Wojciech Kurtyka

Wojciech Kurtyka (also Voytek Kurtyka, born in September 20, 1947, in Skrzynka near Kłodzko) is a Polish mountaineer and rock climber, one of the pioneers of the alpine style of climbing the biggest walls in the Greater Ranges. He lived in Wrocław up to 1974 when he moved to Kraków. He graduated as engineer in electronics (in 1973 at Wrocław University of Technology).

Contents

Career

His climbs in Poland consist of a long list including – in crags, the hardest (of the time) free climbs, free solo climbs – and in Tatra Mountains, first free ascents, first ascents in winter and new routes established in winter.

Kurtyka became well known abroad in early 1973 after the first winter ascent of Trollveggen (Troll Wall) in Norway, the highest really vertical cliff on the continent (4 men Polish team, see the list of climbs below). He started in Greater Ranges in 1972, completing a little known – but important according to him – the first ascent of the wall of Akher Chogh in Hindu Kush, in lightweight, alpine style ("as usual in the Alps"). In Himalayas he climbed since 1974. After participating in two big Polish national expeditions in 1974 and 1976 he gradually turns to the lightweight expeditions. His teammates were such world-class Himalayan climbers as, among others, Alex MacIntyre (1977, 1978, 1980, 1981), Jerzy Kukuczka (1981, 1983, 1984), Doug Scott (1993, Nanga Parbat attempt), Erhard Loretan (1988, 1990, 1991, 1997), Reinhold Messner (1982, Cho Oyu winter attempt), Yasushi Yamanoi (2000, 2001, K2 and Latok attempts).

The ideas of the minimal equipment and support even on the most difficult walls on highest peaks he included in philosophical concept of the "path of the mountain".[1]

Kurtyka's and Robert Schauer's (Austrian) climb of the West face of Gasherbrum IV in 1985 was selected by Climbing magazine as one of the 10 most impressive climbs of 20th century (including rock climbing, bouldering etc.).[2]

Kurtyka is an author of impressive articles on climbing published in Polish and English.

He is also an inventor (at about 1980) of local Polish grading system of free climbs, an opened scale, called Kurtyka scale or Krakowska scale.[3]

Selected climbs

Rock climbing

European mountains

High Tatras

Mountains of Norway

Alps, Mont Blanc Massif

Great Ranges

Eight-thousanders

  1. 1980 – Dhaulagiri - East face, new route, alpine style (not to the summit), with René Ghilini (Swiss), Alex MacIntyre and Ludwik Wilczyński (Polish)
  2. 1982 – Broad Peak - normal route, alpine style, with Jerzy Kukuczka
  3. 1983 – Gasherbrum I, Gasherbrum II - two new routes, alpine style, with Jerzy Kukuczka (Polish Alex MacIntyre Memorial Expedition)
  4. 1984 – Broad Peak - Traverse of all three Broad Peak summits, North (new route), Middle (or Central) and Main, alpine style, with Jerzy Kukuczka
  5. 1990 – Cho Oyu - SW face, new route, alpine style, with Erhard Loretan and Jean Troillet
  6. 1990 – Shisha Pangma, central summit 8008 m, S face, new route, alpine style, with Erhard Loretan and Jean Troillet

References

  1. ^ The Path of the Mountain, Alpinism, 1986, see: articles
  2. ^ Gregory Crouch, The Great Ascents. Climbing's top achievements of the century (sub-chapter G IV, 1985), Climbing, Millennium Special Issue, No. 192, March 15, 2000, p. 84 (whole article pp. 78-87)
  3. ^ aka Skala Krakowska or Polish Scale – It is up to VI grade very close to the UIAA scale and then opens, with grades VI.1, VI.2 etc., today up to VI.8. For example see table in AAJ, 1998, Vol. 40, p. 421 (internet access: American Alpine Journal 1998, pdf file AAJ 1998 p. 421)
  4. ^ Marek Łukaszewski: Petit Dru – voie Petit Jean, Taternik, No. 2 , 1974, pp. 65-66 (in (Polish))

Bibliography

Own Articles in English

Other sources

Interviews with, and broad articles on Wojciech Kurtyka

External links