Andrej Štremfelj: Crystals of Happiness

Andrej Štremfelj has just celebrated the 50^th anniversary of his endeavours in alpinism and the 30^th anniversary of the Piolet d’Or which he’d won together with Marko Prezelj. To mark the occasion, he wrote a book called Kristali sreče (Crystals of happiness). Andrej, who was the first Slovenian to reach the summit of Everest (together with Nejc Zaplotnik), is the only alpinist to be awarded both a Piolet d’Or for the best climb of the year and a Lifetime Achievement Piolet d’Or. His book is more than just a chronicle of his climbs; it’s full of sensitive descriptions of accompanying events, fears, and reflections about the deaths of too many friends. It offers a unique insight into the culture and atmosphere of Slovenian alpinism in the 1970s and the first half of the 1980s, allowing us to better understand this important period in the history of Slovenian climbing.