An early supporter of the book was the Adam Mickiewicz Institute in Warsaw, an organization that recognizes mountaineering as an important part of Polish national culture. I would like to thank the institute for supporting my research and choosing this book to help represent Polish culture within the European Union at the 2011 summer celebrations surrounding Poland’s elevated role in the European Parliament.
I would also like to thank those who agreed to interviews with me, some of which went on for days: Kinga Baranowska, Michael Blaskiewicz, Carlos Carsolio, Grzegorz Chwoła, Leszek Cichy, Jim Curran, Anna Czerwińska, Wojtek Dzik, Nina Fies, Roman Goledowski, Artur Hajzer, Bogdan Jankowski, Celina Kukuczka, Wojtek Kukuczka, Janusz Kurczab, Voytek Kurtyka, Erhard Loretan, Alek Lwow, Janusz Majer, Ewa Matuszewska, Anna Milewska, Simone Moro, Krystyna Palmowska, Ryszard Pawlowski, Jerzy Porębski, John Porter, Jerzy Surdel, and Krzysztof Wielicki.
Many others provided brief quotes and opinions on this history, for which I am grateful: Barry Blanchard, Carlos Carsolio, Kurt Diemberger, Steve House, Reinhold Messner, Doug Scott, Freddie Wilkinson, and others.
Thanks go to Karolina Born for early research; to Keese Lane and Katie Ives at Alpinist; and to Stephen Goodwin and John Town at the Alpine Journal for their enormous assistance. I owe a debt to Anke Smit of Pro-Physio for her help when I really needed it. And thanks to Lindsay Griffin, whose Himalayan-database of a mind scoured the manuscript for climbing history errors.
I was blessed with an overabundance of wonderful photos, thanks to the help of so many: Nicholas Blaskiewicz and the Rutkiewicz Archive, Arlene Blum, Carlos Carsolio, Wojtek Dzik, Artur Hajzer, Bogdan Jankowski, Wojtek Kukuczka and the Kukuczka Archive, Janusz Kurczab, Voytek Kurtyka, Alek Lwow, Janusz Majer, Anna Milewska and the Andrzej Zawada archive, Jerzy Porębski and Krzysztof Wielicki. Thanks, as well, to Roman Goledowski for helping with the Zawada archive, Marek Kłosowicz for providing photos from his film series, and Jerzy Porębski and Janusz Kurczab for providing photos from their film/book series. Thank you to Ludwik Wilczyński for allowing me to quote from an unpublished essay, and a huge thank you to Janusz Kurczab for providing the brief history of Polish Himalayan climbing that provided the backbone of the appendix.
And there are those who provided good critical reads, such as John Murrell, Leslie Taylor, Anne Ryall, Kate Harris, Bob A. Schelfhout Aubertijn, Roman Goledowski, and the faculty of The Banff Centre’s mountain writing program—Marni Jackson, and Tony Whittome—as well as the rest of my writing colleagues in the program. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Leslie Miller, Marni Jackson, and Meaghan Craven for their editing skills, and to Don Gorman and his team at Rocky Mountain Books for believing in and supporting this project.
But of all the people who helped me out, Julia Pulwicki deserves my greatest thanks. My research for this book included a couple of dozen hefty tomes on Polish climbing history—in Polish, of course. Imagine my relief when a mutual friend introduced me to Julia, a Polish-Canadian physicist living in Calgary, who climbs! We spent most of one winter together as she translated countless pages of fascinating stuff. If Julia ever tires of her physics experiments, I know she will have an excellent future as a translator.
And finally, I thank my husband, Alan, whose patience with me when I disappeared into the world of Polish climbing bordered on saintly.
Appendix
CHRONOLOGY OF MAJOR POLISH HIMALAYAN CLIMBS
(1971–1996)
POLES WHO CLIMBED ALL PEAKS ABOVE 8000 M
Notes
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
Quotations without citations come from a combination of interviews, personal papers, and journals.
