by the fact that, as of 2000, 21 teams attempted it, but only 3 succeeded. This 1979 climb is considered by many as one of the finest in the history of Everest. Božić second Himalayan ascent was Lhotse in 1981, with a Slovenian team via a new South face route. Although he failed to get to the summit, reaching in a solo climb on the south rock wall, Božić considered his Lhotse effort technically the most demanding and possibly his greatest Himalayan success. The following year, Božić summited Kang Guru with two Croatian climbers. The 1983 expedition to Manaslu ended in disaster when Nejc Zaplotnik and Ante Bućan were killed in an ice avalanche. Božić returned to the same mountain a year later in a successful climb with Slovenian climber Viki Grošelj. In 1985 Božić was climbing in the Alps: Eiger via the classic north face route, and Grandes Jorasses via the Cassin route. Božić returned to Mount Everest in 1989, with a Macedonian expedition. An easier route was used, but the ascent was difficult for Božić because, having caught a bad cold, he suffered from hallucinations, and did not have a full recollection of the events afterwards. Macedonian member of the team Dimitar Ilievski died on the mountain. Božić's successful ascent on 10 May made him only the second European, after Reinhold Messner, to climb Mount Everest twice. As of 2021, Božić remains the only Croat with two Mount Everest ascents. After a successful climb to Kanchenjunga (1991) and an unsuccessful one to Annapurna (1992), Božić climbed K2 in 1993. The expedition's progress was smooth until shortly before the top of the climb, when the weather worsened. Božić, Viki Grošelj, Carlos Carsolio and Zvonko Požgaj were only able to touch the summit, because standing on it would have been impossible due to high winds. On the way back, the team got lost in the snowstorm, but ultimately managed to get to base four, where they found Boris Sedej and Boštjan Kekec. The latter was in distress, showing symptoms of hypoxia, his condition worsening. Due to the urgency of the situation, Sedej, Požgaj and Božić descended with Kekec through the snowstorm. Soon Kekec was unable to walk and became unresponsive, and the trio pulled him through the deep snow. When this became physically too difficult and when Požgaj began to suffer from frostbite, they decided to leave Kekec to die