Slovenian who skied down Everest dies cutting wood

A Slovenian who was the first person to ski down Everest from the summit in 2000 has died felling a tree, a news agency reported Tuesday.

Davo Karnicar, 56, died in the accident in his mountainous home region of Jezersko in northern Slovenia, news agency STA said.

Besides Everest, the extreme athlete had skied down the highest mountains in each of the other six continents, as well as Nepal's Annapurna with his brother in 1995.

"We're not chasing popularity, but would simply like to do something we know we can do very well," the mountaineer told STA in 2017 while preparing to ski down K2, the world's second-highest mountain.

The father of seven from two marriages aborted that attempt, however, due to a back injury and bad weather.