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

mountaineer Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

, expedition leader and pioneer of

winter Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar 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. Dif ...

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

Alpine Club Alpine clubs are typically large social clubs that revolve around climbing, hiking, and other outdoor activities. Many alpine clubs also take on aspects typically reserved for local sport associations, providing education and training courses, se ...

, French and

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 for ex ...

in the United States. He was a grandson of Tomasz Rawicz-Zawada, a young participant of

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

in 1863, and 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 thro ...

. Zawada studied physics and geophysics in

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

and Warsaw where he received a degree in

seismology Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes (or generally, quakes) and the generation and propagation of elastic ...

. From 1955–1993, he worked at the Institute of Geophysics of the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences (, 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 of distinguished scholars a ...

Selected expeditions

* In 1959, he was part of the expedition team with Kazimierz Olech who made the first successful winter crossing of the main ridge of Tatra Mountains, which took 19 days. * In 1971, as chief he led the Polish expedition to make the first ascent to the Khunyang Chhish () in the

Karakoram The Karakoram () is a mountain range in the Kashmir region spanning the border of Pakistan, China, and India, with the northwestern extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range is withi ...

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

Hindu Kush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central Asia, Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and eastern Afghanistan into northwestern Pakistan and far southeastern Tajikistan. The range forms the wester ...

(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 ( ; ; ) is the List of highest mountains#List, fourth-highest mountain on Earth, after Mount Everest, K2, and Kangchenjunga. At an elevation of above sea level, the main summit is on the border between Tibet Autonomous Region of Chin ...

. * In 1977, Zawada made the first crossing of the north wall of Koh-i Mandaras (). * In February 1980, Krzysztof Wielicki and Leszek Cichy made the first winter ascent of

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

(), 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 Józef Jerzy Kukuczka (; 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-thousand ...

and ascended a new route. * In February 1985 Maciej Berbeka and Maciej Pawlikowski made the first winter ascent of

Cho Oyu Cho Oyu ( Nepali: चोयु; ; ) is the sixth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. Cho Oyu means " Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan. The mountain is the westernmost major peak of the '' Khumbu'' sub-section of the Mahalangur Him ...

. It is the only winter ascent on an eight-thousander using a new route. Zawada led the expedition. * On December 31, 1988 Zawada led the expedition where Krzysztof Wielicki made the first successful winter ascent of

Books

References

* * *

External links

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