dimension, the lives of legendary climbers such as Voytek Kurtyka and Tomaž Humar, as well as those of the Sherpas long obscured by history. Reaching beyond the mere record of sporting achievement to probe the depths of human will and inner struggle, she is credited with opening a new horizon for the mountain biography.

Mountaineering virtuoso Silvo Karo (Slovenia) began his mountain journey in 1977. During his illustrious sporting career, he has actively helped shape modern alpinism. He completed numerous successful expeditions in the mountains of Patagonia, completing many routes and achieving numerous first ascents. Silvo’s essay on the granite Patagonian giants was included in the book Voices from the Summit, which was published by National Geographic in 2000. 

Silvo Karo soon revealed yet another talent in the steep walls – an amazing eye for imagery. In 1987, he took a 16mm Bolex camera to the South face of Cerro Torre, where he shot a film that received Trento’s prestigious Silver Gentian for the best mountaineering film. As a cameraman, he contributed to the making of Gore in Ljudje, a TV programme on Slovenian national television. As the founding father and director of the Festival gorniškega filma, he has enriched his mountaineering career through culture. He has been a member of prominent juries at various international mountain film festivals. He has given talks and presentations on nearly every continent. Silvo is an honorary member of the British Alpine Club, and his contribution to global and Slovenian mountaineering is also highly valued in Slovenia.He is also a photographer and writer. In 2018, his autobiographical book Alpinist was published and has already been translated into six languages.​ 

A journalist for the monthly magazine San. He writes about the many kinds of people who climb, from Korea's leading high-altitude mountaineers to children just setting out on the trail.