1 Barbara Rusowicz, Wszystko o Wandzie Rutkiewicz, 1992.
2 Gertrude Reinisch, Wanda Rutkiewicz: A Caravan of Dreams, 2000.
3 Ewa Matuszewska, Uciec jak najwyżej: nie dokończone życie Wandy Rutkiewicz (Escaping to the Highest: The Unfinished Life of Wanda Rutkiewicz), 1999.
4 Bularz 91, Klub Wysokogórski Gliwice.
5 Ibid.
6 Reinisch, 2000.
7 Wanda Rutkiewicz, Na jednej linie, 1986.
8 Anna Milewska, Zyciez Zawada, 2009.
9 Reinisch, 2000.
10 Ewa Matuszewska, Lider: górskim szlakiem Andrzeja Zawady, 2003.
11 Jerzy Porębski, Polskie Himalaje: Women in the Mountains, Artica, 2008.
12 Reinisch, 2000.
13 Tomasz Hreczuch, Prostowanie zwojów, 2006.
14 Jerzy Kukuczka, My Vertical World, 1992.
15 Reinisch, 2000.
16 Anna Milewska, Zyciez Zawada, 2009.
17 Kukuczka, 1992.
18 Ibid.
19 Reinisch, 2000.
20 Kukuczka, 1992.
21 Artur Hajzer, Atak rozpaczy, 1994.
22 Alex MacIntyre, “Broken English,” Mountain no. 77 (1981).
23 Voytek Kurtyka, “The Gasherbrums Are Lonely,” Mountain no. 97 (May–June 1984).
24 Marek Kłosowicz, Ścieżka gór (Way of the Mountain): Wojciech Kurtyka, TVN, S.A. Poland, 2007.
25 Voytek Kurtyka, “The Gasherbrums Are Lonely,” 1984.
26 Voytek Kurtyka, “The Path of the Mountain,” Bularz 88–89.
27 Ibid.
28 Reinisch, 2000.
29 Voytek Kurtyka, “The Shining Wall of Gasherbrum IV,” American Alpine Journal (1986).
30 Johnny Cash covered “Hurt” on his 2002 album American IV: The Man Comes Around. “Hurt” was written by Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and was first recorded by Nine Inch Nails on their 1994 album The Downward Spiral.
31 Greg Child, “Seeking the Balance: A Profile of Doug Scott, the Great Survivor,” Mixed Emotions, 1993.
32 Greg Child, “Between the Hammer and the Anvil,” Mixed Emotions, 1993.
33 Voytek Kurtyka, “The Shining Wall,” Alpinist no. 2 (Spring 2004).
34 Kukuczka, 1992.
35 Hajzer, 1994.
36 Jim Curran, K2: Triumph and Tragedy, 1987.
37 Ibid.
38 Reinisch, 2000.
39 Ibid.
40 Curran, 1987.
41 Reinisch, 2000.
42 Twenty-three years passed between K2’s first and second ascents, and, even today, climbers who reach the summit have a one in 10 chance of not returning alive.
43 Kukuczka, 1992.
44 Jerzy Porębski, Polskie Himalaje: The Great Tragedies, Artica, 2008.
45 Ibid.
46 Ludwik Wilczyński, The Polish Himalayan Boom 1971–79, unpublished.
47 Reinisch, 2000.
48 Ibid.
49 Rusowicz, 1992.
50 Reinisch, 2000.
51 Jerzy Kukuczka, Mój pionowy świat, 1995.
52 Ibid.
53 Numerous reports erroneously describe the rope as six millimetre and used, purchased in a Kathmandu second-hand equipment shop. Ryszard confirms that it was seven millimetre and new.
54 Kukuczka, 1992. 55 Reinisch, 2000. 56 Ibid. 57 Kukuczka, 1992. 58 Jerzy Porębski, Polskie Himalaje: Women in the Mountains, Artica, 2008.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY AND SOURCES
BOOKS
Ardito, Stefano. History of the Great Mountaineering Adventures. Vercelli, Italy: White Star, 2000.
