ZAGREB, 5 Aug (Hina) - The new book by Croatian mountaineer and travel writer Stipe Božić, "Tri drame na Everestu" ("Three Dramas on Everest" in an unofficial translation), in which the author recounts three expeditions to the world’s highest peak and the tragedies that marked them, has been published by VBZ.

Božić, one of the few mountaineers to have climbed Everest via three different ridges - the western, southern, and northern - reconstructs the key moments of his expeditions in the book and reflects on the losses of those who accompanied him.

His first ascent took place in 1979 as a member of a Slovenian expedition via the western ridge, an exceptionally demanding climbing route that has only been repeated once since. During the descent, Sherpa Ang Phu tragically lost his life.

Ten years later, Božić summited via the southern ridge with a Macedonian expedition, but the climb was overshadowed by the death of Macedonian mountaineer Dimitar Ilievski.

During his third expedition in 1996, which he joined as a cameraman, Everest was struck by a powerful storm that claimed the lives of eight climbers.

Among the many peaks Božić, born in 1951 in Vrgorac, has conquered are the three highest in the world: Mount Everest, which he summited in 1979 and again in 1989, Kanchenjunga in 1991, and K2 in 1993. He is a member of the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service, a long-time collaborator with Croatian Radiotelevision, and the author of numerous documentary films and books.