Tadeusz Piotrowski (mountaineer)

Tadeusz Piotrowski (1940 – 1986) was a Polish mountaineer and author of several books related to the subject. He has been referred to as "perhaps the finest winter mountaineer of his day". [Kevin Fedarko, [http://outside.away.com/outside/features/200311/200311_mountains_3.html The Mountain of Mountains, p.3] , Outside Magazine November 2003]

He began his career in the 1960s in Poland's Tatra Mountains, around the time when he was a student at the Szczecin University of Technology. He would go on to become one of the leading Polish mountaineers, known worldwide as a winter climbing specialist. He was one of the earliest mountaineers to specialize in winter climbing.

His best known climbs, usually first along the given path, and most of them in winter, include: Trollryggen, Norway in winter 1972, Noshaq, Afghanistan in winter 1973, Trollryggen, Norway in winter 1974, Trollryggen, Norway in winter 1977, Tirich Mir, Afghanistan in 1978, Rakaposhi, Pakistan in 1979, Distaghil Sar, Pakistan in 1980, Api, Nepal in winter 1983 and K2 in China/Pakistan in summer 1986.

In 1974 his climbing companion, Stanisław Latałło, died on Lhotse; whether Piotrowski could have helped him caused some controversy among Polish mountaineers. [pl icon Ryszard Szafirski, Andrzej Skupiński, [http://www.zwoje-scrolls.com/zwoje25/text22p.htm ANDRZEJ ZAWADA BYŁ WSPANIAŁY I DUMNY] , Zwoje 5 (25) / 2000] In 1983 Piotrowski directed the winter ascent on Api mountain (7132 meters above see level), and reached its peak on Christmas Eve. He was accompanied by Andrzej Bieluń, who climbed at the head, and was lost, assumed dead near the top of the mountain.

Piotrowski died on 10 July 1986. Two days previously he had finished - with Jerzy Kukuczka - the first ascent of the South Face of K2 (also called the "Polish Line") - a very difficult and dangerous route which was threatened by seracs and had been called "suicidal" by Reinhold Messner. [R. Messner and A. Gogna [1981] (1982) K2 Mountain of Mountains. Translated from German by A. Salked. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195202538] "The route is so avalanche-prone, that no one else has ever considered a new attempt." [ [http://www.k2climb.net/news.php?id=16414 "AdventureStats Special: The unclimbed faces of K2" K2 Climb Net, ExplorersWeb Inc., undated] , retrieved on 2008-09-18.] It was during the descent by a classic route (the Abruzzi Spur) that he lost both his crampons and fell to his death at the height of around 7900 meters, following two exhausting stopovers at the wall with no food or water.Greg Child and Jon Krakauer, [http://outside.away.com/news/specialreport/alison/K2omag.html The Dangerous Summer] , Outside Magazine, March 1987.] The route Piotrowski and Kukuczka climbed remains unrepeated.Ref_label|a|a|none

For his mountaineering successes, Tadeusz Piotrowski became a four-time recipient of the highest sports medal in Poland, the Gold Medal for the Exceptional Sporting Achievements.

Notes

a Note_label|a|a|none In 1993 a Canadian team made a partial repeat, but exited onto the Abruzzi Spur at a lower point than the Poles had done, and did not reach the summit. [See cite book |title=K2: The Story of the Savage Mountain|last=Curran|first=Jim|authorlink=|coauthors=|year=1995 |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton|location= |isbn=978-0340660072|pages=p. 220-221]

References

;Inline;General
* [http://www.k2news.com/winterk203/winterk2dis1.htm Rogozinska, Monika (translated by "Scrivanek")."K2/Chogori Winter 2003", "Rzeczpospolita", undated] , retrieved 2008-09-18.
* [http://www.warsawvoice.pl/view/1608/ "Mountaineering: K2 Was Too Much", "Warsaw Voice", 13 March 2003] , retrieved 2008-09-18.
* cite book | last = Child | first = Greg | last2 = Scott | first2 = Doug | title = Thin Air | publisher = The Mountaineers Books
date = 1998
pages = 213
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=o8mEsf7em3cC&pg=PA213&lpg=PA213&dq=Tadeusz+Piotrowski+climber&source=web&ots=yb7Mqu9CVI&sig=KFuSuT940xMzNP1bSCcHYmWqyiA&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=14&ct=result
isbn = 9780898865882

Bibliography

* "Gdy krzepnie rtęć" 1982; ISBN 83-207-0351-4
* "Naga Góra – Nanga Parbat" 1990; ISBN 83-217-2808-1
* "Słońce nad Tiricz Mirem" 1988; ISBN 83-217-2687-9
* "Viharban, fagyban" 1988 ISBN 963-282-007-X
* "W burzy i mrozie" 1977
* "W lodowym świecie Trolli" 1986; ISBN 83-217-2541-4
* "W Ścianie Trolli" 1984; ISBN 83-217-2540-6