Atanasow, Piotr, et al., eds. Ewa Abgarowicz et al., photo eds. Wprowadzenie. Vol. 1 of Wielka encyklopedia gór i alpiniszmu, Małgorzaty i Jana Kiełkowskich, general eds. Katowice: Stapis, 2003.
_____. Góry Azji. Vol. 2 of Wielka encyklopedia gór i alpiniszmu, Małgorzaty i Jana Kiełkowskich, general eds. Katowice: Stapis, 2005.
_____. Góry Europy. Vol. 3 of Wielka encyklopedia gór i alpiniszmu, Małgorzaty i Jana Kiełkowskich, general eds. Katowice: Stapis, 2007.
Birkett, Bill, and Bill Peascod. Women Climbing: 200 Years of Achievement. London: A & C Black, 1989.
Child, Greg. Mixed Emotions: Mountaineering Writings of Greg Child. Seattle: The Mountaineers Books, 1993.
Coffey, Maria. Explorers of the Infinite: The Secret Spiritual Lives of Extrem
e Athletes, and What They Reveal About Near-Death Experiences, Psychic Communication, and Touching the Beyond. New York: Tarcher Penguin, 2008.
Craig, Robert W. Storm and Sorrow in the High Pamirs. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1977.
Curran, Jim. K2: The Story of the Savage Mountain. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1995.
_____. K2: Triumph and Tragedy. Seattle: The Mountaineers, 1987.
Czerwińska, Anna. GórFanka: Moje ABC w skale i lodzie. Warszawa: Annapurna, 2008.
_____. GórFanka: Na szczytach Himalajów. Warszawa: Annapurna, 2008.
Davies, Norman. God’s Playground: A History of Poland. Rev. ed., vol. 2, 1795 to the Present. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Diemberger, Kurt. The Endless Knot: K2, Mountain of Dreams and Destiny.
London: Grafton Books, 1991.
Echevarria, Evelio, et al., eds. Góry Ameryki. Vol. 4 of Wielka encyklopedia gór i alpiniszmu,Małgorzaty i Jana Kiełkowskich, general eds. Katowice: Stapis, 2009.
Fanshawe, Andy, and Stephen Venables.
Himalaya Alpine-Style: The Most Challenging Routes on the Highest Peaks. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1995.
Hajzer, Artur. Atak rozpaczy. Gliwice: EXPLO, 1994.
Hreczuch, Thomasz. Prostowanie zwojów. Warszawa: Annapurna; Katowice: Stapis, 2006.
Isserman, Maurice, and Stewart Weaver, with sketches by Dee Molenaar. Fallen Giants: A History of Himalayan Mountaineering from the Age of Empire to the Age of Extremes. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008.
Kandinsky, Wassily. Concerning the Spiritual in Art. New York: Dover, 1977. First published 1911 by R. Piper & Co. Verlag, Munich, as Über das Geistige in der Kunst.
Kukuczka, Jerzy. My Vertical World: Climbing the 8000-Metre Peaks. Seattle: The Mountaineers Books, 1992.
_____. Mój pionowy świat, czyli 14 x 8000 metrów. London: Wydawnictwo ati, 1995.
Łubieński, Tomasz. Pocztówka. Warszawa: Czytelnik, 1962. Reprinted in Bularz 91.
Lwow, Aleksander. Zwyciężyć znaczy przeżyć. Krakow: Hudowski & Marcisz, 1994.
Matuszewska, Ewa. Lider: górskim szlakiem Andrzeja Zawady. Warszawa: Iskry, 2003.
_____. Uciec jak najwyżej: nie dokończone życie Wandy Rutkiewicz (Escaping to the Highest: The Unfinished Life of Wanda Rutkiewicz). Warszawa: Iskry, 1999.
McDonald, Bernadette, ed. Extreme Landscape: The Lure of Mountain Spaces. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 2002.
McDonald, Bernadette, and John Amatt, eds. Voices from the Summit: The World’s Greatest Mountaineers on the Future of Climbing. Washington, DC: Adventure Press, National Geographic, in association with The Banff Centre for Mountain Culture, 2000.
