Heinz Leger

he Rätikon used to be a smuggling trail for blackeners, but today it has become the arena for exceptional alpine climbers. The Austrian extreme sports climber Beat Kammerlander faces his last big challenge, as he says. It is the ascent of the 'battle zone' - here the name says it all. Right next to it Nina Caprez and Barbara Zangerl try their hand at the 'Infinite History. A tough and difficult route that demands everything from the two professional climbers.

'The Triglav is not a mountain, Triglav is a kingdom.' This expression of ultimate respect by Julius Kugy mountaineer, humanist and writer reflects the uniqueness of Slovenia’s highest mountain. The north face is a monster: more than 1,500 meters of sheer rock. In one of the highest north faces of the Eastern Alps the two renowned alpinists Marko Prezelj and Hanspeter Eisendle have picked a challenging route on the Sphinx – a rock formation on the very top of this breathtaking face. From the very top they have an unlimited view on this hotspot of biodiversity full of fascinating wildlife and meadows exploding in colors.

Every year, over a thousand climbers try to reach the summit of Mount Everest, with the annual record for successful attempts currently standing at 633. But of that number, nearly half were Sherpas - the mountain's unsung heroes. Yet the Sherpa community has remained secretive about their nation, culture and experiences living in the shadow of the world's highest mountain. Now, for the first time, they open the door into their world. Adapted version for the BBC of the original Austrian documentary 'Die Suche der Sherpas'.

Sherpas are the real heroes of high altitude mountaineering. To the early explorers of the Himalayan region they were immeasurably valuable. Without their skills as guides, their hardiness and endurance as porters even the most modern mountain expeditions would not have been possible. But to this day the achievements of the Sherpas have not found their way into the alpine history books. The blue-chip documentary 'The Sherpas' Quest' shows where these people come from and reveals the real importance of the Sherpas for the international climbing and mountaineering community.