Mount Everest ski descent broadcast on Internet

LJUBLJANA - A 38-year-old Slovenian became the first person to ski non-stop down the world's highest mountain, Mt Everest, on Sunday.

"I feel only absolute happiness and absolute fatigue," Davo Karnicar said by satellite phone after the descent from the 8850m peak.

He said some 4km of skiing on his custom-made skis took him nearly five hours and went without any major problems.

"At some sections I had to ski very fast to escape from the breaking ice," the exhausted ski instructor said at the base camp at 5340m.

Karnicar said that during his descent he came across the frozen body of a dead climber whose identity was not known.

"This mountain is always full of surprises, seeing a dead man out there was a really shocking experience for me."

The father of three has already skied down Mont Blanc and Annapurna in the Himalayas, but lost two fingers to frostbite when skiing down Everest in a failed attempt in 1996. "Extreme skiing is my sport, my thinking and life itself," he said.

His descent was captured on video by cameras set up along the way and on his helmet and was broadcast on the internet.

- REUTERS

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