President Klaus Iohannis awarded Horia Colibasanu, one of Romania’s top mountain climbers, with the National Order of the Star of Romania, in rank of Knight, for his outstanding performance in the Himalayas. The decoration decree was signed in June 2017.

The awarding ceremony took place at the Cotroceni Palace on Thursday, September 12.

“You are the first Romanian to climb the highest peak in the world without supplementary oxygen or Sherpa support. I congratulate you, on behalf of all our compatriots, for your ambition and perseverance with which you succeeded! Your venturesome act has many ingredients. It is a precious lesson of ambition, passion, strength and dedication, seriousness and perseverance. With hard work and endurance you have already conquered eight mountain peaks over 8000 meters,” Klaus Iohannis told Horia Colibasanu.

The president also confessed that the image of the “Romanian flag waiving on Everest” is one of his favorites. “There, on top of the world, on a very cold morning of May, you wrote history for and about Romania,” Iohannis added.

Klaus Iohannis also encouraged Horia Colibasanu to get involved in education programs, because “the future generations need the power of example.”

Horia Colibasanu is a professional sportsman and high altitude climber, already having under his belt successful summits on 8 of the 14 8,000ers in the world. In May 2017, he reached the highest point on Earth, the peak of Mount Everest (8,848 m), without supplementary oxygen or Sherpa support. The expedition was a first for Romania and an outstanding sporting performance at international level.

newsroom@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Presidency.ro)