20.500.12556/RUL-176674 Chasing the Himalayan train Yugoslav ascents of eight-thousanders (1975–1995) In 1960, when Yugoslavian exploration of the Himalayas began, Aleš Kunaver – the leading visionary of Yugoslav Himalayanism – famously wrote: “If you want to catch a moving train, you have to outrun it!” At that time, the global race for the world’s highest peaks was already over. But in just fifteen years, the Yugoslav climbers not only caught up—they became the locomotive and transformed their country into a mountaineering superpower. Since the mid-1980s, Yugoslav alpinism has been among the world’s elite. Their ascent culminated in 1975 with the extraordinary ascent of the Makalu South Face and continued in 1979 with the ground-breaking ascent of the Everest West Ridge. By 1995, the Yugoslavian mountaineers had climbed all 14 eight-thousanders. This article traces the development of alpinism in socialist Yugoslavia and examines the unique characteristics of its physical culture and sport system. It argues that state-sponsored structures, ideology and mass mobilisation were key to the explosive growth of climbing after the Second World War. The article also examines how mountaineering functioned as an instrument of soft power, symbolising national strength, identity and ambition during the Cold War era. climbing Yugoslavia eight-thousanders Mount Everest Slovenia plezanje Jugoslavija osemtisočaki Everest Slovenija true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Članek v reviji 2025-12-08 14:39:45 2025-12-08 14:39:56 2026-03-18 04:52:39 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2025 0 0 Str. 956-975 Vol. 42 no. 9 Jun. 2025 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 2025-06-01 796.52=163.6(235.243)"1960/1995" 0952-3367 10.1080/09523367.2025.2516634 258047235 RAZ_Miksa_Peter_2025.pdf RAZ_Miksa_Peter_2025.pdf 1 DA9655C1BF6A3C8548BE46ECF248CBF2 f6dcbd8b68873f7565e96979ca92c56934a26092b07ddba8eb4fd08efc0cf728 548bfba6-21f5-11f1-b0ab-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=230683 https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/fhsp20/42/9 0 0ec1301b-21f5-11f1-b0ab-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=230682 Filozofska fakulteta 0 0 0