Milewska, Anna. Życie z Zawadą. Warszawa: Oficyna Wydawnicza Łośgraf, 2009.
O’Connell, Nicholas. Beyond Risk: Conversations with Climbers. Seattle: The Mountaineers Books, 1993.
Pawłowski, Ryszard. Smak gór. Seria Literatura Górska na Świecie. Katowice: Infomax, 2004.
Reinisch, Gertrude. Wanda Rutkiewicz: A Caravan of Dreams. Ross-on-Wye, UK: Carreg Ltd., 2000.
Rusowicz, Barbara. Wszystko o Wandzie Rutkiewicz. Toruń: Comer & Ekolog; Piła: ZG, 1992.
Rutkiewicz, Wanda. Na jednej linie. Warszawa: Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza, 1986.
Sale, Richard, and John Cleare. Climbing the World’s 14 Highest Mountains: The History of the 8000-metre Peaks. Seattle: The Mountaineers Books, 2000.
Salkeld, Audrey, ed. World Mountaineering. Vancouver: Raincoast Books, 1998.
Viesturs, Ed, with David Roberts. K2: Life and Death on the World’s Most Dangerous Mountain. New York: Broadway Books, 2009.
_____. No Shortcuts to the Top: Climbing the World’s 14 Highest Peaks. New York: Broadway Books, 2006.
Wielicki, Krzysztof. Korona Himalajów: 14 x 8000. Krakow: Wydawnictwo ATI, 1997.
JOURNALS AND MAGAZINES
Alpine Journal, 1973, 1975, 1979, 1980, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2001.
American Alpine Journal, 1984, 1986, 2001, 2010.
Bularz 88/89, Gliwice: Klub Wysokogórski, 1989 [title means “fanatic crag-rat with excessive muscles”].
Bularz 91, Gliwice: Klub Wysokogórski, 1991.
Chandry-Smart, David. “Suffering for Style.” Gripped 6, no. 08–09 (2004).
Kurtyka, Voytek, “The Abseil and the Ascent: The Art of Abseiling into the Hell,” The Himalayan Journal 42 (1984/85).
_____, “The Art of Suffering,” Mountain no. 121 (May–June 1988).
_____, “Broad Peak North Ridge,” Climbing no. 94 (February 1986).
_____, “The East Face of Trango’s Tower,” American Alpine Journal (1989).
_____, “The Gasherbrums Are Lonely,” Mountain no. 97 (May–June 1984).
_____, “Losar,” Alpinist no. 4 (Autumn 2003).
_____, “New Routes, Cho Oyu and Shishapangma,” American Alpine Journal (1991).
_____, “The Path of the Mountain,” Bularz 88/89.
_____, “The Polish Syndrome,” Mountain Review 5 (Nov/Dec 1993): 37–47.
_____, “The Shining Wall,” Alpinist no. 2 (2004).
_____, “The Shining Wall of Gasherbrum IV,” American Alpine Journal 28 (1986).
_____, “Trango Extremes,” Mountain no. 127 (May–June 1989).
_____, “The Trango Tower,” Alpinism 1 (1986). MacIntyre, Alex, “Broken English,” Mountain no. 77 (1981).
Porter, John, “Changabang, South Buttress,” Climbing no. 55 (1979).
_____, “South Side Story,” Mountain no. 65 (1979).
FILMS
Kłosowicz, Marek. Himalaiści: Głód wspinaczki: Krzysztof Wielicki. TVN, S.A. Poland.
_____. Himalaiści: Karawana marzeń: Wanda Rutkiewicz. TVN, S.A. Poland.
_____. Himalaiści: Ścieżka gór: Wojciech Kurtyka. TVN, S.A. Poland.
_____. Himalaiści w strefie śmierci: Ryszard Pawłowski. TVN, S.A. Poland.
_____. Himalaiści: Życie jest za krótkie: Andrzej Zawada. TVN, S.A. Poland.
Porębski, Jerzy. Polskie Himalaje: The First Conquerors. Artica, Poland.
