MOUNTAINEERS from Poland

Top 2

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Polish Mountaineers of all time. This list of famous Polish Mountaineers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity.

1. Jerzy Kukuczka (1948 - 1989)

With an HPI of 66.89, Jerzy Kukuczka is the most famous Polish Mountaineer.  His biography has been translated into 34 different languages on wikipedia.

Józef Jerzy Kukuczka (Polish: [ˈju.zɛf ˈjɛ.ʐɨ kuˈkut͡ʂ.ka]; 24 March 1948 – 24 October 1989) was a Polish mountaineer, regarded as one of the greatest high-altitude climbers in history. In 1987, he became the second man (after Reinhold Messner) to climb all 14 eight-thousanders in the world, a feat known as the "Crown of the Himalayas." He accomplished this feat in less than eight years, and climbed all, except for Lhotse, by new routes or in winter. He is the only person to have climbed two eight-thousanders in one winter, and his ascents of Cho Oyu, Kangchenjunga and Annapurna were the first winter ascents. His ascent of K2 in 1986, in alpine style with Tadeusz Piotrowski, is now known as the Polish Line. No other mountaineers have attempted an ascent using the route since. Reinhold Messner, upon hearing that Kukuczka had completed all 14 eight-thousanders, wrote, "You are not second, you are great." The line was reproduced as the epigraph of Kukuczka's book and the Polish translation forms the title of a biography of him published in 2021. He died in 1989 while attempting to climb the south face of Lhotse.

2. Krzysztof Wielicki (b. 1950)

With an HPI of 61.00, Krzysztof Wielicki is the 2nd most famous Polish Mountaineer.  His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Krzysztof Jerzy Wielicki (Polish pronunciation: [ˈkʂɨʂtɔf vjɛˈlit͡skʲi]; born 5 January 1950) is a Polish mountaineer, regarded as one of the greatest Polish climbers in history. He is the 5th man to climb all fourteen eight-thousanders and the first ever to climb Mount Everest, Kangchenjunga, and Lhotse in winter. He is a member of The Explorers Club.