Jerzy Kukuczka
From Freepedia
Jerzy Kukuczka (pron. yeh-zhee koo-kootch-kah) (March 24 1948 - October 24, 1989) was born in Katowice, Poland. He was known to his friends as Jurek (pron. yoo-rĕk). He died in 1989 while climbing the South Face of Lhotse.
Eight-thousanders
On September 18, 1987, Jerzy Kukuczka became the second man to climb all fourteen eight-thousanders. Reinhold Messner, upon learning the news, wrote to him, "Nie jesteś drugi jesteś wielki," which translates to, "you are not the second, you are the great." This is because Reinhold, who was the first man to summit all fourteen peaks, took 16 years to complete this feat, while Kukuczka finished in only 8.
- 1979 - Lhotse
- 1980 - Mount Everest - new route
- 1981 - Makalu - solo, alpine style
- 1982 - Broad Peak - alpine style
- 1983 - Gasherbrum II - new route, alpine style
- 1983 - Gasherbrum I - new route, alpine style
- 1984 - Broad Peak - new route, alpine style
- 1985 - Dhaulagiri - first winter ascent
- 1985 - Cho Oyu - first winter ascent, new route
- 1985 - Nanga Parbat - new route
- 1986 - Kanchenjunga - first winter ascent
- 1986 - K2 - new route, alpine style
- 1986 - Manaslu - new route, alpine style
- 1987 - Annapurna I - first winter ascent
- 1987 - Shisha Pangma - new route, alpine style
Kukuczka is considered by many to be the best climber in the world, because he ascended all fourteen peaks without supplementary oxygen faster than anybody else. In the process, Kukuczka established nine new routes and climbed four summits during winter.
Bibliography
- My Vertical World: Climbing the 8000-Metre Peaks ISBN 0898863449
