Andrzej Zawada (born Maria Andrzej Zawada; 16 July 1928 – 21 August 2000) was a Polish

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

, pioneer of

winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultur ...

Himalayism. Zawada was an organiser and leader in numerous high-mountains expeditions. Author of movies and photographs from expeditions, co-author of Alpinist books. Honorary member of the British

Alpine Club The first alpine club, the Alpine Club, based in the United Kingdom, was founded in London in 1857 as a gentlemen's club. It was once described as: :"a club of English gentlemen devoted to mountaineering, first of all in the Alps, members of whi ...

, French Groupe de Haute Montagne and American

The Explorers Club The Explorers Club is an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. The club was founded in New York City in 1904, and has served as a meeting point fo ...

. Grandson of Tomasz Rawicz-Zawada young participant of January Uprising in 1863. Son of Filip Rawicz Zawada, Polish legionnaire and

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...

. Zawada studied physics and geophysics in

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

and Warsaw. Received an engineer's degree in

seismology Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other ...

. In 1955–1993 he worked at the Institute of Geophysics of the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences ( pl, Polska Akademia Nauk, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society o ...

. Amongst climbers he is known for his phrase: "Tell me, what you did in the winter in the

Tatras The Tatra Mountains (), Tatras, or Tatra (''Tatry'' either in Slovak () or in Polish () - ''plurale tantum''), are a series of mountains within the Western Carpathians that form a natural border between Slovakia and Poland. They are the high ...

, and I'll tell you what climber you are".

Selected expeditions

* In 1959 he was a leader to a first winter crossing through the whole main ridge of

Tatra Mountains The Tatra Mountains (), Tatras, or Tatra (''Tatry'' either in Slovak () or in Polish () - '' plurale tantum''), are a series of mountains within the Western Carpathians that form a natural border between Slovakia and Poland. They are the hi ...

, which took 19 days. * In 1971, as chief he led the Polish expedition to make the first ascent to the

Khunyang Chhish Kunyang Chhish or Kunyang Chhish ( ur, ) is the second-highest mountain in the Hispar Muztagh, a subrange in the Karakoram mountains in Pakistan. An alternate variation of the name is Kunyang Kish. Its height, also sometimes given as , is ranke ...

() in the Karakoram. He also reached the summit. * With Tadeusz Piotrowski he made the first winter ascent of

Noshaq Noshaq (also called Noshak or Nowshak; is the second highest peak in the Hindu Kush Range after Tirich Mir at . It lies on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The north and west sides of the mountain are in Afghanistan whereas the south ...

() in the

Hindu Kush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and western Afghanistan, Quote: "The Hindu Kush mountains run along the Afghan border with the North-West Frontier Province ...

(13 February 1973). It was the world's first winter climb above . * On 25 December 1974, Zawada became the first man in the world to exceed a height of in the winter, alongside Zygmunt Andrzej Heinrich, by reaching a height of on

Lhotse Lhotse ( ne, ल्होत्से ; , ''lho tse'', ) is the fourth highest mountain in the world at , after Mount Everest, K2, and Kangchenjunga. The main summit is on the border between Tibet Autonomous Region of China and the Khumbu ...

. * In 1977 Zawada made the first crossing of the north wall of Koh-i Mandaras (). * In February 1980

Krzysztof Wielicki Krzysztof Jerzy Wielicki (born 5 January 1950) is a Polish alpine and high-altitude climber, regarded as one of the greatest Polish climbers in history. He is the fifth man to climb all fourteen eight-thousanders and the first ever to climb Mount ...

and Leszek Cichy made the first winter ascent of

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetic languages, Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is List of highest mountains on Earth, Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border ru ...

(), the highest mountain on Earth. Zawada led the expedition. It was the first winter ascent of a peak above 8,000 m. * In May 1980 Zawada led an expedition of Everest with Andrzej Czok and Jerzy Kukuczka and ascended a new route. * In February 1985

Maciej Berbeka Maciej Berbeka (17 October 1954 – 6 March 2013) was a Polish mountaineer and mountain guide. He and Tomasz Kowalski went missing on 6 March 2013 as they were descending from Broad Peak. They were declared dead two days later. Berbeka's a ...

and

Maciej Pawlikowski Maciej Pawlikowski (born 19 February 1951) is a Polish mountaineer. He is best known for the first winter ascent of Cho Oyu together with Maciej Berbeka on February 12, 1985. He is also the current president of the Zakopane Zakopane ( Podhale G ...

made the first winter ascent of Cho Oyu. It is the only winter ascent on an eight-thousander using a new route. Zawada led the expedition. * On 31 December 1988

made the first winter ascent of

. Zawada led the expedition.

Books

References

* * *

External links

* 1928 births 2000 deaths Polish mountain climbers Polish summiters of Mount Everest Sportspeople from Olsztyn People from East Prussia {{Climbing-bio-stub