With its peak buffeted by the jet stream, Mt. Everest could well be on a different planet. For much of the 20th century, it remained the ultimate mountaineering challenge, until Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay finally conquered it in 1953. Just 26 years later, the first Yugoslav team, consisting mostly of Slovenians, made it to the top of the world’s highest mountain.

The idea for a Yugoslav expedition first emerged in the early 1970s. After years of preparations, a 25-member team – mostly Slovenian but with some representatives of Yugoslavia’s other republics – was selected for the ambitious mission. The crew was composed some of the leading names in Yugoslav mountain climbing, as well as journalists, a radio crew, and even an artist. Tone Škarja, a veteran of some of the world’s most challenging ascents, was chosen to head the team.

The goal of the Yugoslav expedition was not just to make it to the top of Mt. Everest, but also to pioneer the new route in the process. The team decided to attempt a particularly challenging ascent that would take them along the Western Ridge. If successful, they would pioneer the Yugoslav Route to the world’s highest peak. An exploratory team had determined that the new ascent was feasible, but no one could know for sure until it was actually attempted.

In the spring of 1979, the expedition got underway. On May 13, after three months in the Himalaya, Nejc Zaplotnik and Andrej Štremfelj became the first Slovenians to reach the summit of Mt. Everest and plant the Yugoslav flag on the legendary peak. They had reached the top using the challenging Yugoslav Route, and two days later, they were followed by Stane Belak, another Slovenian, as well as Stipe Božić of Croatia, and Sherpa Ang Phu.

Bad weather complicated the descent, and Ang Phu was killed when he fell down a rock face. All other members of the expedition made it to safety, however, and the Yugoslav Route became a well-known Mt. Everest ascent. Now frequently known as the Slovenian Route, it still ranks as one of the most difficult routes on Mt. Everest.

Just four years later, Nejc Zaplotnik was killed by an avalanche while climbing in the Himalaya. Štremfelj has become a prominent critic of the commercialization of Mt. Everest. He complains that many climbers are essentially high-altitude tourists who follow the easiest route to the top instead of trying to contribute to mountaineering by pioneering new ascents. The experience of the modern-day climbers is certainly very different from the uncertainty Štremfelj and the Yugoslav team faced more than 35 years ago.