Wanda Rutkiewicz

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Wanda Rutkiewicz
Wanda Rutkiewicz climbing on Góry Sokole in 1968
Born(1943-02-04)February 4, 1943
DiedMay 13, 1992(1992-05-13) (aged 49)
Kangchenjunga, Nepal/India
NationalityPolish
OccupationMountaineer
Known forFirst woman to successfully climb K2

Wanda Rutkiewicz Polish pronunciation: [/ˈvanda rutˈkievitʂ/] (February 4, 1943 – May 12-13, 1992) was an accomplished mountain climber. She was the first woman to successfully summit K2.

Early life

Rutkiewicz was born in Plungė, Lithuania. After World War II, her family chose to leave for Poland, settling in Wrocław in southwestern Poland's Recovered Territories, where she graduated from Wroclaw University of Technology as electrical engineer.

On October 16, 1978, she became the third woman, the first Pole and the first European woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest. In 1986 she became the first woman to successfully climb and descend K2 (without supplemental oxygen) as part of a small expedition led by Lilliane and Maurice Barrard. Her triumph was marred when both the Barrards died on the descent, becoming two of thirteen climbers to die on K2 that summer.

Death

Wanda Rutkiewicz goal was to become the first woman to summit all fourteen of the eight-thousanders. During her climbing life she successfully summitted the following mountains:

Kangchenjunga south face from Nepal

She was last seen alive by a young Mexican climber Carlos Carsolio (29 at that time), sheltering at high altitude on the north-west face of Kangchenjunga, during her attempted ascent of what would have been her ninth eight-thousander. At that moment Wanda was physically weakened and not able to make a rational decision that could have saved her life. Carsolio said that he didn't have the mental strength left to convince her to descend because he was weakened as well.

A body thought to be hers was found on the south-west face of the mountain in 1995 by Fausto de Stefani, Marco Galezzi and Silvio Mondinelli, suggesting that she had climbed up the north-west ridge to a point very close to the summit before falling down the south-west side. However, more detailed analysis of findings of the Italian climbers, such as colour of clothing and presence of Bulgarian-made tablets with the body, indicate that most likely it was the body of Bulgarian climber Yordanka Dimitrova, who was killed by an avalanche on the south-west face of Kangchenjunga in October 1994. No one will ever know whether Wanda Rutkiewicz summitted Kangchenjunga. If she did so, she would have been the first woman to reach the top of the world's three highest mountains.

Bibliography

  • A Caravan of Dreams ISBN 0-9538631-0-7

References

  • Jordan, Jennifer, Savage Summit: True Stories of the First Five Women Who Climbed K2 (2006) ISBN 0-06-058716-4
  • Reinisch, Getrude, Wanda Rutkiewicz: A Caravan of Dreams (2000) ISBN 0-9538631-0-7

External links

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