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Julian Alps > Triglav > Tone Pogacnik - A ski flight into Triglav north wall
Tone Pogacnik - A ski flight into Triglav north wall
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Tone Pogacnik - A ski flight into Triglav north wall Featured on the Front Page

Page Type: Article

Activities: Skiing

 

Page By: Vid Pogachnik

Created/Edited: Jan 25, 2009 / Jan 28, 2009

Object ID: 483308

Hits: 1525 

Page Score: 90.36% - 37 Votes 

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Tone Pogacnik - A ski flight into Triglav north wall

 
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The place where Tone went with skis over the north face of Triglav is on the left side of this picture - where you can see a plateau-like structure above the wall. But due to huge dimensions of this wall details are not seen. 100 meters is just 1/10 of the wall altitude on that place. (Thanks Borut for this picture!)

In January 2009 Tone Pogačnik celebrated his 90th birthday. When a group of visitors came on his home to congratulate him - he was not there. "Went skiing with his grand son", the neighbours said.

Who is Tone Pogačnik? The Slovenian community knows him as a true sportsman. But his most incredible adventure was below Triglav, the highest mountain of Julian Alps. It was April 26th, 1946. Just a year after the World War II. Tone was in the national ski team and at that time they had preparations on Kredarica, below Triglav. No ski lift at that time, though. His teammates already left, he did one more downhill. Let's listen to his story: "I was the last one. The glacier was in fog, and I also did not know the terrain well. I got the speed too fast, so I started to slow down in a long turn - towards a dark part which I thought was a rock structure. Then I found myself in the air. I was falling in a ski-jumping position and was thinking that I will die young. But I fell on a snow field between rocky pillars, the snow was soft and with skis and the whole lower part of my body I got stuck in the snow. No injury at all, only after some time I got cold, because I was wearing only a shirt."

What happened? In the fog Tone approached the edge of the 1000 meters, almost vertical north wall of Triglav and went over it. His flight was 96 meters high and he landed on the only patch of snow in that part of the wall. At that time on Kredarica some climbers and mountain rescuers were too, so when Tone was missed, they went on the edge of the huge wall. They helped him out, completely healthy, only cold. Next day he descended in the valley himself. This adventure is so incredible that it was together with a good dozen of other unbelievable survivals included in Saint-Loup's book: La Montagne N'a Pas Voulu (The Mountain Did Not Want), 1949.

In 1948 Tone competed on St. Moritz Olympic games. With the other three guys he won the team's 9th place. Today he is commenting the event: "All four of us were from the same village - from Kurja vas. While, strangely, today the whole Slovenia does not have a team of four boys to compete for the country."

Long live, Tone!

External Links

http://www.gore-ljudje.net/novosti/41991/

Images



Comments

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Viewing: 1-12 of 12

Lukas KunzeAmazing story!

Voted 10/10

After such a stunt you have no chances at gambling anymore! Nice reading, thanks for sharing!
Cheers Lukas
Posted Jan 28, 2009 11:26 am

Vid PogachnikRe: Amazing story!

Hasn't voted

Yes Lukas. Well, he was simply young, unexperienced, not a good skier, not knowing the mountain - and lucky. Very lucky.
Cheers, Vid
Posted Jan 28, 2009 2:05 pm

Borut KantušerNice story!

Hasn't voted

Hello Vid!
As usual, there are versions of this famous story (which makes it a good one).
Igor Kantušer (in the team and on the spot at the time) also recalled the event.
Cheers,
and thanks for using the Triglav N face image!
Borut
Posted Jan 29, 2009 4:36 am

Vid PogachnikRe: Nice story!

Hasn't voted

Thanks Borut, for your comment! I wrote the story down as I remember reading it in the book (in my Gimnasium times...) and as it was shortly described on the web recently. If there's something essentially different, please let me know.

Cheers!
Vid
Posted Jan 29, 2009 10:24 am

Borut KantušerRe: Nice story!

Hasn't voted

One funny detail was that he was sitting at the hut terrace as the colleagues arrived with the bad news.
EDIT: Or did I hear that in a pub myself?
Posted Jan 29, 2009 10:34 am

Vid PogachnikRe: Nice story!

Hasn't voted

That would be a funny one, ha, ha.
Posted Jan 29, 2009 2:23 pm

vvujisicLiving Legend!

Voted 10/10

Tone is really a Living Legend!
Incredible story!
Posted Feb 1, 2009 11:02 am

Vid PogachnikRe: Living Legend!

Hasn't voted

Yes Vlado. These kinds are now rarely born :)
Posted Feb 4, 2009 3:07 pm

Moonhiker:)

Voted 10/10

Homo universalis!
Posted Feb 1, 2009 7:55 pm

Vid PogachnikRe: :)

Hasn't voted

Well, that's how once sport was. On foot 1500 meters uphill, there some walking up, skiing down... These ski runners just needed to be on fresh air to prepare for olympics, if I exaggerate a bit. No sports medicine, psychology, no drugs, just enthusiasm. What is great is, that today he's 90 and still skiing. I hope that at least some of today's top sportsmen will do it as well.
Posted Feb 4, 2009 3:12 pm

AConnelllegend

Hasn't voted

HI hows it gone i can't find any of ma pics? al out
Posted Feb 4, 2009 1:14 pm

Vid PogachnikRe: legend

Hasn't voted

???
Posted Feb 4, 2009 3:06 pm

Viewing: 1-12 of 12


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