"The dream of traversing the Carpathian Arc kept me awake as a high school student after we became the first to complete the now-legendary SPN route from Devín to Dukla in 1975. Inspired by the achievements of Slovak Himalayan climbers, I pondered how to elevate long-distance trekking to a top-level endeavor. A key moment was meeting the famous mountaineer Reinhold Messner in the Caucasus. One year later, in 1984, our team from Slávia Prírodovedec successfully fulfilled the Carpathian challenge—a groundbreaking sporting and travel expedition.

Decades passed, and during the Expeditions mountain festival near Draždiak in Petržalka, the idea of marking the 40th anniversary of this first Czechoslovak and second global undertaking was raised. On impulse, I suggested the best way to honor it would be to do it all over again. We agreed it would be a fascinating comparison. I embarked on the journey with a new team, following a significantly different, longer route spanning eight countries.

The three-month, 2,500-kilometer trek along the Carpathian ridge—from Serbia to the confluence of the Danube and Morava—reveals a vast terra incognita right on our doorstep, showcasing untouched nature and hidden treasures of the mountains. This journey across 45 mountain ranges provided time for deep reflection on philosophical, ecological, and ethical aspects of the human-nature relationship. Comparing the experiences from both expeditions illustrates what has changed over 40 years and what remains the same. It also sheds light on different mindsets—from casual visitors and dedicated trekkers to native highlanders—and explores why people from the world of consumerism and material comfort are drawn to nature, where self-reliance and support teams become crucial."

Svetozár Krno is a pioneer of Slovak expedition and long-distance trekking. He holds a record with 38 successful completions of the legendary Trnavská stovka hike. His travels span nearly every corner of the world, including two full crossings of the 2,500-km Carpathian Arc. Additionally, he has completed similar treks across Iceland, the Pyrenees, the Apennines, Corsica, Sardinia, the Adriatic, the Balkans, the Eastern Alps, Czechia and Moravia, Poland, Hungary, Transcarpathia, and Crimea. He has twice completed Slovakia’s Heroes’ Trail (Cesta hrdinov SNP).

As an author of non-fiction and a publisher of travel literature, Krno received the Egon Erwin Kisch International Literary Award for his latest travel book. He has written 15 essayistic travel books and over 100 reports, combining firsthand experience with extensive research in science and literature to present both distant and familiar worlds.

Since 1987, he has been organizing Expeditions, Slovakia’s oldest international mountain festival, dedicated to promoting non-commercial, non-consumerist expeditions that offer both sporting and exploratory value.

For 25 years, he has been a professor at the Faculty of Arts, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra (UKF).