Slovenian
ski instructor, born October 26,
1962, at Zgornje Jezerko,
Slovenia. On October 7,
2000, he became the first person ever to ski
nonstop down the steep slopes of
Mount Everest. This is considered the first full
top to
bottom ski
descent of Everest.
His first attempt to ski the slopes of Everest, in 1996, was thwarted by a snowstorm. This time, after a night summit with Franc Oderlap and Sherpas Ang Dorjee and Pasang Tenzing (arriving at the summit about 7:07 local time, to take advantage of lighter wind conditions to ski in), it took Karnicar five hours to ski from Everest's 29,035 foot summit to its base camp, which is at 17,500 feet. He took only a few breaks and never removed his skis. Karnicar had a camera attached on his helmet, capturing images of his descent down the slopes of Everest. Video can be seen at his expedition Web site: http://www.everest.simobil.si
Member of the Yugoslav alpine ski team between 1975 and 1982. An alpine climber since 1980, he has completed over 1,200 alpine climbs and ski descents, including the Eiger, the Matterhorn, and Annapurna.