| Jerzy
"Jurek" Kukuczka, born in Katowice / Poland
1948. Lost on the South Face of Lhotse in October 24,
1989 at an altitude of 8,200 meters.
Competed against Reinhold Messner to become the first
to climb all 8,000:ers, finished one year later. On
his pursuit he made nine new routes, including one solo,
five climbs in alpine style and four in the winter.
His strength as a climber was an uncanny mental stamina.
His climbing partner Voytek Kurtyka says about Kukuczka:
-"Jurek was the greatest psychological rhinoceros
I've ever met among alpinists, unequalled in his ability
to suffer and in his lack of responsiveness to danger.
At the same time, he possessed that inner compulsion
to press ahead. Characters like that, when they meet
an obstacle, strike against it until they either crush
it or break their own necks.
SELECTED CLIMBS AND EXPEDITIONS
|
1979 |
Lhotse |
|
1980 |
Mount Everest |
|
1981 |
Makalu (solo) |
|
1982 |
Broad Peak |
|
1983 |
Gasherbrum I
Gasherbrum II |
|
1984 |
Broad Peak |
|
1985 |
Dhaulagiri
Cho Oyu
Nanga Parbat
Kangchenjunga |
|
1986 |
K2
Manaslu |
|
1987 |
Annapurna I
Shisha Pangma |
|
1989 |
Lhotse (killed during
attempt) |
Books by Jerzy Kukuczka
» My
vertical world
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