Jurek

Do not occupy yourself with idle matters.

Foolishness and pettiness pull you down. Do not give up.

Hold on tight to the peak with your claws. Climb the mountains. Do the great things.

Lapidarium VI, Ryszard Kapuściński

-Achtelik. -Present.

-Bacia. -Present.

-Badura. -Present.

-Cedzik. -Present.

-Cholewa. -Present.

-Chromik. -Present.

-Drewniok. -Present.

-Fonfara. -Present.

-Frajcher. -Present.

-Gomoluch. -Present.

-Gzik. -Present.

-Hachuła. -Present.

-Kamola. -Present.

-Kasztalski. -Present.

Kukuczka.

Jurek Kukuczka.

Jerzy Kukuczka, an outstanding Polish alpinist, by many considered the best

in the history of high-altitude climbing died in the attempt of ascending

the southern face of the Lhotse peak in Himalayas.

He was one of the two people who climbed 14 highest world mountain peaks,

and the first to ever achieve that in a record time of 8 years.

During the 1988 Winter Olympics Jerzy Kukuczka was awarded

an honorary Olympic medal.

It's a rare thing to find a boy from a working-class family

who becomes the best in the world alpinism.

Mountains for us were a way of life.

Our own choice.

It wasn't that we had a whim to travel to these places.

No.

Mountains completely took control of our bodies and minds.

Sometimes we need to face difficulties,

to be on the edge.

The edge of life and death.

Maybe this would make our everyday, city lives more colourful.

We were raised in a working-class neighbourhood.

Our family of five shared one room with a kitchen.

When we grew a bit older our parents divided the room to get more space,

but it was a tiny place.

He was always allowed to get away with more,

because he was the family's favourite.

Jurek was a highlander, but he lived in Katowice Bogucice,

where people spoke in Silesian dialect.

Here children would end up as labour force in the industry.

Only richer people could afford sending their children to a high school.

Less fortunate children would go to trade schools.

He wouldn't join us for a breakfast. He was studying hard.

And he attained his end. He graduated.

He met a beautiful girl, Mariola.

As he was walking her home, one day, he was attacked by three men

in the train station tunnel.

Jurek was fighting fair-play,

but when they ripped off his sleeve Jurek taught them the lesson.

One of the attackers ended up with a broken arm,

and the other two said that they took Jurek for somebody else.

I didn't start climbing the mountains to become a professional,

or to openly share experiences with others.

No. I never planned it that way.

I did it all only for myself. I wanted it to be a personal thing.

It was the first Sunday of September, 1965.

I recall this moment very well. It was the first time I saw others climbing.

And it was first time that I ever climbed.

The trainees were allowed to choose their own route.

We all stood by a crag that could be walked around by the left side.

This is how we normally did it.

The trainees chose to climb the edge. Two of them failed,

but Kukuczka managed to reach the top using almost only his hands.

He appeared to be a speedy, hearty man with a strong handhold,

but it was too soon to tell if he'd be a good high mountain climber.

People said Jurek wasn't cut for it.

He was tough climber but would fail in heights.

These were the opinions about him.

In 1974 we went on an expedition to Alaska,

where he suffered severe frostbite.

My first encounter with a relatively high altitude was a 6100m Mount McKinley.

It was horrible.

It was the first time I ever suffered an altitude sickness

and barely reached the peak.

It was only with my willpower that I managed to reach the top.

When they asked us why we felt so good up there we'd say

there's so little oxygen in our polluted Silesia that we were well adjusted

to breathe the diluted oxygen in the mountains.

Towards the end of the 70's we had the best team ever.

There were many high elevation jobs.

There were plenty industrial chimneys here.

We would find a rusty chimney and tell the plant's manager

that if he wouldn't have it painted it would collapse in three years.

We offered him a new, cheaper method

which didn't require putting up a scaffold.

The manager pretended that he needed some time to think it over,

but he was already rubbing his hands with satisfaction.

The money we earned fed into the club's budget.

With the money we bought provision, tents, sleeping bags, and down jackets.

That's how it all started.

Normally, there was a proposal before a marriage,

but Jurek was very shy and he didn't know how to go about it.

There was a doorbell ring and my sister opened the door.

