After the Second World War a period of relative calm began in Josip Broz Tito's Yugoslavia. During the next thirty years citizens could travel freely if they had the money. Most did not, but alpinists did. Through elaborate training regimes and state-supported expeditions abroad, Yugoslavian alpinists began making impressive climbs in the Himalaya as early as 1960. By the '70s, they were ascending the 8000ers. These teams were dominated by Slovenian climbers, since their region includes the Julian Alps, a fiercely steep range of limestone peaks that provided the ideal training ground. After Tito died in 1980, however, the calm ended. Inter-ethnic conflict and economic decline ripped Yugoslavia apart. But Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic misread the courage and character of several Yugoslavian states, including Slovenia, and by 1991 Slovenia was independent. The new country continued its support for climbers, and success bred success. By 1995, all of the 8000ers had been climbed by Slovenian teams. And in the next ten years, some of the most dramatic and futuristic climbs were made by these ferocious alpinists. Apart from a few superstars, most of these amazing athletes remain unknown in the West. Alpine Warriors is a highly readable, intense and exciting look at the explosion of Slovenian alpinism in the context of that country's turbulent political history, from internationally renowned moutain historian Bernadette McDonald.
Alpine warriors recopila la historia de los escaladores de la antigua Yugoslavia, los desconocidos alpinistas que, tras la Segunda Guerra Mundial, a través de planes de entrenamiento elaborados y con el patrocinio del Gobierno comenzaron a realizar expediciones fuera del país.
Los alpinistas yugoslavos empezaron a hacer ascensiones en el Himalaya durante la década de los 60, y en los años 70, lograron subir ochomiles en equipos liderados por escaladores eslovenos, entrenados en los Alpes julianos.
Con esta publicación, la escritora estadounidense Bernadette McDonald, ha conseguido el Premio Literario de Montaña Banff en la categoría Historia del Montañismo.
