Franček Knez

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Franček "Franc" Knez (born July 15, 1955 in Celje ; † October 6, 2017 ) was a Slovenian mountaineer .

biography

Knez began climbing in 1973 and made almost 800 first ascents and almost 5500 routes in the Alps , the Himalayas , Patagonia , Yosemite and the Andes . He is one of only a few climbers who manage first ascent routes on all "three problems of the Alps" ( Eiger , Matterhorn , Grandes Jorasses ) and the development of new climbing routes up to the level of difficulty "IX-" according to UIAA .

In his native Slovenia alone, hundreds of first ascents and routes are on his account, including 34 routes through the north face of Triglav , the highest mountain in the country. Other national highlights include the nocturnal ascent of the north face of the Špik , the first winter ascent of the Modec-Režek route (V +) on the Štajerska Rinka , the most difficult frozen waterfalls in the Logar valley and the ascent of the Ledenka , a route with the highest degree of difficulty in ice climbing ( M7).

His performance in speed climbing should not be underestimated either . In 1979 he made 3rd place at the speed climbing world championships in Yalta and in 1982 was able to book the fastest ascent of the north face of the Eiger ; he had reached the summit in around six hours and single-handedly via a new free climbing route ( Knez route ) in the western part of the wall. In 1983 he climbed the Bonatti pillar on the Petit Dru in just two hours. The first ascent, Walter Bonatti , needed a full six days for it in 1955. In 1977 he climbed the north face of the Grandes Jorasses , the Shroud route on the same north face, the American Direttissima on the west face of the Petit Dru and the north face of the Grands Charmoz in just ten days .

In 1978 he was able to repeat the American route on Huascarán in the Andes. In 1979 he was a participant in a Yugoslav expedition to Mount Everest , where the first ascent of the entire western ridge was successful. However, Knez himself was not part of the subsequent summit team. In 1981 he took part in another Yugoslavian expedition to Lhotse , where the 8000 mark on the south face was reached and exceeded for the first time (approx. 8200 m). Due to bad weather, however, there was no subsequent summit victory.

In 1982 he achieved a summit victory on Chopicalqui , Chakrarahu and Pisco in the Andes via new routes . In 1983 he also reached the legendary El Capitan in Yosemite via a first-time route . In the same year he was able to reach the summit of Fitz Roy in the Andes via a new route ( Devil's Dihedral ) on the Goretta pillar . Also in 1983 he succeeded with the Three Musketeers Route , a new ascent to the Matterhorn .

In 1984 it reached a height of around 7,700 m on Cho Oyu in the Himalayas and in 1985 climbed over the north face to the Kangchenjunga western summit in the Himalayas. In 1985 he also managed to develop a new, direct route in the left-hand part of the Eiger north face ( Slovenes route or Fortuna route ).

His greatest international successes also include;

  • January 1986: New route through the Direttissima on the east side of Cerro Torre ( Hudičeva Direttissima or Peklenska-Direttissima )
  • December 1986: New route ( Psycho-Vertical-Route ) on the southeast side of the Torre Egger .
  • 1986: New route ( Gray-Yellow-Arrow-Route ) on the north face of Cerro El Mocho in Chile.
  • 1987: New route ( Slovenes route ) on the southeast face of the Trango Tower .
  • 1988: Two new routes on the Garhwal Himalaya in India.
  • 1989: New route ( Rolling Stones route ) on Bagirathi II in India

He climbed most of his routes with Silvo Karo and Janez Jeglič. For his numerous successes he was awarded the Medalja zaslug za narod (Merits to Yugoslavia) and the Bloudkova nagrada (highest national recognition of the Republic of Slovenia for achievements in sport) in 1984. In 2010 he received one of the highest orders of merit in the country from the hands of the Slovenian President Danilo Türk .

In 2009 his book Ožarjeni came out .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Slovo: Franc Knez - Franček (July 15, 1955 - October 6, 2017). Slovenski planinski muzej, accessed on October 27, 2017 (Slovenian).
personal data
SURNAME Knez, Franček
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Knez, Franc
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Yugoslav-Slovenian mountaineer
DATE OF BIRTH July 15, 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Celje
DATE OF DEATH October 6, 2017