Jurek was so frightened that he gave her the flowers, instead of me.

Before every trip I'd ask him if he really had to go.

I wanted him to stay home.

There were so many things that needed taking care of together.

Once he set his mind on going there was no way back for him.

If you really want to climb a mountain you will do everything to achieve that.

When your motivation is low you start to find excuses and back out.

For me it's just justifying one's weaknesses.

-Is that so interesting? -Yes, it is.

You're right.

It's a proof for everybody back home that daddy does take a bath sometime.

Our first adventure began in 1977.

It was the Nanga Parbat expedition.

It was his first eight-thousander, and the first Himalayan trip for Jurek.

We were ascending the Rupal Face, the greatest alpine wall in the world,

which stretches up to 5,5 km.

Things turned bad for us. We were in bad physical condition, and we got frostbite.

But it was him who led the whole team and he didn't give up,

working himself to death.

There was a special thing about Jurek,

that Wojtek Kurtyka described as pain endurance.

He endured low temperatures,

exhaustion and altitudes.

He could withstand it all.

Jurek climbed Lhotse without bottled oxygen.

He hadn't been sure about it at first,

because none of us had ever been at this altitude before.

In the morning Jurek and Andrzej Czok

unexpectedly left the oxygen behind and gave it a try.

Ignoring bottled oxygen at these altitudes is a stupid and senseless idea,

and it's putting one's health and life at risk.

Are you showing off or making things more difficult for you?

Isn't the mountain itself difficult enough?

When you can ascend the mountain without oxygen,

then using supplemental oxygen is a redundant convenience.

It's also unfair towards the mountain.

The harder the better was a rule that was around for decades,

before becoming obsolete by the end of the 80's.

Now the rule is: the easier the better.

The stereotype of a romantic Pole capable only of romantic upsurges

is fading away now.

A new image of a Pole is emerging.

He's now a builder of huge steelworks, factories and harbours,

and is now among the best shock workers of the world.

In 1979 Jurek's performance was very high,

and Jurek found himself

in Andrzej Zawada's national Everest expedition.

As he couldn't go in the winter time he went during the summer.

We made a first winter ascent on Mount Everest,

and this summer we established a new Polish route.

We're talking with Andrzej Czok and Jerzy Kukuczka.

I was really amazed that during this expedition

the whole team worked well together.

All 10 climbers reached the 5th camp.

When he returned from the Everest trip his company had decided to fire him,

because he spent too much time away from his workplace.

In Warsaw they were welcomed with celebration by many press agencies.

Katowice TV station decided to do a special coverage titled:

"The return of the champion to his workplace."

As Jurek arrived at the company the TV crew was waiting for him.

The minute the company's director saw them he approached Jurek

and told him that he wouldn't be fired after all.

Accept my congratulations and wishes of success in the future.

Thank you very much.

-My congratulations again. -Thank you.

I would like to thank you for providing the conditions

in which I can cultivate my passion for climbing.

My pleasure.

Mr. Jurek, I hope that future decorations and diplomas would also be handed

-to you at this company. -Thank you.

I'm in good spirits since the morning

I'm smiling to the people in the street

It's nice when the shop assistant recognises me.

She sells you a good quality meat from under-the-counter.

Yes, that's true.

He was going on an expedition and needed food provisions.

If you knew anyone from the staff, preferably the manager,

you'd be able get large amounts of Swiss cheese and sausages.

One day someone noticed I was illegally expediting the food for the boys.

The line of people rushed to steal the food

for which they waited in long queues.

I'm not worried by no petty thing

I got a feeling it will be a wonderful day

To get the food from under-the-counter was a privilege.

Damn it.

Get him away from there.

This crystal just cost me a week stay at the Kathmandu hotel.

The best way was to play a smuggler.

You'd bring the stuff as gifts across the border

and then sell it in Kathmandu.

The money would be then paid to porters

who carried our equipment up the mountains.

Everybody smuggled, for a long time back.

All sportsmen did.

Himalayan mountaineers had the best smuggling opportunities,

because back then their whole equipment was shipped in lorries.

Smuggling is practically unlimited with a 5-ton lorry.

Everything was well organised.

The expedition equipment could go to scrap in 90% of its volume.

We written in a scrap report that the equipment had