Klemen Premrl
Klemen Premrl (Slovenia) first tied to a climbing rope at the age of twelve. Two years later he was already the youngest climber in Slovenia manage to climb 7c. By the age of fifteen he climbed several routes in Julian Alps and Italian Dolomites, both in winter and summer conditions. Soon, Klemen found ice climbing as the most joyful art of climbing, and from that moment on he is crazy about it.
At the start, he climbed some of the hardest ice falls in Slovenia, later on, he climbed many hard ice lines in Italy, Austria, France. In 1997 he went to Canada, searching for some hard ice. On that climbing trip, he climbed Riptide WI 7, which was the hardest ice climb done by Slovenian climbers.
After some intense seasons of modern mix climbing and competition climbing, Klemen focused on longer ice, mixed and alpine routes. Now, adventure is objective… Part of that adventure is not to follow trends, but to be a trendsetter. Last few seasons, Klemen travelled to Canada and Norway many times, climbing hard lines and putting up new routes beyond arctic circle, Lofoten islands and famous Canadian rockies. On his latest adventure in Canada, BC, Klemen made an outstanding performance in Helmcken falls. He did a first free ascent of a new project, Wolverine, WI 11, which is the hardest ice climb ever done. Then he carried out a first flash ascent of famous Spray on, WI 10, in which he connected second, third and fourth pitch in a massive endurance fest. After that, Tim Emmett and Klemen Premrl climbed to the top of the Helmcken falls for the first time, by a new route Spray on…Top, WI 10, M9+ 240 m, which is the most epic and probably the hardest ice / mixed route in the world. Those climbing achievement made PlanetMountain stated: “ Highly talented Klemen Premrl, currently the only person to have climbed both WI 11 and WI 7+ ice!
