On which projects did you work together?
Unfortunately, we have never been in the Himalayas together. But in 2001, he helped us organize the Cho Oyu expedition. Otherwise, we often met in the Slovenian mountains and a few times in Nepal, but on those occasions we each took our own route.

Do you think he was taking too many risks in the mountains?
No, quite the contrary. He was the kind of a climber, who took on his exploits in a very rational manner. He was a sort of a good spirit to Davo Karničar. Davo was very extreme in his actions and desires, but he found certain safety and reliability in Oderlap. Unfortunately, falling pieces of ice are not choosy. As a matter of fact, there are a certain amount of objective risks in Alpine climbing, so, no matter how rational and experienced a person is, some risks simply cannot be avoided.

What was Oderlap’s greatest contribution to Karničar’s team?
In addition to the composure and reliability I mentioned earlier, he was extremely tolerant. I don’t remember ever seeing him upset. He had a very positive influence on the team, which is sometimes of crucial importance for success.

What were the greatest achievements of his Alpine career?
Undoubtedly the ascent to Mt. Everest with Karničar as well as his conquering of the highest peaks of the continents. He was the first Slovene to reach those peaks, including both options in Australasia, i.e. Mount Kosciuszko in Australia and Puncak Jayo in Indonesia. As the first Slovene to do so, he took on both of them, although only one of them would be enough to win that challenge. I should also mention the ascent to Cho Oyu as one of the eight-thousanders. Much more would have been said or written about Oderlap had he been able to continue his career in mountaineering. He and Karničar also had a K2 expedition planned for 2010.