Jerzy Kukuczka

Jerzy Kukuczka

Jerzy Kukuczka on Mount Everest, 1980
Born (1948-03-24)24 March 1948
Poland Katowice, Poland
Died 24 October 1989(1989-10-24) (aged 41)
Nepal Lhotse, Nepal
Occupation Mountaineer
Kukuczka on graffiti in Katowice

Jerzy Kukuczka (24 March 1948 in Katowice, Poland – 24 October 1989 Lhotse, Nepal) was a Polish alpine and high-altitude climber. Born in Katowice, his family origin is Goral. On 18 September 1987, he became the second man, after Reinhold Messner, to climb all fourteen eight-thousanders in the world. He is the first man who made the first winter ascents of three eight-thousanders: Dhaulagiri with Andrzej Czok in 1985, Kangchenjunga with Krzysztof Wielicki in 1986 and Annapurna I with Artur Hajzer in 1987. Only Simone Moro did better than him, after climbing the fourth over-8000 peak in winter in 2016. Along with Tadeusz Piotrowski, Kukuczka established a new route on K2 (the so-called "Polish Line"), which no one has ever repeated.

Eight-thousanders

Kukuczka is widely considered among the climbing community to be one of the best high-altitude climbers in history.[1] He ascended all fourteen eight-thousanders in just seven years, 11 months and 14 days - He held the world record for shortest time span to summit the eight-thousanders for nearly 27 years until May 2014 when Kim Chang-ho beat his mark by one month and eight days.[2] During his career, Kukuczka established ten new routes and climbed four summits in winter. He was one of an elite group of Polish Himalayan mountaineers who specialized in winter ascents (called Ice Warriors).

YearLocationMountainRouteComments
1979NepalLhotseWest FaceNormal Route
1980NepalMount EverestSouth PillarNew Route
1981NepalMakaluVariation to Makalu La/North-West RidgeNew Route, Alpine Style, Solo.
1982PakistanBroad PeakWest SpurNormal Route, Alpine Style.
1983PakistanGasherbrum IISouth-East SpurNew Route, Alpine Style.
1983PakistanGasherbrum ISouth-West FaceNew Route, Alpine Style.
1984PakistanBroad PeakTraverse of North, Middle, Rocky and Main SummitsNew Route, Alpine Style.
1985NepalDhaulagiriNorth-East SpurNormal Route, First Winter Ascent.[3]
1985NepalCho OyuSouth-East PillarNew Route, First Winter Ascent, Second Summit Team.
1985PakistanNanga ParbatSouth-East PillarNew Route.
1986NepalKanchenjungaSouth-West FaceNormal Route, First Winter Ascent.
1986PakistanK2South FaceNew Route.
1986NepalManasluNorth-East FaceNew Route, Alpine Style.
1987NepalAnnapurna INorth FaceNormal Route, First Winter Ascent.
1987ChinaShishapangmaWest RidgeNew Route, Alpine Style, Ski Descent.
1988NepalAnnapurna EastSouth FaceNew Route, Alpine Style.

He climbed all summits, except for Mount Everest, without the use of supplemental oxygen.

Kukuczka died attempting to climb the unclimbed South Face of Lhotse in Nepal on 24 October 1989. He was leading a pitch at an altitude of about 8,200 meters on a 6 mm secondhand rope he had picked up in a market in Kathmandu (according to Ryszard Pawłowski, Kukuczka's climbing partner on the tragic day, the main single rope used by the team was too jammed to be used and the climbers decided to use transport rope instead), the cord either was cut or snapped from a fall, plunging Kukuczka to his death.

Jerzy Kukuczka's memorial with Lhotse in the background

See also

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jerzy Kukuczka.

References

  1. ↑ Doubrawa-Cochlin, Ingeborga. "A Tribute to Jerzy Kukuczka (1948- 1989)". The Alpine Journal: 32–34. ISSN 0065-6569.
  2. ↑ Korean Everest Sea to Summit marred by tragedy
  3. ↑ Xexplorers web:The meaning of winter in 8000+ climbing
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