LJUBLJANA, Slovenia -- Veteran Slovenian climber Tomaz Humar was found dead in the Himalayas on Saturday, days after he was injured and stranded on a 23,710-foot mountain, a mountain rescue company and a close friend said.

Humar, 40, who was married with two children, ascended hundreds of difficult alpine routes around the world, including some of the hardest climbs in the Himalayas.

Viki Groselj, a fellow Slovenian mountaineer and a good friend, described Humar as a "mountaineering genius whose accomplishments have been admired by the whole world."

"Above all, he was a supreme climber who moved the boundaries of possible," Groselj said. "He had an amazing gift and amazing strength."

Slovenian journalist Matija Grah, who has covered Humar's career, said he "climbed the peaks others had avoided."

In 1999, Humar became the first climber ever to go solo up the southern face of the French peak Daulaghiri. He also tackled the 22,402-foot Ama Dablam in 1996, for which he was awarded a French mountaineering award.

Journalist Silvo Tersek said Humar believed

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in a "metaphysical contact" with the mountains that was far greater than the fear of the dangers he faced.

Mountain climbing is popular in Slovenia, an Alpine nation, and Humar's climbs were closely watched by his fellow-Slovenes. His death left the country deeply saddened, and Prime Minister Borut Pahor sent a note of condolence to Humar's family on Saturday.