Remembering Tomaz

As most of you know doubt know by now, Tomaz Humer's body was recovered from Langtang Lirung this past weekend, after days of search and rescue operations. The Slovenian climber was on the 23,711 foot mountain making a solo attempt when he fell last Monday, breaking ribs, his legs, and back. Tomaz made a call from the mountain asking for help, and rescue teams responded as quickly as they could, but it took several days to fix lines up to his last known position and bad weather made it difficult to coordinate efforts. In the end, it was too late, and the climber's body was located, and brought down on Saturday, by pilot Robert Andenmatten and mountaineer Simon Anthamatten.

Today, several prominent outdoor websites have put up posts remembering Tomaz, who has been seen as both a brash and reckless climber and a bold and dedicated mountaineer who did big things on big mountains. ExWeb posted their own tribute to the man, pulling no punches in looking at his life in the mountains that was, at times, as controversial as it was ground breaking.

Not to be outdone, Outside Online also has a nice repost of an interview they conducted with Tomaz back in 2002 in which he takes author Peter Maass rocking climbing in his native Slovenia, while sharing his philosophies on climbing in general and the sacrifices one makes to reach your goals in the mountains. It is a very interesting, and long, read, but well worth your time to really get some insights on Humer and his drive to excel in the Himalaya.

The mountaineering community will continue to mourn the loss of another great climber, and my thoughts remain with his friends and family today.