_____. Polskie Himalaje: The Great Climbing. Artica, Poland.
_____. Polskie Himalaje: The Great Tragedies. Artica, Poland.
_____. Polskie Himalaje: The Ice Warriors. Artica, Poland.
_____. Polskie Himalaje: Women in the Mountains. Artica, Poland.
Rutkiewicz, Wanda. Abenteuer am Shisha Pangma, n.d.
_____. Die Schneefrauen, 1989.
_____. K2, 1987.
_____. Requiem, 1988.
_____. Tango Aconcagua, 1988.
_____. Wenn du zu dieser Wand kommen würdest? 1985
Index
The index that appeared in the print version of this title was intentionally removed from the eBook.
Please use the search function on your eReading device to search for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed below.
Acher Chioch,
Aiguille du Midi,
Ali, Mohammad (Balti porter),
altitude sickness,
Amudarya River,
Annapurna,
Aral Sea,
Arnold, Sebastian,
Auschwitz,
Bachler, Georg,
Baltoro Glacier,
Baranowska, Kinga,
Barrard, Liliane,
Barrard, Maurice,
Bauer, Willi,
Bayens, Ingrid,
Beckwith, Christian,
Belak-Šrauf, Stane. See Šrauf, Stane Belak-. Belzec,
Berbeka, Jacek,
Berbeka, Maciej,
Bianchi, Marco,
Biarchedi,
Bilczewski, Adam,
black-market trade,
Błaszkiewicz, Maria,
death of Wanda
Rutkiewicz,
Wanda Rutkiewicz’s pre-climb ritual,
Błaszkiewicz, Michael,
Blaszkiewicz, Nina. See Fies, Nina.
&nbs
p; Błaszkiewicz, Zbigniew,
death,
Blum, Arlene, Boiling Point,
Bonington, Chris,
Bozik, Petr,
Braldu River,
British Mountaineering Council,
Broad Peak,
Voytek Kurtyka’s and
Jurek Kukuczka’s “stolen” summit (1981),
Buhler, Carlos,
Carsolio, Carlos,
death of Jurek Kukuczka,
death of Wanda Rutkiewicz,
hallucinations,
Kangchenjunga (1992),
Manaslu (1986),
Casarotto, Renato,
Caspian Sea,
Chadwick, Alison, See also Onyszkiewicz, Alison.
Chamonix, France,
Chamoux, Benoît,
Changabang,
Child, Greg,
Chinese Mountaineering Association,
Chołda, Rafał,
Cho Oyu,
Chrobak, Genek,
Chwoła, Grzegorz,
Cichy, Leszek,
Everest (1979–80),
Curran, Jim,
Czarniecka, Ewa,
Czerwińska, Anna,
K2 (1986),
Czok, Andrzej,
death on Kangchenjunga,
Dhaulagiri (1985),
Kangchenjunga (1985),
Dąsal, Mirosław,
Dhaulagiri,
Diemberger, Kurt,
K2 (1986),
The Endless Knot,
Dimitrova, Iordanka,
Egierszdorff, Stefania,
Eiger,
Everest,(1989),
history of climbs,
spring
winter
“Falco” Dąsal, Mirosław,
“Friendship Border,”
Feik, Dr. Marion,
Fies, Nina,
Fiut, Walenty,
Fund for the Social Action for Youth,
Gajewski, Rysiek,
Garhwal Himalayas,
Gasherbrum I
(GI, Hidden Peak),
GI and GII traverse (1983),
Gasherbrum II (GII),
Gasherbrum III (GIII),
Gasherbrum IV (GIV),
West Face (Shining Wall),
Gliwice, Upper Silesia,
Poland,
Godlewski, Julian,
Goethe, Theory of Colours,
Golden Age of Polish Himalayan climbing,
Habeler, Peter,
Hajzer, Artur,
Freedom Climbers (Legends and Lore) Page 29
