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The "Bulgarian" Everest

Tomorrow, April 22nd, is the 20th anniversary from the death of the Bulgarian climber, Hristo Prodanov, who lost his life in 1984 on top of the world. Hristo left for us all the peaks he climbed plus a very important book and two diaries. The first one follows his first steps in mountain climbing, from 1958 up to 1962. The second one has been filled in ?in motion?, during the 1984 Bulgarian Expedition to Mount Everest. It started on February 10th, 1984, the day the group left for the Himalayas, by the following words: ?For the second time I have the chance to write the most important things in my life while moving towards Everest ? my true dream?. For that dream of his, another eminent Bulgarian climber, Lyudmil Yankov (who died while climbing the Rila Mountain, Bulgaria, 1988) wrote: ? There is no death on Everest ? only merging with your dream??

The current expedition ?Everest 2004? that left for Everest celebrates the 20th anniversary of the first Bulgarian expedition to the top of the world. As it is widely known, in 1984 five Bulgarian climbers stepped on Everest: first Hristo Prodanov, then followed by Metodi Savov, Ivan Vultchev, Kiril Dosskov and Nikolay Petkov, going up the Slovenian route. It was technically extremely difficult, and only the Slovenians managed to go that way earlier, in 1979. Hristo Prodanov managed to do the earliest climbing in the pre-monsoon season ? on April 20th, thus becoming the 13th man in the world stepping on Everest without any oxygen mask. The other four managed to do a full coverage of the peak, climbing up the Western Ridge, and then going down the so-called Classical Route (the Nepal direction). The Everest 2004 Expedition is dedicated to all Bulgarian climbers who are no longer alive, but had devoted their lives to mountains and climbing and carried the dream of the ?Bulgarian? Everest in their hearts?.